Getting Students Active through Safe Routes to School: Policies and Action Stepsfor Education Policymakers and Professionals

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a review of the research looking at the relationship between school-based physical activity, physical education and academic performance. The review spanned research conducted within the past 23 years, and covered a broad array of contexts in which youth participate in school-based physical activity. Of the 50 studies included in the review, just over half (50.5 percent) found a positive association between physical activity and academic achievement and only 1.5 percent of the studies found a negative relationship. The researchers concluded that there is substantial evidence that physical activity can help improve academic achievement and that implementing strategies to help students meet national physical activity recommendations may in fact improve student achievement and school performance. In addition to in-school opportunities for physical activity, such as physical education, recess and in-class activities, students can meet the physical activity recommendations through activities outside of the school day. Safe Routes to School (SRTS) helps students be more physically active by making walking and bicycling to and from school safe, convenient and fun. Safe Routes to School projects across the nation are working with diverse partners to secure the funds and resources necessary to get more students safely walking and bicycling to school. This resource guide is intended for education policymakers, administrators and personnel at the state, school district and individual school levels. It provides a detailed examination of the most up-to-date and relevant research linking physical activity and academic achievement, as well as the current rates of activity among school-aged youth. Safe Routes to School is presented as a viable option to not only help increase students’ physical activity levels, but also as a strategy to build community support for schools, help make the school a safer and more pleasant environment, address rising transportation costs and respond to national school health initiatives. Common challenges and obstacles faced by schools—such as transportation costs, safety and liability issues—are discussed, as well as ways Safe Routes to School programs can help to mitigate these issues. Safe Routes to School is discussed within the broader coordinated school health movement. A number of policies and action steps at the state, school district and school levels are suggested that can help successfully implement and institutionalize a Safe Routes to School program. Stories from communities across the nation provide “on the ground” examples of different ways Safe Routes to School programs can be implemented, and how communities work to address common barriers.