Project Title: Effectiveness of two interventions on reducing obesity bias among secondary school students
Sponsor/Funding Agency: American Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Research Consortium
PETE Faculty Involvement: Dr. Weidong Li, Principal Investigator
Brief Description: The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two interventions on reducing obesity bias among secondary school students. Two hundred and ten secondary school students enrolled in physical education classes at an urban school will serve as participants in this study. An equal number of participants will be randomly assigned to one control condition and two intervention conditions. Participants in the control condition will engage in regular cooperative learning activities in their assigned groups. One intervention condition (Condition One) will focus on consciousness raising and non-normative medical condition to enhance students’ receptivity. The other intervention condition (Condition Two) will focus on consciousness raising and providing positive information about obese individuals to enhance students’ receptivity.

Project Title: Effects of Establishing a Running Program on Students’ Exercise Motivation, Physical Fitness, and Physical Activity Levels through Use of Pedometers and Goal Setting as Motivational Strategies
Sponsor/Funding Agency: Center for Community Health at The University of Memphis
PETE Faculty Involvement: Dr. Weidong Li, Principal Investigator
Brief Description: The United States is facing an epidemic of childhood overweight and obesity. This project will address this issue by examining the effects of a running program, involving pedometer usage and goal setting as motivational strategies, on students’ exercise motivation, physical fitness, and physical activity levels. This project is unique because it combines motivational strategies with a curricular change (i.e., an 8-week after-school running program). As a part of this daily running program, one hundred secondary school students will be taught how to use pedometers, record progress, and set goals. Before and after the intervention, measurements will be taken with respect to height and weight, physical fitness, exercise motivation, and physical activity.

Project Title: BRIDGES Experiential Education in Memphis
Sponsor/Funding Agency: BRIDGES Foundation
PETE Faculty Involvement: Dr. Dyson, Co-Principal Investigator
Brief Description: The purpose of (BEEM) is to improve the educational achievement of middle school students attending Memphis City Schools through the provision of an on-going experiential-based integrated curriculum co-constructed by BRIDGES, The University of Memphis’ College of Education and Memphis City Schools. Specific goals of the BEEM program are to: increase school attendance by both faculty and students; decrease student disciplinary action; decrease student suspensions; increase academic indicators of students; improve school climate; and increase teachers’ ability to facilitate learning with experiential education techniques.

Project Title: Physical Education Policy and Childhood Obesity: The Cases of Mississippi and Tennessee
Sponsor/Funding Agency: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
PETE Faculty Involvement: Dr. Dyson and Dr. Wright, Co-Principal Investigators
Brief Description: In response to the current childhood obesity epidemic, several federal and state policies have been passed in attempts to increase the quality and quantity of physical education in schools. Unfortunately, such legislation has frequently proven ineffective. A major reason for this is that our understanding of the complex dynamics involved in realizing policy-driven change in schools is at a distinctly nascent state. The purpose of this study is to uncover ways in which policy implementation can be improved in school-settings in a variety of different contexts. Our intent is to construct eight case studies that will provide a multi-level understanding of how physical education policies are developed, interpreted, and enacted; how such policies affect and are affected by resource allocations; the loci and rationale for support and resistance of policies; and, more and less effective policy implementation strategies.

Project Title: ELIS/Fresh Start/New Leaders 2005-06 Program Evaluations
Sponsor/Funding Agency: Center for Research in Educational Policy
PETE Faculty Involvement: Dr. Wright, Co-Principal Investigator or Principal Investigator
Brief Description: The Center for Research in Educational Policy at the University of Memphis manages several external evaluation contracts that test the effectiveness of innovative programs designed to improve the state of urban schooling in America. The ELIS (Effective Leaders Improve Schools) program is designed to improve principal preparation in Chicago, the nation’s third largest school district. The Fresh Start program, also based in Chicago, represents an experiment with teacher-led school reform. Finally, New Leaders for New Schools is a principal preparation program currently being implemented in Baltimore, Chicago, District of Columbia, Memphis, New York City, and the Oakland/Bay Area. Each of these programs aims to improve urban schools and increase student achievement.