Physical Education Response to Intervention: Outcomes and Strategies for Implementation

Response to Intervention (RTI) has become prevalent in education recently, while the time youth spend being physically active has consistently decreased. Given the known physical, mental, and cognitive benefits of regular physical activity and the time youth spend in school, this article explores the use of increased physical education (PE) time as an RTI strategy to enhance students’ overall physical activity, academic achievement, behavior, and cognitive skills. Two intervention groups received PE RTI, while the control group received normal classroom instruction. Several variables showed positive associations, indicating that a before-school PE RTI can be an effective way to enhance students’ physical activity and academics. The article also shares sample activities used during the RTI along with implications for PE teachers to incorporate a similar RTI in their own school.