The Perceptions of the Impact of Interscholastic Sports On Selected Elements of a Public-School Experience
type: CreativeWork
description: Purpose: For more than 100 years, participation in interscholastic athletics has been a major part of American high schools’ extracurricular offerings. As public-school districts struggle to meet the needs of the No Child Left Behind legislation, many changes require additional expenditures. Funding presents a constant challenge. Extracurricular activities, including interscholastic sports, are often sacrificed in funding decisions. This single-case-study design was crafted to examine perceptions of the professional staff, the non-professional staff, the graduates, and the community members in one north-central Pennsylvania community with regard to the perceptions of interscholastic sports on selected elements of a public-school experience. Using social capital theory as a theoretical framework, the selected elements studied were student achievement, student behavior, school climate, student leadership, and overall student experience. Method: The subjects surveyed were 39 professional staff, 23 non-professional staff, 35 graduates, and 292 community members of the targeted high school in rural north-central Pennsylvania. The community’s participants were obtained as a random sample, while the professional staff and the non-professional staff were convenience populations. The graduate participants were a convenience sample. The survey responses of the professional staff, the non-professional staff, and the community members represent the perceptions of observers of students who played interscholastic sports. The survey responses of the graduates represent the perceptions of those who have attended the high school who either participated in interscholastic sports or were observers of classmates who participated. Responses to each of the four sets of surveys were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to address the primary research question: Do interscholastic sports have an effect on the perceptions of overall student experience of the targeted high sc…
abstract: Purpose: For more than 100 years, participation in interscholastic athletics has been a major part of American high schools’ extracurricular offerings. As public-school districts struggle to meet the needs of the No Child Left Behind legislation, many changes require additional expenditures. Funding presents a constant challenge. Extracurricular activities, including interscholastic sports, are often sacrificed in funding decisions. This single-case-study design was crafted to examine perceptions of the professional staff, the non-professional staff, the graduates, and the community members in one north-central Pennsylvania community with regard to the perceptions of interscholastic sports on selected elements of a public-school experience. Using social capital theory as a theoretical framework, the selected elements studied were student achievement, student behavior, school climate, student leadership, and overall student experience. Method: The subjects surveyed were 39 professional staff, 23 non-professional staff, 35 graduates, and 292 community members of the targeted high school in rural north-central Pennsylvania. The community’s participants were obtained as a random sample, while the professional staff and the non-professional staff were convenience populations. The graduate participants were a convenience sample. The survey responses of the professional staff, the non-professional staff, and the community members represent the perceptions of observers of students who played interscholastic sports. The survey responses of the graduates represent the perceptions of those who have attended the high school who either participated in interscholastic sports or were observers of classmates who participated. Responses to each of the four sets of surveys were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics to address the primary research question: Do interscholastic sports have an effect on the perceptions of overall student experience of the targeted high sc…
author: Drabick, Denise M.
keywords: Health and Physical Education, Place and Environment
date published: 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:52:58Z
provider: Andrews University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Andrews University