ABSTRACT Background State policies play a key role in the provision of physical education (PE) opportunities at the district and school level. Methods An analysis was conducted on how states in the United States with various PE policies differ in terms of PE access as a measure of policy implementation. PE access for students was reported by 3306 K—5th grade PE teachers across all 51 states. Results State‐level adherence to six key PE policies varied from 23% to 100%. Teachers in states with a policy requiring a minimum number of weekly PE minutes reported significantly greater average PE access compared to states with no policy ( M = 99.67, SD = 26.30 min/week, M = 81.15, SD = 19.25 min/week, respectively; t (49) = 2.88, p < 0.01). There was no difference in PE access for students with disabilities between states with or without an Adapted Physical Education (APE) endorsement ( t (49) = 0.54, p = 0.30). Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity Based on study findings, mandating PE instructional time at the state level may be a strategy to promote PE access among schools in the United States. Conclusions The presence of certain state‐level PE policies positively impacts PE access for elementary students.
Ricci et al. (Wed,) studied this question.