Revisiting Interscholastic Competitive Balance: A Decade of Trends on Policy, Participation, and Public/Private Schools

In 2015, Johnson et al. completed the first comprehensive national review of interscholastic competitive balance policies that established a baseline for approaches to ensure fair and equitable high school athletic competition. The review concluded that several types of policies were created to curb the disproportionate amount of success achieved by private schools. Such policies were in addition to enrollment classifications, which are a staple of competitive balance in every state. In the decade since that evaluation, polices have evolved. The purpose of this study was to replicate the 2015 study to determine the current status of policy implementation, and identify trends that could help guide interscholastic stakeholders. Results indicated more schools exist overall, and more than half of all states have made policy adjustments. Specifically, there was a 3.2% increase in public schools (16,978), a 6.8% increase in private schools (2,760), a 150% increase in states that use enrollment multipliers (20), a 25% decrease in states that use separate playoffs (3), a 167% increase in states that use success factors (8), and a 350% increase in states that use socioeconomic factors (9). The implications of these trends related to enrollment, public/private schools, athletic success, wealth, and the theory of distributive justice are discussed.