The relationship between athletic and extracurricular participation and academic achievement in secondary and post secondary education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between athletic participation and academic achievement and extracurricular participation and academic achievement. With the current emphasis on standards and achievement in the nation's schools, it is of critical importance to ascertain if there is a relationship between athletic participation and academic achievement and extracurricular participation and academic achievement. Current budget constraints and calls for additional budget cuts in many school districts make it even more critical to evaluate the educational worthiness of all school programs. The NELS 88/2000 database, which included over 24,000 students, was used to determine if a relationship exists and if that relationship is positive. Through the use of MANOVA, Logistic Regression, and t tests, a relationship was found to exist; and the relationship was determined to be positive for both athletic participation as it relates to academic achievement and extracurricular participation as it relates to academic achievement. The relationship was found to be particularly strong for those students who participated in athletics and students who participated in extracurricular activities for all of their secondary and post secondary educational careers.