Physical education in California high schools is transforming. Once centered around strict fitness benchmarks, P.E. now places greater emphasis on engagement, inclusivity, and lifelong movement. However, as the state’s physical fitness test results decline, many educators are questioning the effectiveness of these changes.
Broader cultural and scientific views on fitness have long shaped physical education in schools. In the 19th century, P.E. was heavily influenced by military-style training, emphasizing discipline, endurance, and strength to prepare students for war and labor-intensive jobs. By the 1950s, concerns about American youth fitness—especially in comparison to European children—led to the establishment of national fitness programs.
The state’s fitness test is used to evaluate students on six categories: aerobic capacity, abdominal strength, upper body strength, flexibility, and body composition. Criteria include running, push-ups, stretching, lifting, and previously, measuring body composition.
Concerns about student fitness in California aren’t new. In 2003, nearly one million students in grades 5, 7, and 9 failed to meet the fitness standards in California. The state Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, described the results as “quite discouraging.”
Some teachers and students worry these tests aren’t an accurate measure of overall fitness. “If you don’t pass the fitness test, that makes you seem unfit, which is just not true. Especially because not everybody has the same skill set,” sophomore Mica Podoly said.
Previously, students needed to pass five out of the six fitness categories, including body composition, which has since been removed over controversy for causing unhealthy habits, including students starving themselves to conform to a certain image.
Today, though, these standards have lessened. “There are no consequences unless the teacher imposes them. In my class, you must show improvement from the pretest to the real test in March if you are not in the healthy fitness zone,” M-A P.E. teacher Craig Carson said.
One of the biggest changes in P.E. is a shift from rigid testing to promoting lifelong activity. “I think we used to focus a lot of our curriculum around the fitness test because students needed to pass them,” Carson said. “Now it’s more into games, playing, and having fun. We added pickleball and lifelong sports that the kids might want to do.”
Despite the changes, flaws in the system remain. The existing tests are still rigid and don’t consider athleticism or student background. “Flexibility kind of just varies. If kids did karate or dance when they were younger or played sports that required flexibility, that tends to carry over. Core strength varies too, but upper body strength and cardiovascular strength is where athletes excel,” Carson said.
“I play soccer, and I have a lot of experience, so I could navigate athletics more easily,” sophomore Marvin Guardado said. However, even as a soccer player, he suggested modifying the difficult and narrow running requirements.
Other students, such as sophomore Lila Weber, pointed out biases in how P.E. evaluates fitness. “I am a dancer, and the push-up test was especially hard for me because even though I consider myself pretty fit, I couldn’t do the push-up test because I don’t work on arms in dance,” she said. “I feel like P.E. doesn’t consider other types of athletes, like dancers or water polo players.”
“For water polo players, you use a lot of leg strength, so it doesn’t test all that, and I don’t think it shows your actual athleticism,” freshman Brady Hendricks said.
The mile run remains one of the most dreaded aspects of P.E., and recent changes to its scoring have caused confusion. The state now bases performance on height and weight, rather than gender, leading to inconsistent results.
“The mile run is almost impossible, the way they have it set up,” Carson said. “The numbers are very skewed. It used to be that boys have a certain time, and girls have a certain time. Now they do it on height and weight, but it’s kind of adverse, so if you’re tall and skinny, you actually have a longer time to run it than someone who weighs more and is shorter, who has four minutes to run a mile.”
Carson also reflected on a time when students felt more motivated to improve their fitness. “When there were consequences, kids were motivated,” he said. “They’d ask more questions, like, ‘How can I improve on this?’ They’d try harder, lift more weights, or do extra push-ups, and most of them did a pretty good job of improving.”
“Because they got rid of that rule, students don’t take them as seriously,” he said. “Without the pressure of consequences, many students no longer feel the urgency to meet performance standards.”
Without the pressure of grades or the potential consequence of repeating the class the following year, the lack of student commitment is clear. “I put effort into the games when they’re fun and interactive and entertaining, but when there’s something boring like running or cardio, I don’t put as much effort into it,” Hendricks said.
Reflecting on his own experience in P.E., Guardado preferred the friendlier, game-centered activities. “The fun things were the sports in general, and the not-so-fun things were the mile runs,” he said. Enjoying movement with fun sports that kids can pick up helps prevent the dreaded tests and lack of confidence many kids used to have.
Additionally, declining motivation and lowered pass rates are tied to the pandemic. Studies have shown that since the pandemic, physical activity has significantly decreased among adolescents. Many students, having spent months away from sports and physical education classes, are struggling to regain the motivation and stamina they once had.
“COVID impacted the course of P.E. My class, in particular, had a really tough time in fifth, sixth, and seventh grade because the P.E. departments couldn’t adapt, which definitely affected the effort and fitness of kids,” Podoly said.
Whether or not kids meet the fitness standards, P.E. continues to see flaws in its system. Each year, through understanding and commitment, the curriculum has seemed to evolve and hopefully will continue one step at a time.
