For many California ninth-graders, it's shape up or more PE

In California public schools, kids have been tested for physical fitness for many years. If they could do the push-ups and run a quick mile – great. If not – no big deal.

This spring, that is changing for many of the half-million ninth-graders across the state. For the first time, high school freshmen in many districts must pass five of six fitness exams or face the possibility of extra years in physical education classes.

In gym after gym, the pressure is on. Kids are being pressed to run, reach, push, stretch and pull like their bodies and their futures depend on it.

"OK, who wants to try the push-ups?" Cici Robinson called out to her freshman physical education class at El Camino High School on Tuesday. "Girls, to qualify, you need to do at least seven. If you do more than 15, you're above the standard."

Two boys and a girl took their places on the gym floor. A voice on a recording set the pace: "Down. Up. One. Down. Up. Two … "

Twenty counts later, then 25, then 26, the three students called it quits. All had shown they were above or within the "healthy fitness zone" for upper body strength for students their age and gender.

"Nice job," Robinson said. "Who's next?"

For Robinson and PE teachers across the state, it has been a year of intense practice and pushing to get kids ready for this spring's round of fitness testing. Many have welcomed the challenge, which comes against the backdrop of rising rates of obesity and the price of diabetes, heart disease and other health problems in people's lives.

"It's a new year for physical education," said Nancy Carr, interim physical education consultant for the California Department of Education. "California students are being asked to work on becoming physically fit for life."

Doesn't affect graduation

The state has long required students in grades five, seven and nine to be tested in six major fitness areas: aerobic capacity, body fat measurements, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance, and overall flexibility. Some of the categories have several choices of tests, while others offer one way to pass.

Results get reported every year, celebrated when they are good, and set aside as a fact when they are not.

Under legislation taking effect this school year by Sen. Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, many freshmen now must pass five of the six fitness tests this spring or face a significant new consequence: Those who fail must take physical education again as sophomores, where they will face the same testing hurdles. Each year that they continue to fail two or more tests means another year of PE.

The testing results do not affect students' ability to graduate, Torlakson said. Ninth-graders who pass five or six tests still must take another year of PE, but in many districts they will have a choice of which year they enroll.

"We want our students to be healthier. That's the whole goal," Torlakson said, noting that educators have found a correlation between health and fitness and a student's ability to learn well.

Not all districts must comply because of differences in the way they exempt certain students from physical education.

But many school systems are embracing the new legislation with stopwatches, clipboards, weight scales and big doses of encouragement. Among them: San Juan Unified and Elk Grove Unified in the Sacramento area.

In both districts, about 67 percent of ninth-graders last year met the five-out-of-six passing rate. District representatives expect that number to rise this spring because the tests have been such a big focus this year.

"The message is out how serious this is," said Joanne Clark, retired physical education specialist in Elk Grove Unified, which has worked aggressively to build a strong PE program across all grades. "Students' wellness is extremely important for the quality of their life."

Robinson agreed.

"I've been telling my students from the beginning of the year that this year it counts," Robinson said. "I put it out there as early as I could so they would take it seriously. And I have seen a lot of improvement."

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