The Study
Professor Crystal Branta and her colleague Jacqueline Goodway (Ohio State University) examine the influence of a 12-week motor skills intervention on fundamental motor skill development of disadvantaged preschoolers.

Findings
The researchers point out that the literature suggests that young children who are disadvantaged demonstrate developmental delays in fundamental motor skill. The study involved the motor skill intervention group of 31 preschool children and the control group of 28 preschool children. The children were enrolled in an urban compensatory preschool program in a school district in an industrial city that has undergone urban decay and has a high percentage of unemployment, poverty and crime. All the participants in the intervention and control groups were African American. The researchers administered the Test for Gross Motor Development to both the experimental and control groups prior and following the motor skill intervention. The intervention involved 24, 45-minute motor skill sessions that involved such things as hopping and galloping, ball bouncing, kicking, and catching and throwing. What the researchers found was that the experimental group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in fundamental motor skills from pre- to postintervention, as compared to the control group. The experimental group demonstrated a mean increase from 15 to 80 percent for locomotor skills and 17 to 80 percent for object control skills over the 12 weeks. They ascribe the success of the intervention to a number of reasons. They note that the intervention was developmentally appropriate in that tasks presented to the children were able to sequence from simple to more complex, instructionally appropriate instruction was used, and a variety of developmentally appropriate equipment was provided to each child. “The findings from this study have exciting and significant educational implications,” they conclude. “If disadvantaged preschool children can acquire such benefit from 12 weeks of motor skill intervention, then physical educators or preschool teachers with developmentally appropriate education should be able to engage children in the types and frequency of activity necessary to facilitate positive motor skill development.”

What It Means To You
How much are young children in your district exposed to physical activity and motor skill development programs in your district?

For More Information
Goodway, J.D. & Branta, C.F. (2003). Influence of a motor skill intervention on fundamental motor skill development of disadvantaged preschool children. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, (74)1, 36-46.

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