Effects of sharing data with teachers on student physical activity and sedentary behavior in the classroom

Background: Data-driven decision making is an accepted best practice in education, but teachers seldom reflect on data to drive their physical activity (PA) integration efforts. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a data-sharing intervention with classroom teachers on teacher-directed movement integration and students' PA and sedentary behavior. Methods: Teacher-directed movement behaviors from 8 classroom teachers in 1 primary school were systematically observed during four 1-hour class periods before (pre) and after (post) an intervention in which teachers individually discussed student movement data with a trained interviewer. Teachers' K-2 students (N = 132) wore accelerometers for 10 school days both preintervention and postintervention. Results: Multilevel mixed effects regression indicated a nonsignificant increase in teacher-directed movement from preintervention to postintervention (+7.42%, P =.48). Students' classroom time spent in moderate to vigorous PA increased (males: +2.41 min, P <.001; females: +0.84 min, P =.04) and sedentary time decreased (males: −9.90 min, P <.001; females: −7.98 min, P <.001) postintervention. Interview data inductively analyzed revealed teachers' perspectives, including their surprise at low student PA during the school day. Conclusions: Findings suggest that sharing data with classroom teachers can improve student PA and decrease sedentary behavior at school.