Over the last decade or two there has been a lot of emphasis placed on improving the academic performance of American students. There have been countless studies, standardized tests and tremendous pressure from the federal government on down to individual parents to improve our schools and show measured results.

The ultimate goal is to produce the best and brightest students in the world to maintain our superiority in an increasingly competitive global community. The conventional wisdom seems to be that academic studies must take precedence over all other activities, such as music, art and gym class. These other pursuits are being cut back, especially in this era of tight budgets, so students can spend more instructional time on math, science and writing.

These subjects are important, to be sure, but the latest research indicates that over-emphasis on academics at the expense of “extracurricular” activities is not having the desired effect.

A recent article in Parenting magazine notes how important creativity is, not just for artistic endeavors, but also for the divergent thinking that fosters problem solving skills.

Kyung Hee Kim, an educational psychologist at the College of William & Mary in Virginia, has spent the past decade examining creativity scores of more than 300,000 American K-12 students.

“Creativity scores have significantly decreased since 1990,” she told the magazine. Moreover, “creativity scores for kindergartners through third-graders decreased the most, and those from the fourth through sixth grades decreased by the next largest amount.”

Ever since the No Child Left Behind Act mandated annual tests in reading and math, with scores determining which schools receive funding and which ones are shut down, the relentless focus on performance has seeped down to the earliest levels of education. Many schools now spend more time drilling for exams and less time supporting creative, child-driven learning. This focus on rote memorization can be detrimental to cultivating strong creative thinkers, the magazine reports.

Creativity is an important part of the learning process and can help improve academic performance. The same can be said for gym class. As reported in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, researchers from Amsterdam did a systematic review of earlier studies which indicate “strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance.”

Research shows that exercise could benefit cognition through increased blood and oxygen flow to the brain, which increases norepinephrine levels and endorphins, Medical News Today says in its synopsis of the report. These increased levels lower people’s stress levels and improve their mood, whilst increasing growth factors that help create new nerve cells and support synaptic plasticity, Medical News reports.

Unfortunately, children today are much less physically active. This causes problems not only for their school work, but also their health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity now affects 17 percent of all children and adolescents in the United States — triple the rate from just one generation ago.

The CDC says most adolescents fall short of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommendation of at least 60 minutes of aerobic physical activity each day, as only 18 percent of students in grades nine through 12 met this recommendation in 2007. Daily, quality physical education in school can help students meet the Guidelines. However, in 2009 only 33 percent attended daily physical education classes.

Children are naturally curious, creative learners. And they love to play. All of the research noted above supports the theory that we should encourage creative and physical activities as a complement to classroom instruction. Let kids be kids and academic success is sure to follow. They’ll also be a lot healthier.

— Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer