Sports

Learn more about student sports in and out of schools, including how athletics affect students’ health, well-being, and academic achievement

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Sports balls overlayed with data charts.
Statistics on School Sports: How Many Students Play Sports? Which Sports Do They Play?
Browse key data on school sports, including how often girls and boys are participating and which ones they are choosing to play.
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Wed., May 06, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
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Student Well-Being & Movement Spotlight Spotlight on the Athletic Advantage: How Districts Are Turning School Sports Into Community Assets
Find out how you can improve student engagement, belonging, and mental health through inclusive sports programs, esports, and gaming.
April 30, 2026
Student Well-Being & Movement Video Female Athletes' Physical and Mental Struggle to Recover From Torn ACLs
For many female athletes who tear their anterior cruciate ligaments, the arduous hours spent recovering through physical therapy are only part of the battle.
Kaylee Domzalski & Yi-Jo Shen, April 28, 2026
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1 min read
Plano East varsity soccer player Aliya Jacob's knee brace, left, is visible as she attacks Rock Hill's Adalina Flores during a soccer game, Jan. 30, 2026, in Murphy, Texas.
Plano East varsity soccer player Aliya Jacob's knee brace, left, is visible as she attacks Rock Hill's Adalina Flores during a soccer game, on Jan. 30, 2026, in Murphy, Texas. Experts explain why female student-athletes are more prone to injuring their ACLs and the consequences.
Julio Cortez/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement For Young Female Athletes, the Damage From ACL Tears Goes Well Beyond the Physical
Teenage girls are more prone to ACL tears, and the injuries can upend their mental health and academic achievement.
Jennifer Vilcarino, April 28, 2026
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7 min read
Easton's Aubre Krazer, left, battles Hazleton Area's Miah Molinaro, right, during the first found of the PIAA High School Wrestling Championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
Competitors square off during high school wrestling championships in Hershey, Pa., on March 7, 2024. A new study finds that high school students who participate in varsity sports were less likely to miss school in the 2023-24 school year, even during the offseason.
Matt Rourke/AP
Student Absenteeism The Lesson Schools Can Learn From Student-Athletes' Attendance Data
A new study has some insights for schools as they struggle to cut chronic absenteeism.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, April 13, 2026
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3 min read
Red sports barbell on the background of a concrete wall
iStock/Getty
Teaching Opinion The Weight Room Is the Best Classroom in a School
The lessons I’ve learned as a strength and conditioning coach make me a better classroom teacher.
Alexander H. Han, March 31, 2026
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4 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion Why a Good School Needs Both Coaches and Referees
If teachers are forced into being referees, they can't fill that role properly or coach well, either.
Rick Hess, February 24, 2026
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6 min read
Students play basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025 in La Mesa, Calif.
Students playing basketball at Parkway Sports & Health Science Academy on Feb. 21, 2025, in La Mesa, Calif. Some schools are using sports as a way to help students develop social-emotional skills.
Ariana Drehsler for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Want Kids to Have Better SEL Skills? Try Using Sports
In a panel discussion, district leaders and an expert discuss why sports is a great place to learn life skills.
Lauraine Langreo, February 19, 2026
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3 min read
Dr. April Brooks, the director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, (center) watches a boy’s varsity basketball game at Jeffersontown High School in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, January 9, 2026.
Dr. April Brooks, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools (center), watches a boys’ varsity basketball game at Jeffersontown High School in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 9, 2026.
Madeleine Hordinski for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Leader To Learn From Meet the ‘Sports Lady’ Reenergizing Her District's Athletics
This athletics leader is working to reverse post-pandemic declines, especially for girls.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 9, 2026
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11 min read
Dr. April Brooks, the director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, leads a clinic at Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, January 9, 2026.
Dr. April Brooks, director of athletics for Jefferson County Public Schools, leads a clinic at Medora Elementary School in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 9, 2026.
Madeleine Hordinski for Education Week
Families & the Community Q&A Youth Sports Can Turn Toxic. This District Focuses on Prevention
As sideline behavior worsens, athletic leaders focus on prevention, safety, and resetting expectations.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 9, 2026
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4 min read
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025.
Students celebrate at the end of basketball club at Adams Elementary School on Dec. 5, 2025. The Spokane district has significantly invested in extracurriculars to help limit students' screen time, and their elementary schools are no exception.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement ‘Great Lifelong Habits’: How This District Is Keeping Young Kids Off Screens
Can a massive expansion of extracurricular activities help build social-emotional skills in early grades?
Alyson Klein, January 26, 2026
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6 min read
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother Heather Jackson outside the Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Becky Pepper-Jackson holds hands with her mother, Heather Jackson, outside the U.S. Supreme Court after arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on female athletic teams on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Signals Support for State Bans on Trans Girls in Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court weighed Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender girls from sports.
Mark Walsh, January 13, 2026
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7 min read
Fifteen year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia.
Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson tosses a discus at home in West Virginia. Her challenge to the state’s ban on transgender girls in school sports is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Scout Tufankjian/ACLU
Law & Courts School Sports Case Reaches the Supreme Court at a Fraught Time for Trans Rights
The justices will consider state laws that bar transgender girls from participating in female sports.
Mark Walsh, January 9, 2026
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8 min read
Students on Northwood High School’s pickleball team warm up ahead of a match against Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Md., on Oct. 1, 2025.
Students on Northwood High School’s pickleball team warm up ahead of a match against Wheaton High School in Wheaton, Md., on Oct. 1, 2025.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Video How One District Made Pickleball an Inclusive Varsity Sport
Kids with IEP and 504 plans play alongside their peers on one district's varsity pickleball team.
Jaclyn Borowski & Yi-Jo Shen, October 31, 2025
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