The purpose of this study was to show the improvements in physical fitness levels between two experimental groups. Experimental Group I consisted of twenty-one athletes and Experimental Group II consisted of twenty-six students in the required physical education program. Intra and inter group comparisons were made from the data collected from a special eight-item physical fitness test.
The null hypothesis was assumed with respect to the difference between the means of both groups. The hypothesis was tested with the t technique for checking significance of difference between means, and the F technique for determining the significance of the difference among means.
The conclusions indicated by this study were: 1. Participation in programs of interscholastic athletics or required physical education may improve physical fitness. The Interscholastic Athletic Group showed significant improvement in six of the eight test items at the .01 level. The Physical Education Group showed significant improvements in two of the eight test items. 2. Participation in interscholastic athletic programs may have a tendency to produce superior levels of physical fitness when within group improvements made during the experimental period were compared on a between group basis. The athletes had made significantly greater improvement than had the physical education group in four of the eight items tested. The interscholastic athletic group showed a more significant improvement in two of the eight items than the physical education group when comparing means by a one way analysis of covariance
