The relationship between high school high performance athletes and
high performance academics
- the effect that atletics has on the student's ability to do better
in school grades, better attendance, less lates

Abtract:
I could not find sources that negate the positive effects of combining
sports and studying.
There are several sources dealing with this interesting questions.
Let me start with an impressing example of the positive effect of
athletics and academics:

"Senior Kelly MacDonald graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of
fine arts degree in art education in May."
( http://thesundevils.ocsn.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/061102aaa.html
)

At the University of Texas-Pan American they have a project group  at
"The Student-Athlete Academic Learning Center" :
"The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, in conjunction with the
support of University administrators, has established the
Student-Athlete Academic Learning Center to assist Bronc and Lady
Bronc student-athletes in realizing and maintaining high levels of
academic success."
( http://www.panam.edu/dept/athletics/Academics/LearningCenter.html )

An interesting discussion about the effect of athletics from another
university with some data quoted there:
( http://www.uoregon.edu/~uosenate/dirsen012/Tublitz25Jan02.htm )

Stanford University seems to be sure that their combination of
athletcis and academics have made them one on the leading
universtities:
There is a Q & A with a coach from there:
"Q & A With Stanford Men's Swimming Head Coach Skip Kenney 
Q: What do you contribute to the success of the Stanford men's
swimming program?
A: We have great athletes here on the Farm. They are motivated and
focused young men who have a passion for excellence. Stanford's
combination of academic and athletic merit make it the best university
in the country."
( http://gostanford.ocsn.com/sports/m-swim/archive/040202aaa.html )

At Maine University they "strengthen the relationship between
athletics and academics and formally connect the contributions of
sports to the educational improvement goals".
( http://www.ume.maine.edu/~cofed/news/newspilo.html )

"Academics and athletics go hand-in-hand,” said running back, Randy
Jordan",   another positive statement. But he put emphasis on :
"Whatever you do in life, put academics first."
( http://www.raiders.com/Home/Press_Room/052401_jordan/052401_jordan.html
)

Some Colleges or Universities have implemeted special programs to
support the combined activites:
"Many intercollegiate athletic programs profess to have made the
academic success of their student-athletes a high priority. Few have
developed and implemented a program comparable to KU’s Academic
Success Initiative. This Initiative provides the appropriate support,
incentive, and opportunity for students to make a similar effort
toward their academic success as made toward their athletic
performance. The Initiative is based on the expectation that both
individual and team academic performance will be at or above the level
of the overall student body. This expectation is built into the
evaluation of coaches and is an integral part of the process of
awarding athletic scholarships. KU provides athletic scholarships to
support the academic pursuits of its student-athletes. The students
are expected to participate in sports because they love to do so."
( http://www.kutztown.edu/activities/athletics/academic.html )

Professor Wise at the University of Louisville could be an expert you
might wish to ask for further information if the sources I´ve found
are not sufficient for you. You can contact her here:
( http://newsbreak.louisville.edu/020111/wise.html )

You can get more information (but not for free) at:
( http://www.education-majors.com/categories/071-000.html )
They will send you papers for a fee.

Search stragegy:
( ://www.google.de/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=de&querytime=AAw9W&q=high+performance+athletics+academics)
and
( ://www.google.de/search?sourceid=navclient&hl=de&querytime=M&q=athletics+academics+influences
)


till-ga

“Mens sana in corpore sano”, as Socrates said long time a go, “healthy
mind in a healthy body”, there are plenty studies supporting the idea
that athletic exercise might be good for academic performance. Others,
are still saying that there’s no difference between athletes and
non-athletes students. I can help you just showing you different
points of view. As you will see, it is very difficult to find ONE
answer. I’ve selected some articles that represents the  sides of this
discussion.

 “Though grades vary by team and by individual, in total the overall
academic profile of athletes and non-athletes is nearly identical”
Academic Characteristics of Athletes and Non-Athletes Similar, by Jon
McGee.
http://www.csbsju.edu/institutionalresearch/Trends/April%202001.pdf

High school athletes get good grades, but are more drawn to alcohol
and drugs, study from the American Psychological Association (APA)
suggests.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/aug98/drug.html

“High School Athletes Outperform Nonathletes By Wide Margins In
Massive Three-Year Academic Study”, Comparison by Dr. Roger Whitley.
http://www.nchsaa.unc.edu/case/whitley.html

Balance as the Central Component 
Successful integration between the two sides of the brain is necessary
for improving all brain processes, including those for reading,
writing, academic achievement, motor skill development, and many
others.
http://www.balametrics.com/explain.htm#brain_integration

College Prospects of America 
International association that markets athletes. The company creates a
web page for each client that includes athletic and academic
statistics. This is a good source for you to compare standards.
http://cpoa.com/

News related to athletic/academic performance:

NCAA Division I Initial-Eligibility Standards
During the early part of the 1980s, public attention focused on the
perceived lack of adequate academic preparation and success of
student-athletes. Evidence existed that student-athletes were being
exploited for their athletics talent, exhausting athletics eligibility
without any realistic hope of obtaining an undergraduate degree.
http://www.ncaa.org/databases/reports/1/199810bd/199810_di_bd_agenda_s04c_a.html

Program Description - University of California at Berkeley   
UC Berkeley football student athletes serve as tutors and mentors to a
group of Berkeley High School football student athletes in reading,
writing, study skills, time management, and goal setting. Both the
tutoring and mentoring are designed to increase the high school
student athletes' academic performance and motivation and to support
their college aspirations.
http://students.berkeley.edu/outreach/sup/indivprgrmpgs/student2student.htm

Professor helps athletes focus on academics
U of L eligibility requirements for sports competition demand more
academically of student athletes than NCAA requirements. Wise gives
credit for student athletes' academic accomplishments to the services
offered by the Peers Academic Center.
http://newsbreak.louisville.edu/020111/wise.html

Other links:
I found some papers refering to this issue. In some cases you’ll have
to pay for the complete version:

The Influence of Sports Pressures on Academic Performance
http://www.education-majors.com/categories/072-003.html

Athletic Participation & Academic Performance / A Study of Women
Athletes
College Academics & College Athletics / Conflict
The Impact of Participation in Athletics on Academic Performance
http://www.essays-termpapers2go.com/categories/234-002.html

The Relationship of Discipline & Academic Performance in High School
http://www.researchpapers.net/education57.htm

I also think this last article, which it seems to be about Music,
might be of interest for you:

The Impact of Involvement in Music Performance on High School Academic
Achievement
by Chris Nierman
http://cse.unl.edu/~mbeerman/psych97-1/nierman.html

Search strategy:
"Athletic performance"
"High school"
Academic
GPA
Athletes AND "Non athletes"

Good luck with your research!

Runix-ga