This was a quantitative study utilized to determine the effect of the Physio-Cat Program on improving reading-comprehension scores in reading for students in kindergarten through Grade 5 at an elementary school in Dade County Florida. The Physio-Cat Program, designed by this researcher, was developed to provide an innovative approach to improve reading skills (a component of the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test [FCAT]), utilizing physical education programs, thus providing educators at state and local levels with yet another tool to increase student achievement. The framework for the study was rooted in the relationship between critical thinking and physical education and between critical thinking and critical reading. The reviewed studies indicated that physical activity increases academic achievement, improves health, builds self-esteem, and enhances alertness. The current study provided support for the findings of the California study (California Department of Education [CDE], 2002) and studies on the mind-body connection. It illustrated the effects of the integration of physical activity and critical thinking on the enhancement of academic achievement. It provides a basis for the inclusion of the instructional program into the Miami-Dade County School System's physical education program and provides evidence supporting the importance of physical education in enhancing academic achievement. The Program was administered to 37 fifth-grade students participating in physical education within an elementary school in Miami Gardens, Miami-Dade County, Florida. The elementary school is a kindergarten through Grade 5 School with a multiracial and multicultural student body. The program was conducted daily for 6 weeks within the preexisting physical education program and lasted for 20 minutes each day. A control group of 19 normally educable fifth graders followed the traditional physical education curriculum during this time. Both the control and experimental groups were taught daily during a 5-day week. Tuesdays and Thursdays of each week were utilized to discuss the previous lessons. For the experimental group, the subject matter covered varied daily but consistently required critical thinking to solve basic problems in reading. Some writing was evaluated through take-home assignments. Physical activities were integrated into the daily schedule to complement the subject-matter problems. All students were given a pretest prior to the experimental group entering the program and a posttest upon completion of the program to assess their level of improvement. Utilizing this method, the study was able to show whether a relationship existed between the researcher's strategy and students' improved skills in reading comprehension. An analysis of the data revealed that posttest reading scores, adjusted for pretest scores, for students using the Physio-Cat program were significantly higher than adjusted posttest scores of the control group. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]