Gender and Race on Motor Skill Status of Kindergarten Children

Purpose--In light of recent concerns about racial and gender inequities among children in U.S. public schools, current information is needed on entry level performances in key motor skills, both fine and gross. Such information would enable physical educators to plan and execute appropriate motor skill instruction early in children's development. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential impact of gender and race on motor skill performances of kindergarten children in U.S. public schools.

Methods--The fine and gross motor skill performances of 15,840 kindergarten children in U.S. public schools were examined. Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of children made available by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as part of their Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. According to NCES, this sample was representative of the 3.8 million kindergarten children enrolled in U.S. public schools in 1998-1999, the base year of the longitudinal study. Motor assessments included the use of two scales, one measuring visual motor skills and the other measuring gross motor skills. The visual motor component consisted of seven tasks, while the gross motor component included four tasks. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL confirmed the two scales.

Analysis/Results--ANOVA's were calculated to examine possible between subjects differences in fine and gross motor skill performances by race (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska native) and gender (Boys=8088; Girls=7752). The interaction of race and gender was significant (p=.008) for gross motor skills. However, no significant (p=.502) interaction was found for fine motor skill performances. In terms of main effects, significant differences were found for fine motor skill performances for race (p=.001) and gender (p=.032). Significant differences were also found for gross motor performances by race (p=.001) where whites performed better and gender(p=.001) where girls outperformed boys.

Conclusions--Racial and gender differences in motor skill performances are evident in kindergarten. When considering the interaction of race and gender, only gross motor skills were impacted which is an area of particular importance to physical educators. Teachers will surely need to consider these differences when planning physical education programs for a diverse pupil population in kindergarten. Further research should examine the possible implications of such highly variable motor performances early in life. Preservice programs in physical education should prepare future teachers to work with diverse populations, even at the earliest grade levels.