Background/Purpose: Motor skills competency is critical to physical activity promotion. This study examined elementary school students' motor skill competency in PEP grant years 2 and 3. Methods: Participants were 1,000 + students in grades 4-5 who were assessed on four basic specialized skills by their physical education teacher using the PE Metrics rubrics during a regular PE lesson in PEP years 2 and 3. Nine teachers were trained for the PE Metrics Assessment Rubrics during workshops in PEP year 1.
Analysis/Results: Descriptive statistics showed that 74.2% of the students in year 2 (M = 9.35, SD = 1.97) and 74.9% in year 3 (M = 9.61, SD = 1.82) demonstrated competency on the soccer dribbling, passing, and receiving assessment. 64.4% of the students in year 2 (M = 18.86, SD = 3.48) and 80.3% in year 3 (M = 20.27, SD = 3.30) reached competency on overhand throw. For the basketball dribbling, passing, and receiving, 77.1% of the students in year 2 (M = 9.52, SD = 1.79) and 88.2% in year 3 demonstrated competency. 55.9% of the students in year 2 (M = 5.81, SD = 1.63) and 63.9% in year 3 (M = 6.10, SD = 1.50) demonstrated competency on the tennis striking skill. T-tests revealed that the year 3 cohort scored statistically higher than the year 2 cohort on each assessment at p < .01
Conclusions: The students demonstrated competency on all assessments in years 2 and 3, except for the striking skill in year 2.
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