Scheduled for Research Consortium Poster Session: Thematic Physical Education Program Standards, Structure, and Support Posters, Thursday, March 15, 2007, 10:15 AM - 11:45 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area I


Standards-Based Outcomes of Fourth- and Fifth Grade Students

Heather E. Erwin, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Darla M. Castelli, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL and Martha K. Woods, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Physical education standards were developed to inform professionals about student performance. Given current public health concerns related to overweight youth (Hedley et al., 2004), physical education's role in preparing for an active lifestyle has become increasingly important. The national physical education standards (NASPE, 2004) address what students should know and be able to achieve as a result of physical education. At present, however, there are no nationally approved assessments to evaluate student attainment of the standards, and very little is known about performance related to them. The purpose of this study was to describe 4th and 5th grade student outcomes in relation to the NASPE Standards 1 (motor competency), 2 (strategic and tactical knowledge), 3 (physical activity), and 4 (fitness). Participants were 180 children, aged 9 to 12 (87 males, 93 females, M=10.45 years, SD=0.78), recruited from four elementary schools in the Midwest. Several instruments were completed by the participants during physical education: (a) three South Carolina Physical Education Assessment Program protocols that have been demonstrated to be valid and reliable (basketball, educational gymnastics, throwing); (b) three formal interviews focusing on student knowledge of strategies and tactics of motor performance; (c) three Activitygram previous day recalls; and (d) five Fitnessgram assessments (Pacer, push-ups, curl-ups, sit/reach, BMI). An inter-rater reliability of 0.71 was established for the motor competency rubrics. Cut-off scores for each standard were determined as follows: (a) Standard 1 - competence in 2 out of 3 motor assessments (Castelli & Valley, in press); (b) Standard 2 – acceptable responses on 2 out of 4 questions; (c) Standard 3 – 60+ minutes of MVPA on all 3 days (Corbin, Pangrazi, & Le Masurier, 2004); and (d) scores in the healthy fitness zones for all five Fitnessgram assessments (Chilcott, 2000). Frequency counts revealed that Standard 2 had the highest number of participants (77.14%, n=135) who met or exceeded the standard cut-off. Standard 1 was met by 46.86% (n=82) of students, while 39.89% (n=72) met the cut-off for Standard 4. Standard 3 had the lowest percentage meet the criteria (15.25%, n=27). Overall, only 11 students (6.11%) in this sample were able to attain the set cut-offs for all four standards. This suggests that students in this sample are not making adequate progress toward grade level performance outcomes, that the assessments are too difficult, that the benchmarks for each standard require further consideration, or that more opportunities for attainment are necessary for adequate progress.
Keyword(s): assessment, elementary issues, physical education PK-12

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