1. Background/Purpose
Obesity is a concern in the State of South Carolina as it is in other states in our nation. The average Fitnessgram score for the Fitness Performance Indicator-4 for high school students in South Carolina was reported in 2003 by Mitchell, Castelli, and Strainer as 28% with a standard deviation of 24.85. The maximum score was 85 and the low score was 0. A concern about the fitness of elementary students led to an assessment of that level. Because of the low fitness scores or the high school students, there was a particular concern about the fitness levels of younger students. This study reviews the information collected in the elementary assessment related to fitness to see if the trends were similar to the high school results.
2. Method
Descriptive data were collected from the Fitnessgram assessment of fifth grade students in South Carolina schools. The data were collected in 2006-2007 as part of the first assessment of elementary physical education programs. Information was studied concerning teacher preparation to collect and analyze the curl-ups in the Fitnessgram.
3. Analysis/Results
Results indicated that the maximum score for fifth grade on the curl-ups was 94.43% and a low score of 0. The average score was 16.68% with a sd of 26.21. There were 140 teachers who received Fitnessgram scores; only 17 of them attended one of the Fitnessgram training workshops provided in the state. The reliability of the teachers to evaluate the curl-ups correctly ranged from 0 to 100%. The average reliability score of teachers attending a workshop was 70.57 and the average of those not attending a workshop was 35.86. The average score of the students whose teachers attended a workshop was 55.44% with a sd of 33.21 and the average for those whose teachers did not attend a workshop was 26.21 wish a sd of 25.01
4. Conclusions
Indications are that students of teachers who attended workshop scored better and those teachers were more reliable in their ability to evaluate correct curl-ups. Concerns for further study are the reasons why more teachers did not take advantage of the opportunity to attend workshops.