As educational practices continue to receive deep scrutiny, researchers increasingly focus on the impact of research-based curricula and teacher practices on student outcomes. To measure the impact of research-based curricula designed for the physical education classroom, researchers must consider the degree to which teachers who implement such curricula do so with fidelity to the research-based design. The purpose of this study was to assess physical education teachers’ fidelity of implementation as they implemented a research-based physical education curricular intervention and examine the relationship between teachers’ fidelity to the curricular intervention and student outcomes (i.e., knowledge growth and physical activity intensity levels).
Method:
A mixed methods design was used to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data examining implementation fidelity of a school-based physical activity intervention. Six teachers from three middle schools taught one, 20-lesson unit from a physical education intervention to their sixth-grade physical education students. Teachers’ fidelity of implementation was documented using non-participatory observations. Students’ knowledge acquisition was measured on a standardized knowledge test prior to and after the 20-lesson unit. Students’ physical activity intensity levels were measured on lesson observation days using accelerometers. The observations were coded to develop a rubric to quantify the teachers’ fidelity of implementation scores. Pre- and post-knowledge test scores were converted to change scores by subtracting the pretest score from the posttest score. Change scores were averaged to produce a class-level change score. Physical activity intensity levels were averaged across observed lessons within classes to produce a class-level physical activity intensity level.
Analysis/Results:
Teacher fidelity scores ranged from 42% to 83%. Forced multiple regression with fidelity scores as the predictor variable and knowledge acquisition as the criterion variable, indicated that teachers’ fidelity scores accounted for a large portion of variance in student knowledge growth (R2 = .79, adj R2 = .74, p < .05). Multiple regression with fidelity scores as the predictor variable and physical activity intensity levels as the criterion variable did not produce a statistically significant model. In over 52% of the observed lessons, however, students spent at least 50% of the physical education lesson time participating in moderate-to-vigorous physical activities.
Conclusions:
Based on the findings from this research, it appears the more faithful teachers were to teaching this research-based curriculum as designed, the greater the impact the curriculum had on student achievement in the form of knowledge gain.