The SHAPE-funded randomized controlled intervention to improve physical education (PE) teachers’ self-determination support showed to be moderately effective in terms of intended outcomes, such as students’ PE motivation and physical activity (Yli-Piipari et al., in review). However, the implementation of evidence-based interventions in authentic urban PE can be challenging. For instance, to obtain intended results in student outcomes, attention must be given to teachers’ adherence, that is fidelity of implementation, toward planned contents of the interventions. Research has shown that the level of implementation fidelity can undermine the effect of educational interventions. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the relationships between self-report and objectively-measured teachers’ fidelity of implementation to the 8-week middle school PE teaching style intervention and student self-determined motivation.
Method:
The sample comprised three experiment condition middle schools, four PE teachers, and 197 students (ages 11-14 years) located in the Mid-South U.S. All PE teachers were experienced (Mage = 46.75 years) and tenured (Mteaching experience = 17.25 years) in the local metropolitan school district. Pre-and post-intervention data were collected by: a) audiotaping and coding 34 PE lessons (utilizing the checklist of Haerins et al., 2011), b) conducting teacher self-reflection surveys, and c) surveying changes in students’ self-determined PE motivation. Self-report data were collected using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree … 4 = strongly agree) and relative autonomy index was calculated based on Ryan and Connell (1989) guidelines. Growth scores for self-report and objectively measured teacher fidelity and students’ self-determination score were calculated by deducting the pre-scores from the post-scores.
Analysis/Results:
The study showed that teachers were overly optimistic about their ability to change their teaching practices toward self-determination. Teachers’ self-report growth scores showed 21.4% (+.74 growth in Likert scale) growth in self-determination support, whereas objectively measured audiotaped scores showed only 11% (+.22) growth. Multiple regression analysis with teachers’ self-report and objectively measured fidelity scores as the predictors and self-determined motivation as the criterion variable, indicated that fidelity scores accounted for 31% of the variation in students' motivation growth (βself-report = .02, p = ns; βobjectively measured = .28, p < .001).
Conclusions:
Based from the findings of this study, it appears that objective measures, such as observation or audio/videotaping, are more reliable measures for teachers’ fidelity of implementation compared to teachers’ self-report reflection. This study findings also highlight the role of teachers’ fidelity of implementation to achieve intervention outcomes in urban schools.