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Fitness testing in schools

Program evaluation

Another purpose of fitness testing in schools is for evaluating programs. Is our PDHPE  program achieving its outcomes? Is it successful or effective? Many schools may use the results of fitness tests to gauge the success of their PDHPE programs. Like the use of fitness data for assessing student achievement, the use of fitness results should be seen as only one of a range of sources of information. It is not feasible to assume that one set of fitness test results alone will provide reliable insight into the success of a school PDHPE program.

The purpose of program evaluation is to collect useful information that will provide direction and indicate the need for revisions and improvements to the quality of the PDHPE program. When evaluating the effectiveness of school PDHPE programs, it is essential that the program gives students the opportunities to develop or improve on what is being measured. For example, you can’t monitor the changes in a group of students in response to a skills program if the students have not had the quality of teaching and practice time which will allow improvement to occur.

The same goes for health-related fitness. Given concerns expressed earlier about the use of fitness tests for measuring student achievement, regular retesting to assess the effectiveness of programs is not recommended, especially in primary schools. Because of the limitations of testing and regular retesting to assess change, it is best left to larger-scale research than to individual schools. You could still gain a sense of the effectiveness of your programs by selecting a random sample of students from whom to collect data. A 10% sample from each age group with an equal ratio of boys and girls   would be sufficient to get a sense of the effectiveness of your programs. However, as indicated earlier, you would also need to collect other information to make an informed decision.

Thinking it through

1. How do you currently evaluate the success of your PDHPE program?
2. What information do you collect?
3. What are some other ways in which you might do this?
4. Have the results of fitness tests led to any changes in your program?
5. What units in your PDHPE program could you look at to collect information on the effectiveness of your program?
6. What are some of the issues involved in using the results of fitness tests to evaluate the effectiveness of programs?

Suggestions for gathering information

Schools should not rely just on data from fitness tests to assess the effectiveness of their PDHPE programs. There are many aspects of PDHPE other than fitness. There are also many other evaluation methods that can be used to assess the effectiveness of this aspect of your PDHPE program. Here are some suggestions on the type of information that can be gathered and the methods used.

Student surveys: In relation to physical activity and fitness, surveying student activity patterns, identifying student attitudes and personal goals in relation to activity and monitoring the attainment of goals may provide a richer set of information on which to base judgements than fitness test results.

Self-reporting measures: These can provide a range of information, such as the  activities students like, the time they spend being active, and the factors which develop positive attitudes to physical activity. An example of a self-reporting measure can be found in the NSW Schools Fitness and Physical Activity Survey, 1997.

School questionnaires: These may help to identify any problem areas in the school and can be used as an initial review of current practice. Results from school   questionnaires can also be used to initiate staff discussion and planning for change. A sample school questionnaire can be found in the survey report.

Fundamental motor skills: A skills checklist could be used as a diagnostic tool to help assess the motor skills of students. You can ensure that any weaknesses observed are addressed in your PDHPE program.

Students’ results on classroom and assessment tasks: This information could be collected from a range of tasks such as research projects, term tests, and teacher observation of student performance.

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