Assessment and Grading in Physical Education

 

Should we grade students on whether they dress for physical education? Should we grade students on the speed at which they can run the mile? Should we grade students on the number of times they are absent or can't/won't participate? Should we grade students on their ability to maintain their heart rate in the target heart rate zone during the majority of the class period? Should we grade students on x, y, z ... ?

These are some of the questions that physical education teachers are asking at assessment and grading seminars around the country. The answer in a nutshell is: "What do your standards say?" Does your district have physical education standards that state:

• "Students will run the mile in X time."
• "Students will maintain their target heart rate during Y% of class time."
• "Student will dress everyday for physical education."

Although students should dress appropriately for physical education, be physically active during class time, and improve their fitness (e.g., mile-run time), these items are typically not included in the physical education content standards. Therefore, the answer to these questions is "no." The more detailed answer to the question, "What do we grade on?" is the purpose of this article.

The vast majority of school districts have based their physical education standards on the National Standards for Physical Education (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2004). This is not to say that every state has adopted all six national standards, or that the wording is the same. But the intent of the standards has gathered widespread acceptance by most states. That being said, we need to look directly at the standards to determine the manner in which we should grade students.

Using physical education standards (or essential learnings, benchmarks, performance indicators-whatever your district may call them) for grading is known as "standards-based" grading, and it is endorsed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). One of the NBPTS standards for physical educators states: "Accomplished physical education teachers design assessment strategies appropriate to the curriculum and to the learner. They use assessment results to provide feedback to the learner, to report student progress, and to shape instruction" (NBPTS, 1999).

Figure 1. National Standards for Physical Education (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2004)

Demonstrates competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety of physical activities. Demonstrates understanding of movement concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics as they apply to the learning and performance of physical activities. Participates regularly in physical activity. Achieves and maintains a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. Exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others in physical activity Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expressions and/or social interaction.

NBPTS standards for physical educators states: "Accomplished physical education teachers design assessment strategies appropriate to the curriculum and to the learner. They use assessment results to provide feedback to the learner, to report student progress, and to shape instruction" (NBPTS, 1999).

When basing grades on standards, the first decision is whether the standards are equal. Does each standard carry the same value or weight as the others? Is the same amount of instructional time spent on each standard? If a teacher believes that all standards are equal, then in calculating the final grade he or she can weight them equally. If, however, a teacher believes that standard 1 is more important than the other standards, then perhaps standard 1 contributes 25 percent to the final grade. This is strictly a philosophical issue since once the final grade is calculated, it will either equally reflect all the grade-level standards or be biased by one or more grade-level standards. This is the challenge in calculating a final grade-to determine an appropriate one that represents an individual's wide range of abilities for six different standards.

The second decision is which tools to use when assessing student performance for each standard. There are a wide variety of tools from which to select: structured observations, written tests (e.g., open-ended questions), logs, journals, role-playing, simulations, research and reports, and projects. Like most subject areas, physical educators across the country are using a wide-variety of assessment tools from traditional to alternative to authentic. Some are even simultaneously ad dressing the National Educational Technology Standards for Students by requiring multimedia projects whereby students use a program such as Hyper-Studio or PowerPoint to demonstrate their learnings (Mitchell, McKethan, & Mohnsen, 2003). Figure 2 provides sample projects aligned to each of the physical education national standards.

Figure 2. Sample Projects Aligned with National Standards

Standard 1 - Develop a 60-second gymnastics routine and demonstrate it to a small group of peers. Standard 2 - Conduct a biomechanical analysis of an individual performing a motor skill and present the results through a multimedia presentation. Standard 3 - Design a web page on the physical activity opportunities in the community. Standard 4 - Develop a week-long health-related personal fitness plan and create a video-base presentation of the plan. Standard 5 - Create a PowerPoint presentation on conflict resolution steps during a physical activity. Standard 6 - Design a two-sided three-fold brochure that depicts the benefits of physical activity, including its benefits related to health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and social interaction.

 

It is best to use more than one assessment tool to collect data on student progress for each standard. This is why assessment "best practices" differentiate between assessment and grading, since only some assessments are used for grading. However, some physical education classes only meet once or twice a week for a limited period of time, and teachers may only be able to complete one assessment per standard. In this case, assessment and grading may be synonymous. For example, in physical education classes with limited time, students may be required to submit physical activity logs that chronicle participation in physical activity outside the school day in order to demonstrate learning related to standard 3. Whereas in physical education classes that meet daily, students may take a written quiz on fitness concepts, complete a one-week fitness plan, and create a bulletin board on fitness concepts to demonstrate their learning related to standard 4. The teacher uses the quiz scores to determine what information needs to be reviewed. The students choose between the one-week fitness plan and the bulletin board project for grading purposes.

Figure 3. Sample Rubric (Mohnsen, 2006)

Students create a one-week health-related fitness plan. Level 6: Completes level 5 plus includes a variety of aerobic exercises. Level 5: Completes level 4 plus includes strength exercises for upper and lower body. Level 4: Addresses frequency, intensity, time, and type for all five fitness areas. Level 3: Addresses frequency and time for all five fitness areas. Level 2: Addresses frequency for all five fitness areas. Level 1: Does not submit a plan.

 

Figure 4. Sample Grading System
	Unit 1	Unit 2	Unit 3	Final Standard Grade
Standard 1	C	B	B	B
Standard 2	B	B	A	B
Stardard 3	B	B	B	B
Standard 4	C	B	B	B
Standard 5	B	B	A	B
Standard 6	C	B	A	B
Final unit grade:	B-	B	A-
Final Grade=B

Figure 5. Sample Standards-Based Report Card for Physical Education (all standards are equal in this example -there is no weighting of standards)
Sue Brown                                                            Period 1 Final Grade: 3
Standard 1- Demonstrates competency in motor skills.			3
Volleyball set	3	Volleyball serve	3
Volleyball forearm pass	4	Basketball dribble	2
Basketball lay-up	2	Basketball set shot	3
Soccer Dribble	4	Soccer pass	3
Badminton serve	4	Badminton smash	2
Standard 2- Exlains movemnet concepts related to skill acquisition.			3
Volleyball practice plan	3	Biomechanics project	2
Written test-soccer strategies	4
Standard 3 -Participates daily in physical activity.			4
Daily activity log	4
Standard 4 -Creates a one-week fitness plan.			3.5
Fitness plan	3	Salf-analysis-fitness	4
Standard 5 -Demonstrates cooperation when working with others.			2.5
Cooperation	3	Journal entry	2
Standard 6 -Values physical activity.			2
Brochure Project	2
Highlight Box Authentic assessment - Process of gathering evidence and documentation of student's learning and growth in ways that resemble "real life" as closely as possible.

 

It is important to note that one project or assessment tool may be used to assess more than one standard. For example, a motor skill improvement project can address standards 1 and 2. For this project students are required to videotape their performance of a motor skill. The teacher uses the video to assess student performance on the motor skill (standard 1). The students use the video to conduct self analysis. They complete a biomechanical critique of their performance (standard 2) and then create a month-long practice plan for improving their performance (standard 2). This one assessment tool provides three assessments/grades covering two standards.

Once teachers begin to use standards-based assessment, it is time to consider using rubrics instead of grades. Grades have come to mean many things to different people (i.e., good students get good grades). When using rubrics, a shift occurs away from simply rewarding students with grades, to documenting the quality of their performances or learning. With a six-point rubric, four is considered minimum competency. With a four-point rubric, three is considered minimum competency. When writing rubrics, the mini- mum competency should meet the standard. As educational reform of assessment has occurred, rubrics, or scoring guides, have emerged as a consistent and fair method for explicitly stating what students are expected to achieve. Figure 3 provides a sample six-point rubric for assessing a one week fitness plan.

Using rubrics is ideal for those educators whose schools use rubric-based record cards; however, criterion-based assessment can be accomplished with grades as well. With grades the key is to use "criterion-reference" grading. In this situation, the teacher writes a criterion for each "letter grade" much like they do when creating rubrics. This ensures that the assessment stays consistent and fair, and clearly states what students are expected to achieve.

One area of confusion in physical education is how to accomplish standards-based assessment when most instruction (especially at the middle and high school levels) occurs in instructional units. "Should there be a grade for each standard during each unit?", "Is there a final unit grade?", "is the final semester grade based on a summary of the unit grades or a summary of the standard grades?" Figure 4 illustrates these options. If, like in figure 4, a grade is given for each standard during each unit, then the final grade can be based on either an average of the "Final Unit Grades" or an average of the "Final Standard Grades." However, in most cases, a grade will not be given for each standard during each instructional unit. Therefore, the final grade should be based on an average of the final grades for each physical education standard.

Grading based on the achievement of clearly stated standards informs both students and parents of what is expected; along with the progress students are making. Often, educators are limited to providing parents with one final grade for the course. However, a standards-based report card (see figure 5) provides parents and students with the detail they need to fully understand the physical education grade. In addition, this type of report gives students clear feedback on projects and performances, and motivates the students to perform well on future assessments. Ultimately, during an era of accountability, a physical education standards-based report card puts physical education on an equal footing with other subject areas.

References
Mitchell, M., McKethan, R, & Mohnsen, B. (2003). Integrating technology and physical education. Cerritos, CA: Bonnie's Fitware.

Mohnsen, B. S. (2006). Middle school physical education portfolio software. Cerritos, CA: Bonnie's Fitware.

National Association for Sport and Physical Education. (2004). Moving into the future: National standards for physical education (2nd ed.). Reston, VA: Author.

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. (1999). Physical education standards Arlington, VA: Author.

Bonnie Mohnsen (bmohnsen@pesoftwore.com) is the Chief Executive Officer of Bonnie 's Fitware Inc, Cerritos, CA.

 ______________________________________________________________________________

 

Title	Assessment and Grading in Physical Education.
Author	Mohnsen, Bonnie
Source	Strategies (Reston, Va.)
Publisher	American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
Vol/Issue	20(2)
Date	Nov/Dec 2006
SIRC Article #	S-1039802

 

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