Assessment in Physical Education
Okay, we've almost completed our grand adventure. We feel comfortable with planning a physical education lesson, and even instructing the lesson, but how do we assess student achievement in physical education? This topic has been greatly debated over the years, with educators asking the question, "Can we even grade student's athletic abilities?" The answer is yes. Like any subject in school, educators must anticipate that there will be a large range of abilities, however, all students can learn to be active. Fundamental movement skills can be broken apart and taught in very simplistic ways, therefore, they can also be assessed in simple ways. There are many resources and supports in place to ensure that teachers are comfortable with assessment. Throughout this portion of our adventure we will examine different assessment tools, as well as a variety of resources available to assist teachers in the assessment of physical education.
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Types of Assessment
Like any classroom subject, there are three types of assessments that can be used to assess student achievement in physical education. Bridget Webster, a grade 5/6 teacher in the Waterloo Catholic Board describes these three assessments.
Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic assessment is also referred to as "assessment for learning" and is the first type of assessment that you would do with your students when preparing to learn a new skill. Diagnostic assessment is a way for the teacher to learn what skills the students already have and what areas the teacher should focus their instruction on. The results from this assessment are not used for grades on a report card.
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Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is also referred to as "assessment as learning" and is done continuously throughout a physical education unit. The purpose of this type of assessment is to assess the progress of student learning throughout the unit. This form of assessment provides teachers with the information they need to create an inclusive program that meets the needs of all students throughout the unit. The results gained from these assessments do not count towards grades on a report card.
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Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is also referred to as "assessment of learning" and is used to assess the skills that the students have gained by the end of the unit. Teachers will create a summative physical education task which allows students to demonstrate the specific skill they have been working on and teachers will assess students based on a series of performance criteria. These results will be used when deciding final grades on a report card.
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For more information regarding the three types of assessments and how the can be successfully implemented in a physical education class, check out this great slideshow from Bridget Webster.
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How do I Implement these Assessments?
Any teacher knows that the first step in successful assessment is to establish appropriate success criteria. You need to know exactly what you are going to be examining to gauge if students are successful or not. As a physical education teacher, assessment is not simply broken down into dyadic categories of successful or unsuccessful. There are many small components that are required for one single skill to be successful, and these small components must be assessed individually. Establishing success criteria can be a difficult task, but it is a critical component of successful assessment. The image to the right outlines specific performance criteria (success criteria) for the fundamental movement skill of catching a ball. As you can see, the seemingly simple task of catching a ball can be broken up into six different assessment areas. Many resources exist to help support teachers in breaking apart the fundamental movement skills and identifying the success criteria for assessment. One very useful document which has been mentioned before is called "Fundamental Movement Skills: A Manual for Teachers" and is listed to the side. Another useful resource is the OPHEA Learn to Move Series which contains multiple lesson plans directly related to 15 different movement skills. Each lesson plan contains performance criteria for the skill and assessment strategies. |
Fundamental Movement Skills
OPHEA Learn to Move Series
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Examples of Assessment Methods on Fundamental Skill of Throwing
Diagnostic Assessment
In this diagnostic assessment, the teacher has created a checklist which has all the success criteria along the top and the students names along the side. The teacher can then check off the skills they observe, and/or make notes regarding student success. (Sample from Bridget Websters slides, 2013)
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Formative Assessment
In this formative assessment, the teacher has created a chart with students names and space for anecdotal comments related to the success criteria. Using this, the teacher can track the progress of individual student achievement. (Sample from Bridget Websters slides, 2013)
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Summative Assessment
In this summative assessment, the teacher has listed the learning goal at the top. This goal is taken directly from the Ontario Curriculum. The teacher is then using a leveled rubric to assess students achievement in a variety of categories related to the skill of throwing (knowledge and understanding, thinking, communication and application). (Sample from Bridget Websters slides, 2013)
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Alternative Methods
While Bridget Webster provides some great strategies of how to conduct diagnostic, formative and summative assessments in a physical education classroom, many other methods exist. To learn more about alternative methods including student portfolios, student journals, checklists and rating scales, refer to the slide show created by Dr. William Russell, titled "Authentic Assessment in Physical Education".
To Review...
The following video does a great job explaining the multiple types of assessment and different ways to implement the assessment strategies in a physical education classroom. Check out the video as a review of the information we discussed on this page.