American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

 Issue: Nov/Dec 2004

Blending Assessment into Instruction: Practical Applications and Meaningful Results
Michael T. Wright & Hans van der Mars

Abstract:
Since engagement in physical activity is now identified as an important outcome for students, teachers need to assess their students in ways that measure that behavior. Assessment serves many purposes in an educational setting. It can provide feedback, drive instructional needs, and evaluate outcomes of both students and programs. If done regularly and performed in an ongoing, in-class fashion, the assessment process can also produce a higher level of appropriate student engagement. However, traditional assessments, such as scores on isolated fitness tests, provide little information on students’ actual participation in the process of being physically active. Teachers who use assessment that is woven throughout already existing patterns of high quality instruction will be able to provide meaningful feedback to students, parents, and administrators regarding individual student performances and curricular outcomes. This can be recognized as a critical step toward developing programs that affect students’ learning experiences in positive ways and can be regarded as truly legitimate within the total school experience. Physical educators need to develop techniques that will allow them to assess authentically the full range of student engagement and learning during physical education. This article focuses on some procedures that will help them do so.

Article category: Assessment