ABC Fit A New Paradigm Glenn Young, BEd, MEd Physical Education and Athletics Coordinator Surrey Physical Education

Why Schools Fitness Test To improve overall performance Diagnosing weakness/deficiency Improvement over baseline Effectiveness of program Gathering data Communicate achievement Only standardized test we have for PE Surrey Physical Education

Lab vs Field Based Tests Much more accurate than field based Lab tests to costly Can not be replicated with large numbers Surrey Physical Education

Field-Based Fitness Tests Canada Fitness Award, CFA (1970), European Test of Physical Fitness, Eurofit (1988), President’s Challenge, Fitnessgram Focus primarily on Health-Related components of fitness (endurance, flexibility, strength) Surrey Physical Education

What are we actually measuring? Genetics/heredity (potential) Maturation (young people show a linear increase in VO2 max w/age) Intervention (our PE programs, PA programs) Motivation Lifestyle Skilled at taking the test NOT True Improvement Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Critical Questions Are you fit? How do you know? What criteria did you use? Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education ABC Fitness District has defined fitness for our students Aerobic Fitness (4 station circuit) Balance (Stork) Core (Plank) Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Why Aerobic? One of the best indicators of overall fitness Obvious positive health-related outcomes Tests are easy to administer to large groups Many standards developed Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Why Balance? Used on a daily basis (static & dynamic) Foundation for all movement Changing and controlling your center of gravity Directly rewires the brain Injury prevention Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Why Core? Bridges lower body to upper body Effective force transfer and skillful movement depend on the core to sustain proper spinal position Enhances throwing, jumping, rotary skills Engine of the body Wrong focus on extremities first Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Why a Paradigm Shift Fitness testing antithetical to the goal of promoting physical activity Children are not small adults Tests need to be appropriate Testing needs to be efficient Functional fitness (used daily) before performance Criterion referenced standards Safe--not maximal exertion or to exhaustion Promote learning and positive attitudes Surrey Physical Education

Effects on Children of Fitness Testing Intrinsic motivation increased with positive feedback after test, but decreased after negative feedback (Whitehead & Corbin, 1991) Major contributor to negative attitudes towards PE (Luke & Sinclair, 1991) Tests only motivate those that do well (PEA, 1988) Over emphasis on the product-related issues (fitness level, performance) rather than the process-related issues (health, physical activity behavior) (Cale & Harris 2002) Surrey Physical Education

Effects on Children of Fitness Testing Improper testing turns many “off” activity rather than “on”(Docherty & Bell, 1990, Corbin et al. 1995) Communicates a false message that competition and excellence are necessary for health and fitness (Cale & Harris, 2005) Children have little understanding why they are tested (Hopple & Graham, 1995) Inappropriate or undesirable use of fitness scores to grade children as a primary indicator of achievement (Corbin, 2002) Surrey Physical Education

Recommendations (Cale & Harris, 2005) Be child-centered & developmentally appropriate Positive & meaningful experience Provide individualized baseline scores and feedback to improve Promote learning and positive attitude towards being active Scores interpreted carefully because of limitations Use criterion-referenced standards Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Aerobic Fitness Grade 8 Emerging Developing Acquired Accomplished Aerobic Fitness Uses more than 3 rest intervals to engage in moderate physical activities for less than 10 minutes Uses 1-3 rest intervals to engage in moderate to vigorous physical activities for 10 minutes Engages in vigorous physical activities continuously for 10 minutes eg. skip, hop, jog, dance, fitness circuit, school run, etc. Engages in vigorous physical activities continuously for 12 minutes Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Balance Emerging Developing Acquired Accomplished Balance (Stork) Adjusts body position more than once to achieve the allotted time Adjusts body position once to achieve the allotted time Maintains a static body position for 60 seconds Maintains a static body position for all 3 trials Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Core Emerging Developing Acquired Accomplished Core (Plank) Uses more than 1 rest interval to maintain the proper position for the allotted time Uses 1 rest interval to maintain the proper position for the allotted time Maintains the proper body position for 60 seconds Maintains the proper body position for 2 trials Surrey Physical Education

Surrey Physical Education Pilot Results Surrey Physical Education