developing effective physical fitness testing standards ... · mandated fitness testing in schools...

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Volume 18 | Issue 2 Article 5

11-26-2016

Developing Effective Physical Fitness TestingStandards for Pre Service Physical EducatorsKory HillJacksonville State University, khill@jsu.edu

Roland Thornburg

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Recommended CitationHill, Kory and Thornburg, Roland (2016) "Developing Effective Physical Fitness Testing Standards for Pre Service PhysicalEducators," Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research: Vol. 18: Iss. 2. https://dx.doi.org/10.4148/2470-6353.1004

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EmployingActionResearchtoDevelopEffectivePhysicalFitnessTestingStandardsforPre-Service

PhysicalEducatorsKoryHill-JacksonvilleStateUniversityRolandThornburg-JacksonvilleStateUniversity

Abstract

Physicaleducatorsareoftenheldtoahigherstandardofphysicalfitness.Theabilitytoeffectivelyconveytheimportanceofphysicalfitnessmaydependupontheabilitytoappearphysicallyfit.Theabilitytoperformataminimallevelofproficiencyonfitnesstestswasdeemedimportantbythefacultyofonephysicaleducationteachereducationprogram(PETE).Inanactionresearchevaluation,thefacultyexaminedstandardspresentedintheliterature,aswellasquestionnaireresponsesbystudents,todevelopreasonablepassingscoresforphysicaleducationmajors.ResultsindicatedthestudentsarereceptivetominimalstandardsandtheinitialstandardsareachievablebymoststudentsinthePETEprogram.Keywords:fitnesstesting,PETEprogram,fitness

ThedevelopmentofphysicalfitnessisagoalformostK-12physicaleducation

programs.Standardsatstateandnationallevelsstresstheimportanceofensuringstudentsachieveandmaintainahealth-enhancinglevelofphysicalfitness(AlabamaDepartmentofEducation[ALSDE],2012b;NationalAssociationforSportandPhysicalEducation[NASPE],2013).Physicallyfitchildrenarelikelytoenjoyanimprovedqualityoflife.Thesechildrenarealsolesslikelytobeobeseortosuffertheearlystagesofvariousmetabolicdisorders.Further,theytendtohavemoreself-confidence,bettermentalhealth,andbetteracademicperformance(Janssen&LeBlanc,2010;Strong,Malina,Blimkie,Daniels,Dishman,Gutin,B.,Pivarnik,2005).Whilesomestudiesreportmoderatecorrelationsbetweenchildhoodandadultphysicalfitness,strongercorrelationsexistbetweenasedentarylifestyleduring

An On-line Journal for Teacher Research

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childhoodandoneduringadulthood.Obesechildrenaremorelikelytobeobeseadults,andfitchildrenaremorelikelytobefitadults(Baranowski,Mendlein,Resnicow,Frank,Cullen,&Baranowski,2000;Janz,Dawson,&Mahoney,2000;Telama,Yang,Viikari,Välimäki,Wanne,&Raitakari,2005;Trudeau,Laurencelle,&Shephard,2004).Giventhevalueplacedontheacquisitionoffitnessandfitnessknowledge,assessmentisinevitable.WelkandMeredith(2008)contendedthatfitnesstestingisimportantforavarietyofreasons:1)itstressestheimportanceoffitnessforall,2)itprovidesinformationteacherscanusetomakeinformedprogramchanges,3)itteacheschildrenvaluableself-assessmentskills,4)itaidsingoalsetting,and5)iteducatesstudentsandparentsaboutthecognitiveaspectsoffitnessandhowitisdeveloped.Someexpertsstronglyquestionthevalueoftop-down,mandatedfitnesstestinginschools(Harris,2006;Wrench&Garrett,2008);however,criticismsofK-12fitnesstestingtendtorevolvearoundtheinappropriateuseofscoresandafailuretolinkassessmentwithinstruction.Fewerappeartobecriticaloftheactualpracticeofassessingfitness.Whetherornotoneagreeswiththevalueorneedforfitnesstesting,therealityissuchthatphysicaleducatorsmustbeknowledgeableonthematter.Insomestates,state-widephysicalfitnesstestinginpublicschoolsisrequired(MorrowJr.&Ede,2009).Mostuniversityphysicaleducationteachereducation(PETE)majors(tobeidentifiedascandidates)inPETEprogramswillhavetheresponsibilityofhelpingK-12studentsachieveandmaintainhealth-enhancinglevelsoffitness.Onecouldarguethatthesecandidatesneedtobeabletodemonstratetheirownmaintenanceofhealth-enhancingfitnesslevels.

SomePETEfacultyhaveexpressedthebeliefthatcandidatesshouldundergothesameteststheywillonedayadministertostudents(Baghurst&Bryant,2012).Throughthisprocessoflearningbydoing,candidatesmaygainadeeperunderstandingoffitnessconceptsandtestprocedures.Completingteststhataresimilartothoseadministeredtostudentsmayallowcandidatestobetterunderstandtheemotionsofstudenttest-takers,aswellas,perhaps,toidentifytestproblemsandpitfallsthatwouldnototherwisebeapparent.Therepetitionshouldalsomakethetestsmorefamiliarandprovidecandidateswiththeskillsandconfidenceneededtoreliablyadministertheteststogroupsofstudents.Universally,allteachers,regardlessofthecontenttheyteach,arewell-servedto“walkamile”intheirstudents’testingshoes.Whenteachersinallareasbecomebetteracquaintedwiththevarioustestsrequired,theentireteachingprofessionisstrengthened.

Candidatesshouldbeconsciousoftheirownfitnesslevelsbecausetheyareoftenheldtohigherstandardsoffitnessthanothereducationprofessionals.Whitley,Sage,andButcher(1988)reportedthatphysicaleducationteachersengagedinregularcardiovascularfitnessweremorelikelytoincludeaerobicconditioningcontentintheircurricula.Researchershaveshownthataphysicaleducationteacher’sbodyfatpercentagecaninfluencestudents’willingnesstoacceptfitnessinformationandengageinexercise(Melville&Maddalozzo,1988).Tomeasurethis,researchershadthesameteacherdeliverfitnessinformationviavideototworandomlyselectedgroupsofstudents.Theonlydifferencebetweenthegroupswasthat,inonevideo,theteacherwaswearingafatsuit.Thestudentswhowatchedthefatsuitversionofthevideoscoredloweronretentiontestsandtendedtoviewtheteacheraslesslikableandashavinglessexpertise.Spittle,Petering,KremerandSpittle(2012)reportedthatpre-servicephysicaleducationteacherself-perceptionsoffitnessandappearancearerelatedtophysicaleducationteacher

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stereotypes.Theirstudyshowedthatfitandphysicallycompetentphysicaleducatorstendtobeviewedasmoreknowledgeable.Finally,physicaleducatorswhomaintainahighdegreeoffitnessaremorelikelytoleadbetterqualitiesoflife,tobetterperformdailyrigorousworkactivities,andtobetterserveaseffectiveandcrediblerolemodels(Hetland&Strand,2010;Staffo&Stier,2000).

Rolemodelingisavaluabletoolformotivatingandinforminglearners.Unfortunately,justasstudentscanbepositivelyinfluencedbyhealthymodelbehavior,theycanbenegativelyinfluencedbyunhealthymodelbehavior.Administratorschargedwithhiringphysicaleducationteachersalsobelieveintheimportanceofpositiverolemodeling.Jenkins,Garn,andJenkins(2005)reportedthatoverweightjobcandidateswithhighGPAswerelessfavoredbyadministratorsthannormal-weightjobcandidateswithaverageGPAs.Manypeopleincorrectlybelievethatfatalwaysequalsunfit(Blair,Cheng,&Holder,2001;Blair&Church,2004;O’Donovan,Blazevich,Boreham,Cooper,Crank,,Ekelund,&Stamatakis,2010).Physicalinactivitydoescontributetoweightgain(Janssen&LeBlanc,2010;LaMonte&Blair,2012),andstudents,parents,andadministratorsmayincorrectlyassumethatafatphysicaleducationteacherislazyandphysicallyinactive.

PETEcandidateswilleventuallyberesponsibleforteachingfitness,which,inmostschools,willinvolvetheadministrationoffitnesstests.Thus,animportantfunctionofphysicaleducatorsistoeffectivelyadministerfitnesstestsforprogramimprovementandgreaterfitnessawareness(Welk,2008).Ideally,ascandidatesprogressthroughaPETEprogram,theywillgrowfamiliarwiththebenefitsoffitnesstestingandthechallengesassociatedwithfitnesstestadministration.Somestudentshavenegativefeelingstowardsfitnesstesting.Candidatesshouldthereforebeawareofpotentialstudentanxiety,embarrassment,andnervousnessduringthetestingprocess(Wrench&Garrett,2008).Goingthroughthisprocessthemselvesshouldhelpcandidatesdevelopasenseofempathyandlearntothinkcriticallyaboutwaystoalleviatethestressthataccompaniesfitnesstesting.

ActionResearchWebelievedthemosteffectiveformofstudyforourresearchsettingtobeanaction

researchmethodology,whichwasdefinedbyParsonsandBrown(2002)asfollows:Actionresearchisaformofinvestigationdesignedforusebyteacherstoattempttosolveproblemsandimproveprofessionalpracticesintheirclassrooms.Itinvolvessystematicobservationsanddatacollectionwhichcanbeusedbythepractitioner-researcherinreflection,decision-makingandthedevelopmentofmoreeffectiveclassroomstrategies.(p.55)Withthegoalofidentifyingfitnesstestcut-offscoresthatareeffectiveandfairfor

candidates,wesoughttopromotechange.Theinclusionofstakeholderswasimportantbecausethedecisionstobemadewereintendedtochangecandidates’habitsandattitudestowardsfitness.Brydon-Miller,Greenwood,andMaguire(2003)suggestedthatonegoalofactionresearchistogenerateknowledgethatwillhelpadvancecommunityandindividualwell-being.

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Actionresearchhasbeendescribedasaprocesswherebycommunitiesreflectuponandimprovetheirownpracticebylinkingreflectionandaction.Forthisstudy,theactionresearchmodelfollowedwasdescribedbyAltrichter,Kemmis,McTaggart,andZuber-Skerritt(2002)asconsistingoffourphases:1)planning,2)acting,3)observing,and4)reflecting.

Giventheassumptionthatafitnesstestingrequirementhasthepotentialtobetterpreparephysicaleducators,thisactionresearchstudywasconductedtoanswertwoquestions:1)Whatarecandidates’currentattitudesandbeliefsregardingfitnesstesting?and2)Whatarereasonablecut-offscoreswithwhichtobegininourparticularsetting?Inanefforttoanswerthesetwoquestions,weinitiatedareviewoffitnesstestcriteria,administeredthecurrentstatefitnesstestforgrades3through12toourcandidatesandanalyzedtheresults,andgatheredcandidateinputregardingattitudesandpreferencesconcerningfitnesstestingasaPETEprogramrequirement.

PlanningReview of Published Fitness Values

Theplanningphasebeganwithareviewofpreviouslypublishedfitnessstandards.Normativestandardsandcut-offscoresusedinothersituationswerereviewedtoestablishinitialvalidcut-offscoresforourparticularsetting.Fitnesstestvaluesandcoincidingevaluativecategorieswereobtainedfor:1)theFitnessgram(Mahar&Rowe,2008;Plowman&Yan-ShuLiu,1999;Welk,Going,Morrow,&Meredith,2011),2)theAmericanCollegeofSportsMedicine(ACSM)FitnessTest(Dwyer&Davis,2008),and3)afitnesstestcreatedbytheCanadianSocietyforExercisePhysiology(2003).ThePETEfacultyreviewedboththepublishedvaluesandthecandidates’scoresfrompriorsemestersandagreeduponsuggestedpass/failcut-offscorestoproposetothecandidates.Whencomparingthefitnesssubtestscoresneededforanindividualtobecategorizedashealthy(normallythe20thto25thpercentile),weelectedtogowiththelowestvalue.Forexample,whencomparingthenumberoflapsneededonthePACERtestforfemalestobeconsideredhealthy,onetestreported33laps,another36laps,andthethird41laps.Wethusused31lapsforourcut-offvalue,assumingthat,inthefuture,itwouldbepreferabletoraisestandardsthantolowerstandards.

Creating a Questionnaire for Our Students Inadditiontodemographicinformation,thequestionnaireattemptedtogatherdata

onPETEstudents’attitudesandperceptionsofmandatoryfitnesstesting.Thequestionnairecontainedthreeparts:twotopicsonabipolaradjectivescale(eightadjectivepairs),sixratingscalequestions,andthreeopen-endedquestions.

Thetwobipolaradjectivetopicsposedtothecandidateswere:1)physicalfitnesstestsand2)thepracticeofmakingphysicaleducationmajorspassaphysicalfitnesstestasagraduationrequirement.Theparticipantswereaskedtothinkaboutthetopicstatementandrespondbymarkingthescaletoshowhowtheyfelt.Thesevenpointscalesrangedasfollows:fair-unfair,harmful-helpful,necessary-unnecessary,negative-positive,useful-useless,discouraging-encouraging,valuable-worthless,bad-good.Theeightadjectivepairswereinstrumental(e.g.useful-useless;helpful-harmful),ratherthanaffective(e.g.exciting-

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boring;pleasant-unpleasant)innaturebecausesuchadjectivetypeshavebeensuccessfullyusedinthephysicalsemanticdifferentialsthatassessattitudestowardsphysicalactivity(Rhodes,HuntMatheson,&Mark,2010).

Thesecondpartofthequestionnairecontainedquestionsrequiringresponsesonaratingscalethatrangedfromstronglydisagreetostronglyagree.Questionsaskedaboutcurrentfitnesslevels,opinionsofphysicaleducationteachersasrolemodels,andperceptionsofthelocusofcontrolwithrespecttofitness.

Thefinalsectioncontainedthreeopen-endedquestions:1)Inyouropinion,whatisthelongestamountoftimeitshouldtakea20-year-oldphysicaleducationmajortorunamile?2)AssumethisuniversityinstitutedamandatoryfitnesstestforallPETEmajors.Whatshouldhappentostudentswhofail?3)Makeanyadditionalcommentsyouwouldlikeonthistopic.

ActionTheactionphaseconsistedofadministeringthefitnesstestandthequestionnaires

tothePETEcandidates.Inbothinstances,theresearchquestionsweresharedwiththecandidatesbecausetheywereparticipantsinthestudyand,asparticipants,theywereallowedtoseetheresultsandprovidefeedbackatanypoint.Thegoalsofpromotingpositivechangeinourteacherpreparationprogramwereexplicitlystated,andeffortsweremadetocreateacollaborativeenvironment.

Candidates DataweregatheredfollowingInstitutionalReviewBoardapproval.Participationin

thefitnesstestwaspartofarequiredclassactivity.Thesubmissionofscoresandcompletionofthequestionnairewerevoluntary.Allparticipantssignedaconsentform.

Theparticipatingcandidatesconsistedofphysicaleducationmajorsatamid-sizedregionaluniversityinthesoutheasternUnitedStates.Enrollmentisapproximately9,000students,with85%ofthestudentsenrolledinundergraduateprograms.Malescomprise40%andfemalescomprise60%ofthestudentpopulation.AfricanAmericanscomprise30%,white65%,andallotherethnicitieslessthan5%.ThemajorityofthePETEstudentsareconsideredtraditionalcollegeage(between18and22yearsold).Participantsinthestudyrangedfrom18to39years,butthevastmajoritywereunder24yearsofage.

Fitness Testing of Candidates Thefitnesstestwasadministeredtothecandidatesaspartofaclassexercise.The

fourtestcomponentsadministeredweretheV-sit,theprogressiveaerobiccardiovascularendurancerun(PACER),thepush-upsandthecurl-ups.Theproceduresdescribedinthestatetestmanualwerefollowed(ALSDE,2012a),andcandidatesweregivenanexplanationofthetestandademonstrationofhowtoperformeachtestcomponent.Candidateswerealsoshowntheproposedcut-offscorescreatedbythePETEfaculty(valuesshownintable1).Thoughthecandidateswereinformedthatthesecut-offscoreswerenotyetineffect,theywereencouragedtoattempttosurpassthecut-offscoresasameansofself-assessment.Duetoabsenteeism,injuryandnon-compliance,noteverycandidatecompletedeverytestcomponent.

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Table 1: Departmentally proposed cut-off values for PETE candidates

Age PACER(laps) Push-ups Curl-ups V-sit(inches) Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women29&under 51 31 14 6 17 16 13 1630to39 45 29 13 6 15 15 13 1540to49 32 24 12 5 14 14 12 1250&over 22 19 8 3 12 9 10 8

Candidate Questionnaires Thefinalstepinthedatagatheringprocesswastogatherinformationoncandidate

attitudesandopinionsregardingfitnesstestingand,morespecifically,theuseofmandatorycut-offpassingvalues.Becausesomecandidatescouldnotparticipateinthefitnesstestduetoinjuryorillness,theNvalueforthequestionnaire(N=48)wasgreaterthanthatforthefitnesstest(N=43).Questionnaireswereadministeredtothreeclassesbydepartmentfaculty.Theaverageagewas22.4±5.3,and44%ofthecandidateswerefemale.

DataAnalysisWhiletheestablishmentofcut-offvalueswasasubjectiveexercise,thevalueswere

notchosenarbitrarily.Instead,thefacultychosethevaluesbasedonareviewofthecandidatescoresandthenormativevaluesassociatedwiththebottomquintileofvaluesreportedfortheFitnessgram,theACSMFitnessTest,andtheCanadianFitnessTest.Thecandidatescoreswerethencomparedtotheproposedcut-offvaluestoseewhatthepassingratewouldhavebeenhadthecut-offvaluesbeenineffect.

ThequestionnairedatawereenteredintoanSPSSversion21(SPSSIBM,NewYork,U.S.A)spreadsheetandreversecodedwherenecessarysothathigherscoresona1to7or1to5scalewerealwaysindicativeofamoredesirablebelieforattitude.Thedescriptivedatawerecomputed,andaprinciplecomponentanalysis(CPA)wasperformedonthesemanticdifferentialtopicstoexaminetheirusefulnessandtoidentifypotentialareasfordatareduction.TheCPAexploredtwoattitudetopics:1)physicalfitnesstests(TestAttitude)and2)thepracticeofmakingphysicaleducationmajorspassaphysicalfitnesstestasagraduationrequirement(MandatoryTestAttitude).Theratingscalequestionsweretotaledandoverallmeanswerecomparedaccordingtogenderandperceivedcurrentfitnesslevel.Lastly,thethreeopen-endedquestionswereorganized:responsesaboutanappropriatemileruncut-offweresimplysummed,responsesregardingthesuggestedproceduretofollowintheeventoftestfailureweregroupedbytheme,andresponsesforanyadditionalcommentswerecodedaspositive,negative,orneutral.

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ObservingFitness Test Results

Atotalof43students,16(37%)femaleand27(63%)male,completedthetestduringarequiredphysicaleducationcourse.Themeanageoftheparticipantswas22.8±5.8.Priortotestadministration,candidateswereshownthenewlyproposedcut-offscoresandadvisedthatapassingscorewouldeventuallybeneededtograduate.Passingratesforeachtestcomponentwerethencalculatedusingthecut-offscores;theseareshownintable2.Table 2: Passing rates with proposed HPER department fitness test cut-off scores.

PACER Push-ups Curl-ups V-sit

Male(n=27) 71% 86% 93% 100%

Female(n=16) 43% 100% 100% 100%

Questionnaire Results Theresponsestothebipolaradjectivetopicsforbothconcepts,TestAttitudeand

MandatoryTestAttitude,werepositive.Forbothtopics,theresponsesweregenerallyconsistentwhencomparedwiththevariousadjectivepairs.ForTestAttitude,theonlyadjectivepairwithlowerscoresthantherestwastheencouraging–discouragingpair.ForMandatoryTestAttitude,alleightadjectivepairsweresimilar.Thesemanticdifferentialsforboththe8-itemFitnessTestobject(α=.871)andthe8-itemMandatoryFitnessTestobject(α=.944)werefoundtobehighlyreliable.Descriptivestatistics,presentedintable3,indicatedthatrespondentsheldpositiveattitudestowardbothfitnesstestsingeneralandthepracticeofmandatingfitnesstestsforphysicaleducationmajorsinparticular.Avisualinspectionofthemeansindicatedoverwhelminglypositiveattitudesandconfirmedthet-tests.Acomparisonofmeansindicatedthatbothfitnesstests(t(47)=9.24,p<.001)andmandatoryfitnesstest(t(47)=7.18,p<.001)totalsweresignificantlygreaterthananeutralscore.Table 3: Descriptive statistics for bipolar adjective pairs.

Semanticdifferentialitems Mean SDPhysicalfitnesstests

Fitnesstestsarefair/unfair 5.69 1.82Fitnesstestsarehelpful/harmful 5.77 1.51Fitnesstestsarenecessary/unnecessary 5.69 1.61Fitnesstestsarepositive/negative 5.52 1.64Fitnesstestsareuseful/useless 5.88 1.77Fitnesstestsareencouraging/discouraging 4.96 1.52Fitnesstestsaregood/bad 5.65 1.44

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Fitnesstestsarevaluable/worthless 5.60 1.87Overall 5.59 1.65

Thepracticeofmakingphysicaleducationmajorspassaphysicalfitnesstestasagraduationrequirement

Fitnesstestrequirementsarefair/unfair 5.77 2.04Fitnesstestrequirementsarehelpful/harmful 5.75 1.72Fitnesstestrequirementsarenecessary/unnecessary 5.38 1.96Fitnesstestrequirementsarepositive/negative 5.56 1.75Fitnesstestrequirementsareuseful/useless 5.58 1.90Fitnesstestrequirementsareencouraging/discouraging 5.46 1.76Fitnesstestrequirementsaregood/bad 5.71 1.71Fitnesstestrequirementsarevaluable/worthless 5.73 1.83Overall 5.62 1.84

Note:N=48.Responsesweregivenona7-pointscale,with1beingthemostnegativeresponseand7beingthemostpositiveresponse.

Thedescriptivedatafortheratingscalequestionsrevealedgenerallypositiveresponsesregardingfitnesstestingforphysicaleducationmajors.Usinga5-pointscalerangingfromstronglydisagreetostronglyagree,withhighervaluesindicatinggreaterfavorability,themedianandmeanvaluesforallsixquestionsweremorepositivethananeutralscoreof3.0.Thedescriptivedataareshownintable4.Table 4: Descriptive statistics for Likert-type rating scale questions.

Likert Type Question N Median Mean SD It is important that physical education teachers be able to demonstrate a high level of fitness.

48 5 4.21 1.15

A minimum level of physical fitness should be required of physical education teachers.

48 4 3.48 1.35

For a physical education teacher, being physically fit makes one a better role model.

48 5 4.56 0.9

Knowing a physical fitness test must be passed in order to graduate will motivate me to engage in regular health-enhancing physical activities.

48 5 4.33 1.1

aPhysical education majors have little control over their own physical fitness levels.

48 4.5 4.23 1.02

My current physical fitness level is satisfactory for a physical educator.

47 4 3.89 1.37

Note:Responsesweregivenona5-pointscale,with1beingstronglydisagreeand5beingstronglyagree.aSince,onthisitem,alowscoreindicatesapositiveperception,thescoresforthisitemwerereversedwhenthedatawereanalyzed(1=stronglyagreeand5=stronglydisagree).

Aone-wayANOVAshowedthattheperceptionsofmalesandfemalesdidnotdiffer.Similarly,perceptionsoffitnesstestingwerenotinfluencedbytherespondents’current(albeitself-identified)fitnesslevels.Lastly,thetotalscoresforallratingscalequestions

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weresignificantlyhigherthanwhatwouldhavebeenobservediftherespondentshadselectedneutralforeachitem.Inotherwords,opinionswereclearlypositive.

Thefinalthreequestionsonthequestionnairewereopen-ended.Theresponsestothesequestionsarerepresentedgraphicallyinfigure1.Whenaskedaboutthehighestacceptablemile-runtimelimitforaphysicaleducationmajor,participantsrepliedwithamediantimeofroughly10minutes.Whenaskedwhatshouldhappentocandidateswhofailedthefitnesstest,mostcandidatesfavoredgivingthemmorechancestopass.

Figure1:Responsestoopen-endedquestions

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Nearly88%oftherespondentsbelievedthatcandidatesshouldhavetopassaphysicalfitnesstest;however,theyalsobelievedthatcandidatesshouldbeallowedmultipleattempts,withsuggestionsrangingfromoneadditionalattempttounlimitedattempts.Whengivenachancetoopineaboutanymatterrelatingtothestudy,only11respondents(23%)chosetodoso.Sixresponseswereclassifiedaspositive,threeasnegative,andtwoasneutral.Negativecommentsindicatedthatfitnesstestingwasa“wasteoftime”or“unfair.”Positivecommentsgenerallysupportedfitnesstestingasameansofraisingstandardsandpromotingprofessionalism.Thetwoneutralcommentsofferedsuggestionsregardingproceduralimprovementsfortestadministration.

ReflectingTheresultsindicatedthatphysicaleducationmajorsinthestudiedPETEprogram

appearedsupportiveofeffortstoimplementafitnesstestingcomponent.Evidencefurtherindicatedthatcandidateswerewillingtomakethetestingrequirementapositiveaccountabilitymeasure.Anexaminationofthecandidates’actualfitnesstestscoresrevealedthatthemajorityhadthecapacitytomeettheminimumsuggestedstandards.ThecomponentraisingthegreatestconcernwasthePACERforfemales,withapassrateofonly43%.However,femalesperformedextremelywellontheotherthreecomponents.Malesperformedextremelywellonthev-sitandcurl-ups,withroomforimprovementonthepush-upsandPACER.Asanindicationthatcandidatescanexpendgreatereffortwhenchallenged,oncecut-offscoresweresharedpriortotesting,themalePACERandv-sitscoresimprovedsignificantlyfromprevioussemesters.Thus,withmoreincentivetoreachhigherbenchmarks,candidatesmayperformbetter.Itisimportanttonotethatsomecandidateslikelystoppedperformingoncethecut-offscoreswereexceeded,eventhoughtheyhadnotreachedexhaustionandcouldhavecontinued.Inthefuture,itispossiblethatafitnesscertificatecouldbeawardedtocandidateswhogobeyonddepartmentalstandards.Whenthecut-offscoreswereshowntothecandidates,theirresponsesseemedtosuggestthattheywanttobeheldaccountableformaintainingaminimumleveloffitness.Thisresultwassupportedbythequestionnaireresponses.Whenaskedaboutanappropriateminimummileruntimeforphysicaleducationmajors,themediansuggestionwas10minutes,whichisequivalenttotheminimumfemalePACERscoreof30laps(31lapswasthecut-offscoreforfemalesunder30yrs.).Thedisplayofpositiveattitudesandincreasedeffortassociatedwiththerevealofdepartmentalcut-offscoresmaysuggestthatstandardscanbeslowlyincreasedoverafewyearsascandidatesacclimatetothenewrequirementsandcontinuetosupporttheinclusionofmandatoryfitnessstandards.

Thequestionnairerevealedpositiveattitudestowardfitnesstestsandthepossibilityofmandatingsuchtestsforphysicaleducationmajors.Boththeratingscalequestionsandthesemanticdifferentialitemsindicatedthatstudentsbelievephysicaleducationteachersshouldmaintainaminimumleveloffitnesstobeeffectiveprofessionalsandcompetentrolemodels.Theseviewsremainedstrongregardlessofgenderorperceivedcurrentfitnesslevels.Onemightexpectstudentsperceivingthemselvesaslessfittobelesslikelytohavepositiveattitudestowardmandatoryfitnesstests,butthiswasnotthecase.Itishopedthatwiththeintroductionofmandatoryfitnesstesting,eventhelessfitstudents,realizingtheimportanceofmaintainingtheirfitness,willbemotivatedtoimprove.Wewereencouragedtoobservenodifferenceinattitudesaccordingtogender.

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Fitnesstestsinotherarenas,suchasthemilitaryandfire-fighting,haveattimesbeenviewednegativelyasveiledattemptstoforcefemalestofail.Thefemalesinthisstudydidnotappeartohavenegativeviewsoffitnesstestingand,infact,hadhigherpassratesthanthemales.

Adialoguehasalreadybegunaboutdirectionsforfuturepractice.Giventhecyclicalorspiralingnatureofactionresearch(Altrichter,Kemmis,McTaggart,&Zuber-Skerritt,2002),asresearchers,wefeltitnecessarytoconsiderwhatchangeswillbenecessarygoingforward.Additionally,inactionresearch,thesharingofresultsiscritical.Whendiscussingthecut-offfitnessrequirements,thefacultysharedthestudyfindingswithcandidates,whoshouldbeawarethattheirvoicesareheardregardingprotocolsandprocedures.Candidatesinthisstudysupportedmultiplepassattemptsforthefitnesstest;thus,allinvolvedshouldworktogethertoestablishprotocolstoallowforformativeassessment.

Asstakeholders,PETEcandidatesshouldknowthattheirinputisvaluedandnecessarythroughouttheactionresearchprocess.TheevidenceintheactionresearchshowedthatthePETEcandidatesbelievedfitnesswasimportantandthattheybelieveditwaspartofbeingaprofessionalintheirchosenfield.Whenintroducingthemandatoryfitnesstestingrequirementtocandidates,itwillbeimperativetostressthepositiveeffectitwillhaveonraisingtheirlevelsofprofessionalismandtheircredibilityintheK-12community.Candidatesshouldknowthataminimumrequiredleveloffitnessisnotapunitiveactionbeingforcedonthemfromabove,but,rather,anattempttoraisestandardsthatothercandidatesclearlysupport.

ReferencesAlabamaDepartmentofEducation(ALSDE).(2012a).AlabamaPhysicalFitness

Assessment:TestAdministratorManual.Retrievedfromhttp://www.alsde.edu/home/general/hpeinformation.aspx

AlabamaDepartmentofEducation(ALSDE).(2012b).CoursesofStudyforPhysicalEducation.RetrievedNovember27,2013,fromhttp://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?subject=PE1&summary=1

Altrichter,H.,Kemmis,S.,McTaggart,R.,&Zuber-Skerritt,O.(2002).Theconceptofactionresearch.TheLearningOrganization,9(3),125–131.doi:10.1108/09696470210428840

Baghurst,T.,&Bryant,L.C.(2012).DoasIsay,notasIdo:Improvingtheimageofthephysicaleducationprofession.Strategies,25(4),11–13.

Baranowski,T.,Mendlein,J.,Resnicow,K.,Frank,E.,Cullen,K.W.,&Baranowski,J.(2000).Physicalactivityandnutritioninchildrenandyouth:anoverviewofobesityprevention.PreventiveMedicine,31(2),S1–S10.

Blair,S.N.,Cheng,Y.,&Holder,J.S.(2001).Isphysicalactivityorphysicalfitnessmoreimportantindefininghealthbenefits?MedicineandScienceinSportsandExercise,33(6;SUPP),S379–S399.

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