Running Head: Assessment Reflection

Assessment Reflection
Natalie Welsh
KIN 745: Assessment In Physical Education
Dr. Beasley
May 16, 2015

Assessment Reflection

Assessment Reflection
Assess to make your Program Relevant
Assessment in physical education is critical to having a solid physical education program.
A program without assessment is essentially a roll-out-the-ball program where the teacher does
not have a plan of what will be taught, when, and how. A physical education program without
assessment is like a blank map, there is no way of telling where youve been or where you will
end up. According to Alan C. Lacy, the way that we assess student learning is critical in having
professional success in an activity-based field (2013, 1). Not only is assessment critical for
having a solid program, but it also serves as a way to show students, colleagues, school board
members, administration, and community members that learning is taking place in your
classroom.
Assessment: Past view as a Student, current view as an Educator
As a student, assessment meant that I was going to show my knowledge on a particular
unit in order to achieve a grade. The purpose of assessment from my student lens was to prove
that I was competent with the content or that I had studied enough to pass.
Now, as an educator, I assess for many reasons. I assess to measure student abilities and
previous skill levels prior to beginning a unit. I also assess to assign a grade to a student at the
completion of a unit based on improvement, or sometimes achievement if a student is already
very competent at an activity or certain component of fitness. Finally, I assess to see where I can
improve my teaching, or to see where I have had success. With this information, I can
collaborate on best teaching practices with my colleagues.

Assessment Reflection
Benefits of Assessment
I have found assessments to be very beneficial to my teaching. By using pre and post
assessments, I can see how far student learning has developed over a unit. I think that
determining whether or not an assessment is beneficial is based on what your objectives are for
your classes. If your goal is student improvement then you would determine this at the end of a
unit through measuring student success on a post-assessment as compared to a pre-assessment. I
believe the best way to judge whether or not an assessment was successful is to look at
improvement, check to make sure you were using validity in what you were assessing for, and to
gather feedback from students following the assessment. If after an assessment, you gather
positive feedback from students because they felt competent in their learning from the quality
instruction that they received, then I would consider that assessment beneficial. If I am able to
use assessment to better evaluate my program, then it is absolutely beneficial.
Moving on up: How can we Improve Assessment
I think that physical education assessment can be improved to include many different
forms of assessment. If physical educators stay consistent with creating objectives that align to
NASPE as well as state standards, I think that our assessments will be much more valid.
Improving physical education assessments to contain authentic assessment, tests, and physical
fitness testing will provide clearer pictures of what students know and are able to do. As stated
by Lacy, With the rise in popularity of alternative assessment, qualitative assessments have
begun to play a larger part in measurement and evaluation in school settings. An effective
measurement and evaluation plan will include a variety of assessment sources, both quantitative
and qualitative (Lacy, 2011). Rather than simply giving paper and pencil tests to measure
cognitive knowledge, and physical fitness tests to measure health-related fitness, we should also

Assessment Reflection
be able to authentically assess students through alternative assessment. I also think that we need
to be careful when assigning scores to tests measuring competency and fitness. The focus should
be on overall improvement not whether students meet a healthy fitness zone or have perfect form
on a motor skill.
Rating Quality of Assessment
When rating the quality of an assessment, I look at whether it benefits my students to
complete the assessment. I know that if my students feel well-prepared and ready for an
assessment, then I have likely prepared them to succeed. If my assessments are met with
enthusiasm to demonstrate learning, then I consider them successful. However, if students are
dreading the assessment and are meeting them with low self-confidence, then I feel that my
assessment timing would be poor, or that I have not provided them with enough opportunities to
succeed in the assessment.
My Goal in Assessment
My goal as a physical educator is to provide my students with the tools to be active
individuals over their lifetimes. If my assessments are contributing toward that goal, then I feel
as though I am meeting my personal goal. The goal for assessment in physical education is to
allow students to demonstrate their understanding or abilities following a unit. If students are
able to meet this task with an enthusiasm to demonstrate their learning, then I feel that they are
closer to being prepared to be active for a lifetime.

Assessment Reflection
References
Lacy, Alan (2011). Measurement & Evaluation in Physical Education and Exercise Science. San
Francisco, USA: Benjamin Cummings.