MONITORING STANDARDS IN EDUCATION

Random Sample Assessment Program

MSE Assessment History

Reporting

School Assessment Materials

Forthcoming Assessments

Order Forms

Making Consistent Judgements

Tracking Student Performance

• General Information
• Assessing Performance Tasks
• Concepts for a Healthy Lifestyle
• Self-management Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Skills for Physical Activity
• Costs
• Ordering Assessment Materials

General Information

The MSE Health and Physical Education school assessments are based on the 1998 Health and Physical Education random sample and are available as follows:

Teachers Manuals
For each strand, there are two Teachers Manuals: a Primary Teachers Manual and a Secondary Teachers Manual. The Primary Teachers Manual contains Administration and Analysis Guidelines for year 3 and 7 tasks, and the Secondary Teachers Manual contains Administration and Analysis Guidelines for year 7 and 10 tasks. Before conducting assessments, teachers should leave themselves enough time to read through the Teachers Manual to become familiar with the standardized administration procedures and the assessment requirements.

Assessing Performance Tasks

The assessments for the Skills for Physical Activity and Interpersonal Skills strands are performance tasks. Teachers are required to assess student performances in real time.

Teachers may find it easier to video the performances for assessment at a later date. This will help maintain consistency and to have a point of reference when marking. Instructions on how to successfully video the tasks are in the relevant Teachers Manual.

To assist teachers to assess performances in the Skills for Physical Activity and Interpersonal Skills strands, a Teacher Training video is supplied for each strand.

The videos show how to judge student performances, using the marking keys in the Teachers Manuals. Exemplars of years 3, 7 and 10 student performances in all tasks at a range of outcome levels are included. The videos allow teachers to develop a shared understanding of the criteria used to judge performances and to attain consistency with teachers using these assessments in other schools, and with the judgements of markers in the 1998 Health and Physical Education random sample.

As the marking guides are developed using the levels of the Student Outcome Statements, the videos are a valuable moderating tool for these strands.

The videos also show the standardised administration instructions for the assessments. As it is not always possible for qualified Health and Physical Education teachers to conduct assessments, all teachers can become familiar with the administration and marking of the assessment.

It is important that you view the videos before conducting the assessment tasks so that the results of this assessment can be validly compared to the results of the 1998 Health and Physical Education random sample.

Concepts for a Healthy Lifestyle

Written assessments are available at year 3, year 7 and year 10.
Materials Required

• Concepts for a Healthy Lifestyle Teachers Manual (Primary or Secondary)
• Student Answer Booklets

Self-management Skills

The Self-management Skills assessments comprise four tasks:

• Decision Making
• Generalised Self-efficacy survey
• Attitudes to Physical Activity survey
• Fitness Testing

For full details of the materials required for each task, refer to the Self-management Skills Teachers Manual (Primary or Secondary)

Decision Making
Written assessments are available for years 3, 7 and 10.

Surveys
The Generalised Self-efficacy Survey and the Physical Activity Survey are suitable for students in years 7 and 10. Students may complete both the Generalised Self-efficacy Survey and the Physical Activity Survey in one sitting, or on separate occasions. They may be administered as part of a Health or a Physical Education lesson.

A note on Generalised Self-efficacy:
Self-efficacy has a close association with self-management and self-esteem, and as such plays a role in the decisions students make about their health and physical activity. It refers to the control that individuals feel they have to influence positive outcomes for themselves and can be described as "the belief that one can effectively deal with every day life problems and challenges at large" (Hoeltje et al. 1996. 'Generalised Self-efficacy: Family and Adjustment Correlates.' Journal of Clinical Child Psychology. 25 [4])

The survey form measures HOW SURE students feel they will manage well in a variety of situations. The situations are organised into two broad categories, where one set of situations contains features of self-reliance, and the other set of situations contains features of relations with people. Thus there are two scales on which students can be measured.

Fitness Testing
Fitness testing was conducted for the 1998 Health and Physical Education random sample. It is included in Self-management Skills as the degree of one's fitness is a result of decisions taken to meet personal health and physical activity needs. Fitness testing results can be used to monitor fitness levels in order to plan for adequate levels.

The tests used in the 1998 random sample were taken directly from the ACHPER (Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation) Australian Fitness Education Award (AFEA). These tests were:

• The Curl Up (abdominal strength and endurance)
• The Shoulder Stretch (upper body flexibility)
• The Multi-stage Fitness Test (cardiorespiratory endurance)
• The Basketball Throw (upper body muscular strength)

Minimum criterion-based standards established by ACHPER through testing in 1994 were used as the criteria to judge adequate fitness levels. These minimum standards are those considered necessary to gain health benefits.

For details on how to administer the fitness tests and score student performances, schools will require the AFEA package. This package is available in most schools, however it can be purchased directly from:

The Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Inc. (ACHPER)
214 Port Rd
Hindmarsh
South Australia 5007
ph 08 8340 3388
fax 08 8340 3399
email: bookshop@achper.org.au
www.achper.org.au
This link is to an organization external to the Department of Education. The Department is not responsible for any content or information found on the pages.

Interpersonal Skills

At years 3, 7 and 10, there are two Interpersonal Skills tasks. Students are assessed in mixed-sex groups of 4 to 6 students. The completion of either task will give a valid indication of the level at which students are performing, however richer information will be obtained with the completion of both tasks.

• Year 3
  • Group discussion - What Should I Do?
  • Physical challenge - Mystic Stones
• Year 7
  • Group discussion - New Health Laws
  • Physical challenge - Mystic Stones
• Year 10
  • Group discussion - New Health Laws
  • Physical challenge - Mystic Stones

Note: before conducting the assessments, teachers should view the Interpersonal Skills Teacher Training Video.

Skills for Physical Activity

Students are assessed in same-sex groups of six (4-6 girls or 4-6 boys). Full details of equipment required are in the Teacher Manual.

Organisation of the assessments
To validly assess demonstrations of students' Skills for Physical Activity, a prescribed combination of tasks should be administered. Through the combinations, measures of student performance at both the strand and substrand levels are possible.
The combinations are as follows:

Year 3: (Two Fundamental Movement Skills and a modified game)

• Sprint Run AND One-handed Strike (stationary and bounced ball) AND Keepy-off

OR

• Overarm Throw AND Two-handed Catch (standing and moving) AND Keepy-off

Year 7 and Year 10: (Two Fundamental Movement Skills and a modified game)

• Sprint Run AND One-handed Strike (stationary and bounced ball) AND 3-on-3 Soccer

OR

• Overarm Throw AND Two-handed Catch (standing and moving) AND No-bounce Basketball

Note: The completion of either combination will give a valid indication of the level at which students are performing. It is not necessary for students to complete all four Fundamental Movement Skills or to play both modified games.

Substrand Measures
By combining the scores of the relevant assessment criteria from the prescribed combinations of tasks, measures of student performance in the following substrands can be obtained:

• Fundamental Movement Skills
• Movement Skills
• Activity and Games Strategies

Full details are in the Skills for Physical Activity Teachers Manual.

• Concepts for a Healthy Lifestyle Teachers Manual: $10.00 each
• Self Management Skills Teachers Manual: $10.00 each
• Skills for Physical Activity Assessment package (includes video): $25.00 each
• Interpersonal Skills Assessment package (includes video): $25.00 each
• Student Test Booklets: 60 cents each

All assessment material is the property of schools. Teachers and administrators should ensure that it is kept in a safe place for future assessments.