Schools Need To Avoid These Pitfalls When It Comes To Fitness Testing.

*BEEP* Here we go again. *BEEP*

Fitness testing in schools is a controversial topic. Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting it is a misguided practice, many school districts?still require fitness testing as part of P.E.

I understand that - in many situations - this is a policy issue. However, I have a hard time accepting that we continue to move forward with a practice simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done” despite knowing that it may be harmful to students.

Our students’ safety should always be our primary concern, which means that we have to rethink how (or if) we approach fitness testing in schools.

When implemented with ignorance, fitness testing has the potential to demean, embarrass, threaten, exclude, mislead, or demotivate students. Poor fitness testing practices also tend to overlook the fact that children are not “miniature adults.” Because of this, standardized fitness test results often lack validity.

However, some teachers do not have a choice when it comes to fitness testing.?For those teachers, here are some of the pitfalls that schools should avoid to reduce the negative impact of fitness testing:

???Using fitness test results to determine grades.

Using fitness test results as the foundation of students’ grades can lead to several undesirable situations such as teaching to the test, cheating, loss of interest in P.E., and issues related to self-esteem.

???Comparing fitness test results to norm tables.

Using norm tables (e.g. fitness standards) ignores the fact that such standards can be subjective, may misclassify youth and tend to promote certain types of body performances (while excluding others).

???Failing to educate students on other factors that influence fitness.

Fitness testing promotes the message that students are solely responsible for their fitness. This message fails to acknowledge that young people often have little decision-making control regarding their lifestyle, and other environmental and genetic factors influence fitness levels.

???Failing to link fitness tests to educational outcomes.

Fitness testing is often performed as an activity that lives outside of other curricular outcomes and therefore has little educational value or perceived purpose. Instead, it should be used as part of a teacher’s approach to educating students on physical activity and fitness.

As a profession, we need to continue to educate ourselves and reflect on the practices we adopt in our teaching to best support our students and their safety.?To quote Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

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