Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI)

Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI)

Today at Hudson Middle School, I observed Mr. Skip Henninger’s first and third period classes and Mrs. Shelley Jendrisak’s second period class. Mr. Henninger’s students were still working on floor hockey, while Mrs. Jendrisak’s class worked out using the weight room. Since, Mrs. Jendrisak had a moment to talk; I decided to ask her some of the assessment observation questions. I also thought this would be interesting to compare to the answers my group got from observing and asking Mr. Henninger, her colleague at Hudson Middle School. However, since weight lifting is difficult to assess using the Game Performance Assessment Instrument, I decided to utilize this tool in Mr. Henninger’s third period class.

Why do you believe assessment in physical education is important?

Mrs. Jendrisak believes that assessment in physical education is critical because they are learning life skills and she believes that students should be able to see how they are doing in a particular area. She strongly believes in self-test, saying that they “allow students to see their own progress as well as determine where they can improve.” She also supports assessment in physical education because it gains creditability to the program and allows administrators and parents to see the importance of this course in their child’s life.

What type of assessment is done at your physical education secondary site?

Mrs. Jendrisak utilizes work sheets (study guides), written quizzes and tests, team summaries, self-tests as methods of assessment in her classroom. For the weight lifting unit, she has had students record what they have done each day on a card, so that she can assess their progress as well as point out problems to them.

How are grades determined for the report cards?

Most of the points awarded within Mrs. Jendrisak’s classroom are participation and effort points. She gives the students points for dressing daily and being ready to start on time. (Unlike her fellow teachers, Mrs. Jendrisak does not deduct points for renting a uniform. She says her main goal is to have the students dressed appropriately, safely, and active.) While she does utilizes written quizzes and tests, they count for very little overall. She also does assess skills, but concentrates on the proper technique being utilized compared to the end success rate. She feels that the fact that they are trying to learn a skill and perform it properly is her main goal. The results that everyone is looking for will come in time.

What would be the disadvantages or advantages of assessing student learning in physical education?

The biggest disadvantage to assessing student learning in physical education is that she sees so many kids. (She sees approximately 400 students within the course of a week.) She told us about a student teacher from Kent State that she had, who did Sportfolios with the students after a basketball unit. She acknowledged the benefit of these tools, but said that truthfully, they are too much work for one person to grade. Another disadvantage Mrs. Jendrisak pointed out was the lack of understanding from parents. She said some parents would be furious if their child received a C in any other class, but because it is physical education, they let it go. She also has had parents complain that the students work so hard in everything else only to get an “arbitrary B” in a class like physical education. She also commented that most observations in physical education are completely subjective. She said that there are elements that you look for and grade by, but when a parent comes in and says why did Joe receive a B, she has to explain the criteria to the parent, but does not have a record (other than her notes) for the parents to see.

Are any of the assessments listed below used in the program you are observing, if not why? If so explain?

Videotape: Not utilized. It takes too much time to get all of the equipment out, to view the tapes, assess, and then grade. Mrs. Jendrisak does not feel that this is a realistic assessment tool within the classroom. She was also concerned about the safety of the equipment in some of the units.
Exit Polls: The physical education teachers get together every week and discuss situations in the classrooms. They also have meetings to help define their curriculum and assess the age appropriateness with each other. As far as she knew, there were no official exit polls though.
Written Tests: Utilized at the end of units to assess the students’ knowledge of rules.
Journals: Only utilized that one time with the student teacher who had the students work on Sportfolios.
Teacher Observation: Each teacher assigns their students a point value from (0-5) each day for participation, involvement, sportsmanship, following directions, being dressed, and skill execution.
Written Quiz: Utilized to test knowledge before allowing students to proceed in a unit. Mrs. Jendrisak had all of the students be able to identify some major muscles (pectoralis, gluteus maximus, etc.) and then be able to list a machine that would work that muscle group. She felt that if they were unable to do this, then the use of the machines would be dangerous for them.
Skill Test: Students evaluates themselves and each other at the end of a unit.
Game Performance Assessment: The student’s self-test and team tests most similarly identify with the GPAI.

Game Performance Assessment Instrument

Date: Friday, April 11, 2003

Evaluator: Jen Kurtz

Game: Floor Hockey