FITNESSGRAM Overview

Created by HealthMPowers

2

WHY FITNESSGRAM?

 Combines both an educational assessment and reporting software program  Designed to promote lifelong physical activity  Based on the latest research on children’s fitness  Health related  Uses criterion-referenced standards

3

FITNESSGRAM Advisors

       

Charles L. Sterling, EdD

The Cooper Institute FITNESSGRAM Chairman

Charles B. Corbin, PhD

Arizona State University - Retired

Kirk J. Cureton, PhD

University of Georgia

Scott Going, PhD

The University of Arizona

James R. Morrow, Jr., PhD

University of North Texas

Robert Pangrazi, PhD

Arizona State University - Retired

Russell R. Pate, PhD

University of South Carolina

Sharon Ann Plowman, PhD

University of Northern Illinois - Retired 

Judith J. Prochaska, PhD

University of California, San Francisco 

Georgi Roberts, MS

Fort Worth I.S.D., Fort Worth, Texas 

Weimo Zhu, PhD

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

Dolly Lambdin, EdD

University of Texas at Austin 

Matthew T. Mahar, EdD

East Carolina University 

Marilu D. Meredith, EdD

The Cooper Institute Project Director 

Gregory J. Welk, PhD

Iowa State University Scientific Director

4

FITNESSGRAM Philosophy



H

= 

E



L



P

= = = Health and health related fitness Everyone Lifetime Personal

5

Georgia’s Philosophy & Goals

See DOE Information Section in training manual Philosophy:

The acquisition of knowledge related to students' health related fitness levels is vital to the development and implementation of strategies focused on personal health improvement and enhanced readiness for learning.     

Goals:

To improve the health related fitness levels and therefore health outcomes of students.

To develop students who are active now and for a lifetime.

To develop students who are able to self assess health-related fitness levels, interpret fitness test results, set goals, and motivate themselves for personal fitness improvement.

To provide longitudinal data on the status of the health-related fitness of Georgia students through systematic assessment, data collection, monitoring, and reporting.

To use fitness assessment data to inform policy, program, curricular, and instructional decisions for P-12 physical education at the school, district, and state levels.

6

Process vs. Product

If we do the process the product will follow!



Physical activity is the process.



Physical fitness is the product.

7

Differences in Fitness Assessments

FITNESSGRAM

 Health related  Criterion-referenced  NOT used for grading  Personal improvement driven  Provides individualized feedback  Encourages self assessment or individualized assessment

OTHERS

 Skill related  Norm-referenced  Often used for grading because of percentiles  Award driven  Provides scores, awards, but no recommendations for improvement

8

Criterion-Referenced vs. Norm-Referenced

 Criterion-referenced standards are associated with good health and based on scientific information.

 Normative standards are comparisons relative to others in a group but do not provide information on how the values relate to health.

FITNESSGRAM is Criterion-Referenced. The established standards for good health are called Healthy Fitness Zone.

9

Percentage of Students in Healthy Fitness Zone

Physical Fitness Assessment

Aerobic Capacity Body Composition Abdominal Strength Trunk Extension Strength Upper Body Strength Flexibility

Grade 5

60.2% 67.4% 80.6% 88.2% 67.1% 66.6%

Grade 7

60.5% 67.0% 83.1% 89.3% 68.7% 72.4%

Grade 9

52.4% 68.0% 82.6% 86.3% 69.5% 70.3%

10

Two Components

 FITNESSGRAM • Fitness assessment and reporting system  ACTIVITYGRAM • Physical activity recall tool • Use of ACTIVITYGRAM is up to individual schools and districts Courtesy of Human Kinetics.

11

FITNESSGRAM Testing Options

 Self Testing • Student learns to test self • Takes time to teach • Good education; serves students for a lifetime  Individualized Testing • For personal information • Can be conducted by student, or with assistance from a partner, parent or teacher

12

FITNESSGRAM Testing Options

 Institutional Testing • Administered by a trained person • Provides more accurate results to parents and others • Takes time  Personal Best Testing • See how well interested students can perform on each assessment • Takes a lot of time • Recommended use after school or voluntary • Focus is more on performance as opposed to health

13

Institutional Testing Guidelines

 Take steps to insure confidentiality of assessment results  Take care in interpreting results  Take care in generalizing pre- and post-assessment data  Consider nutrition and other factors  Take care in accurately reporting assessment results

14

FITNESSGRAM Software

 Web-based  Generates individual student/parent reports  Provides suggestions about how to promote good fitness  Generates group reports for State reporting  Allows for tracking of students’ fitness throughout their school years

15

Reports

Software generates:  Individual Reports • Comparison to HFZ • Recommendations  Group Reports Courtesy of Human Kinetics.

16

Appropriate Uses of FITNESSGRAM

 Facilitates fitness education • Evaluating personal fitness levels • Goal setting • Program planning and tracking  Provides feedback to students and parents  Allows personal tracking • Annually and over time  Can guide PE program planning

17

Inappropriate Uses of FITNESSGRAM

 Using scores for grading  Using scores to evaluate teacher effectiveness  Using scores to evaluate overall physical education program

18

Confidentiality



Confidentiality of results is important!

 Appropriate protocol must be used to ensure proper privacy.

 Educate students on the importance of confidentiality of fitness assessment results.

19

FERPA

The parties will safeguard the confidentiality of the student data as required by the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other applicable laws and regulations. No release of data, reports, information, or output of any kind based on the data will include any information that could be identifiable or linked to a specific person.

20

FITNESSGRAM Resources

http://www.cooperinstitute.org/index.cfm

http://www.fitnessgram.net/home/ Scientific Reference Guide http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_services.aspx?PageReq= CIServHealthPhys Georgia Department of Education – Health and Physical Education http://georgiashape.org