Heath and Physical Education Assessments

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Health and Physical Education Assessments

Health PE Assessment - ball game on a court

The following information provides an overview of the assessment tasks designed and validated for the Sample Assessment Project (SAP) in Health and Physical Education. It also highlights some of the interesting state-wide achievement data gained through a random sample of the assessment tasks, which was conducted in 261 government schools. 

More in-depth information relating to the project findings, as well as the assessment tasks themselves, will be available shortly.

Sample Assessment Project

A project, known as the Sample Assessment Project (SAP), was undertaken in 2010 to:

  • develop a range of validated on demand assessment tasks in Health and Physical Education
  • collect state-wide government student achievement data in the area of Health and Physical Education.

 

Processes and outputs

The SAP was a partnership between the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was engaged to examine the research evidence and develop and validate the assessment instruments.

A Domain Reference Group (DRG) of academic and practitioner experts has overseen the development and refinement of the assessment tasks. In addition, a group of pilot teachers have participated in developing and trialling the tasks.

A random sample involving students in Years 4, 6, 8 and 10 from 261 schools was undertaken to validate the assessment tasks and gather state-wide performance data on government students.

Teachers' reactions to the assessment tasks

“Completing this task has been extremely beneficial as it has highlighted the lack of expected knowledge of students in the health area.”

“The project has opened my eyes to the gaps in our PE curriculum.”

“Different forms of assessment allowed students to demonstrate a stronger knowledge than I had previously expected.”

At the completion of the random sample, teachers had the opportunity to respond to a survey, providing feedback on the value and usefulness of the assessment tasks. Teachers' reactions to the assessment tasks have been overall very positive.The SAP was exciting and challenging as this was the first:

  • attempt to develop validated assessment tasks to support Health and Physical Education teachers’ planning, teaching and reporting
  • state-wide data on government students’ achievement in Health and Physical Education. This quality data will support changes to teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and practice to improve student outcomes.

For a summary of the project providing background, methodology, teachers’ reactions, interesting points about student performance in Health and Physical Education, see Sample Assessment Project – Project Overview (PDF - 751Kb)