Large-scale assessments of children and youth physical activity (PA) behaviors are regularly conducted in school settings. In addition to assessing actual fitness, the FITNESSGRAM® assesses self-reported PA behaviors for aerobic, strengthening, and flexibility activity within the past 7 days. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the three PA items. Participants included 1010 students in grades three through twelve and were either tested under a teacher – teacher condition, an expert - expert condition, a teacher – expert condition, or a trained teacher – expert condition. Comparisons of the responses to the PA items indicated adequate reliability for teachers, but the reliability improved with training. Likewise, the validities for teachers are moderate to fair; however, they improved when teachers received additional training.

The Fitnessgram is a battery of fitness tests designed for children and adolescents. These tests include aerobic capacity, body composition, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility. Students are not compared to each other, rather to health fitness standards, specific to age and gender, which indicate good health. The purpose of this study was to identify student perceptions of the Fitnessgram fitness test. This study used surveys (N=82), and follow-up focus-group interviews (N=16) to identify student perceptions of the Fitnessgram fitness test. Results using the constant comparative method revealed three major categories: (1) students' perceptions of the purpose of fitness testing, (2) motivation, and (3) test administration. Findings indicated that students clearly understood the purpose of fitness testing, female students were success oriented while the males expressed an attitude of learned helplessness in the category of motivation, and that students preferred the PACER over the mile run, enjoyed partner-based stations, but did not care for the body-fat assessment.

Cardiovascular fitness levels in physical education have decreased for males and females in an inner-city high school, with female cardiovascular fitness decreasing the most. Cardiovascular fitness is important because participating in cardio exercises decreases health issues such as obesity and cardio problems. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the views of teachers regarding low cardiovascular fitness among adolescent females in physical education and how a professional development could help teachers to address the problem. Bandura’s social learning theory was used as the study’s conceptual framework. Semistructured and open-ended interview questions were used to collect data from 6 veteran PE teachers to address the research questions regarding teachers’ experiences in promoting cardiovascular exercises, levels of participation in cardiovascular exercises, and perceptions of professional development to help ameliorate the problem. Participant responses to the open-ended interview questions were analyzed by coding common words to create categories to develop themes. Qualitative findings revealed that participants started to notice low cardiovascular endurance in 9th grade, that professional development was not geared towards improving female adolescent activities nor assisting PE teachers in how to model these. A professional development, via the proposed project, was developed that will provide activities that can be used by both new and seasoned physical education teachers. Social change will occur in that implementation of the ideas shared in project may lead to a healthier and physically active lifestyle when students reach adulthood.

FITNESSGRAM is a battery of fitness tests that assess if a child's fitness level is, according to a health standard, enough to be considered healthy. These tests include the five components of health-related fitness: aerobic endurance, muscular strength and muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. Students are not compared to each other, but to health fitness standards specific to their age and gender that indicate good health. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify children's perceptions of FITNESSGRAM and determine if self-administration of this fitness test provides a positive experience for the students. Specifically, this study evaluated (a) students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM, administered in a self-testing format, (b) children's understanding of the purpose of fitness testing, and (c) what effect participation in FITNESSGRAM had on students' perceptions of their personal health. This study used questionnaires (n = 78), and follow-up individual interviews (n = 45) to identify students' perceptions of FITNESSGRAM. Results using the constant comparative method identified four main categories: (a) administration of fitness testing, (b) the purpose of fitness testing, (c) components of fitness testing, and (d) overall influence of fitness testing. Findings showed that children clearly understood the importance and role of fitness testing, felt successful and were pleased with their results, preferred doing the tests with a partner or by themselves, and thought the fitness test was fun.

Doctor of Education / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / John A. Hortin / A growing concern for the United States and the World Health Organization is that Americans are getting fatter. The obesity rates continue to rise in 23 states (Science & Technology, 2009). There is also a high incidence of childhood obesity among children ages 10-17. The epidemic of obesity goes far beyond being an individual problem. It has become a national crisis. The obesity epidemic calls for a well-formulated strategy. This study involved a physical education program with 12 African American female teenagers ranging from grades 7 – 11. The program was designed to help students realize the importance of preparing for a healthy future. The African American females met one hour a day for three days a week. As part of the program, each student’s fitness performance was evaluated using the FitnessGram protocol. Pretesting begins at the start of school and post testing during second semester. The FitnessGram report gives the performance levels for the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) and the “Needs Improvement” zone. Attaining the HFZ for a test indicates that the student has a sufficient fitness level to provide important health benefits. The “Needs Improvement” zone indicates that the student may be at risk of health issues if that level of fitness remains the same over time. The Healthy Fitness Zone and Needs Improvement consists of three basic components: (1) Aerobic capacity; (2) muscle strength, endurance, and flexibility; (3) body composition (Meredith, FitnessGram, 2007). Students’ personal fitness information was charted daily during the program. The data collected for the personal profile assisted teenagers in setting goals related to reducing their weight and building self-esteem (Bronson, Glencoe Health, 2004). Monitoring and charting profiles provided guidelines for accomplishing goals that were necessary for changing students’ body image. The findings of this study indicated that the African American teenage participants did not want to commit to the exercise needed to improve their cardiovascular and personal fitness levels. Participants realized that skipping meals did not help with losing weight. When the students did eat, they tended to overeat and make unwise food choices.

Abstract Dawn Arlotta (The Effects of HealthMPowers on the Levels of Physical Activity among Students in 13 Georgia Public Schools) (Under the direction of Dr. Marshall Kreuter and Dr. Derek Shendell) Objectives. This study evaluated a school based health and physical education program conducted in nine elementary and four middle schools in seven Metro-Atlanta school districts in Georgia. HealthMPowers served 5,644 students last year and approximately 15,000 students over the 3 year intervention. Methods. Quantitative programmatic data were collected by HealthMPowers before the intervention started (pre, 2004) and again three years later (post, 2007). HealthMPowers worked with these schools for the entire three year period and collected post Program Design and post-intervention fitness data in spring 2007. Results. The nine participating elementary schools each demonstrated an increase in student fitness levels for the fourth and fifth grades. The four middle schools demonstrated an increase in student fitness levels in at least one grade, which varied by school. Conclusion. Our findings suggested school programs can be effective in increasing physical activity and fitness scores and supports broader implementation of known successful programs. INDEX WORDS: Physical Activity, Youth, School Health Index, Coordinated School Health Program, Obesity, FITNESSGRAM, Physical Fitness Testing, Physical Education.

In an attempt to meet monetary-driven mandates to improve student achievement test scores, administrators are replacing physical education activities with subject matter classes in many American schools. This practice negates the positive contributions of physical activity to academic performance and student fitness. Guided by self-efficacy theory, this study assessed the impact of optimal versus minimal physical fitness state on student academic achievement. The study sample included 5,416 9th grade students from the same school district who completed a minimum of 5 of the 6 components of the FITNESSGRAM tests, and who also completed the math and English language arts (ELA) portions of the California Standards Test. The independent variables were optimal and minimal physical fitness based upon completing 6 or 5 FITNESSGRAM components, respectively. Analyses included independent samples t tests, ANOVA, and Dunnet's C test to detect differences in mean academic scores with gender and ethnicity as covariates. Optimally fit students had significantly higher (p < 0.05) scores in math and ELA tests relative to minimally fit students. Female academic test scores tended to be higher than male scores in both academic tests. School officials, when contemplating curricular programs devoid of a physical education component, might judiciously reassess the positive effects of physical fitness upon academic achievement and the associated biopsychosocial benefits for their students. Physically fit and academically enriched students may provide a foundation for positive social change directed at engendering a healthier, motivated, and productive citizenry.

Declining youth physical activity levels and lack of aerobic fitness have been well documented with a corresponding rise in obesity levels and health issues. Based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, healthy physical activity levels and aerobic fitness are strongly connected to positive physical activity self-efficacy beliefs. This study examined whether student physical activity self-efficacy, motivation, and effort were different for the FitnessGram-® (FG) 1-Mile Run when compared to the 15-minute Aerobic Assessment Based on Improvement (AABI). A concurrent mixed method quasi-experimental approach measured 5th grade students' physical activity self-efficacy beliefs through a pretest and posttest survey while aerobic assessment scores provided data that measured and compared student performance. Percent improvement and t-test analytic procedures found significant differences between groups and genders. The FG group (n = 131) improved 1.49% while the AABI group (n = 209) improved 22.53%; furthermore, FG girls' percent improvement decreased to -7.56% and the AABI girls' percent improvement was above the average score at 24.21%. Qualitative data collected and coded from teachers' (n = 6) found no noticeable differences in student behaviors or preparation between the FG or AABI groups. A 3-day workshop was created to initiate change in aerobic fitness assessment. Assessing student aerobic fitness based on improvement theoretically builds physical activity self-efficacy beliefs, especially for girls. Positive physical activity self-efficacy beliefs motivate greater student participation and engagement in physical education, which improves aerobic fitness. Social implications from these results indicate that students would increase their physical activity self-efficacy by assessing aerobic fitness based on individual improvement.

The determination of adiposity in adolescents is often assessed with calculations of body mass indices (BMI). Researchers often obtain these measurements from self-reported (SR) values. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of SR height, weight, and calculated BMI (from height and weight). SR and actual measured (ME) BMI values were compared with standards from the FITNESSGRAM® Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) classifications. SR height and calculated BMI were found to be accurate while SR weight was, on average, underreported by 4.77 lbs. Because of these errors in SR height and weight, accuracy of classification into the FITNESSGRAM® HFZ was compromised. Consequently, it is important that researchers ascertain actual values of height and weight when measuring adolescents rather than use those from self-reports.

Prevalence of physical inactivity in children and adolescents and the associated epidemic of obesity are increasing concerns. U.S. national health statistics indicate early adolescence (i.e., 10-14 years) appears to be a period of importance regarding physical activity, sedentary behavior, health-related physical fitness, and obesity trends. Considering a significant portion of their waking hours are spent in school, it is widely held that schools' should play a significant role in increasing students' physical activity and health-related physical fitness. To do this, physical education in schools focus on providing quality physical education programs that produce physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to enjoy a lifetime of health-producing physical activity. In effect, a call for developing a comprehensive and valid measure of physical literacy has been aptly expressed. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation was to test the psychometric properties of proposed models of physical literacy, examine correlates of the physical literacy factor, and investigate the significance of the relationship between physical literacy and interscholastic sport intention via structural equation modeling. Participants were 400 (231 female, 169 male) sixth-grade physical education students who completed three brief surveys assessing maturation, self-efficacy, self-esteem, knowledge and understanding, motivation, physical activity and sport participation, and interscholastic sport intention. In addition, students completed a sedentary behavior log, a health-related physical fitness assessment, and an overhand throwing skill assessment. Analyses offered overall support for the proposed physical literacy measurement models. Results also supported positive relationship Physical literacy was statistically significantly positively related physical activity and sport team participation, and significantly negatively related and screen-time sedentary behavior. Results also supported a positive path between physical literacy and interscholastic sport intention. The implications of promoting physical literacy within physical education are discussed in light of the three higher-order underlying factors of physical literacy.