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Recommendations for using and implementing fitness tests have been extensively researched and teachers' attitudes toward fitness tests are beginning to be studied. Less understood is how high school teachers use fitness tests and the role their attitudes toward fitness tests affect students' attitudes toward physical activity. The purpose of this study was to understand how fitness tests are used in secondary physical education classes and how the attitudes of physical education teachers toward fitness testing relate to their use of fitness tests. High school physical education teachers (N = 149) from 47 school districts completed the Physical Education Teacher Attitudes toward Fitness Tests Scale (PETAFTS), a 16-item survey on their attitudes toward fitness tests, with additional items on how they used fitness tests. Results indicated that teachers often do not implement fitness tests as recommended. Findings suggest that teachers with positive and negative attitudes toward fitness testing vary in their implementation and use of fitness tests. Teachers with more positive attitudes reported more frequently using fitness concepts, and teachers who thought fitness testing was important indicated they were more likely to send fitness test results home.
Keywords: high school, physical education, physical education teachers, teacher attitudes
The obesity epidemic in America has contributed to an increased focus on nutrition habits and the promotion of a physically active lifestyle. Physical education classes have been touted by state and national government officials as a place to address this epidemic, which has been supported by Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Active Schools (2013) campaign. This campaign recommends that students get 60 minutes of physical activity each day including time spent in physical education classes (Corbin et al., 2014; Society for Health and Physical Education [SHAPE] America 2013). Fitness testing is a component of most high school physical education programs, and has been for more than 100 years (Corbin et al., 2014; Corbin & Pangrazi, 1992; Keating, 2003; Park, 1988; Pate, 1989). Recently mandated fitness testing programs in California, Texas, and New York City, possibly as part of a response to obesity concerns, suggest it is extremely likely that students will continue to participate in fitness testing as part of their physical education experiences (Cooper et al., 2010). When used appropriately, fitness testing can aid in the promotion of...