Mobilizing Your Students through Performance Based Assessments

In the world of physical education, there are times when the internalization of teaching models, concepts and strategies is, in my opinion, rushed or incomplete. Models that are not specifically designed for physical education are often either glossed over due to the perception that “we are different” and they do not fit in our discipline, or they are quickly dismissed. For example, what I hear in regard to performance-based assessments from other PE professionals is something to the effect of, “Yeah, we do that every day. Our students perform a skill and we assess it.”

Although the verbiage matches (performance and assessment), if you stop there the opportunity for tremendous student growth is lost. Performance-based assessments (PBA) are much more than performing a skill. They provide students choices in an area of study, while allowing opportunities for them to both explore an essential question and share what they have learned. There are four main components to a PBA:

• Instructional Component: Takes place in the classroom with the teacher. This is where a lot of the brainstorming and teacher guidance occurs. PBAs are student driven and student centered with the teacher guiding the instruction, making suggestions, and monitoring the overall process.
• Choice Component: Allows students choices in what they explore, how they explore it, and what the end result ends up looking like.
• Research Component: Students take time either at home, in the class, or both to search for and find information that will help them to complete the task and answer the essential question.
• Action Component: The project is brought into a real world setting and the information gathered is shared in a meaningful way.

This year I am teaching three different courses, middle level physical education, high school health, and exercise science (a college credit physical education course). I am conducting at least one PBA with each of them.

My 7th and 8th graders just finished their “Create A Game” unit where they engaged in a PBA. For the instructional component, at the beginning of the unit the students were introduced to a variety of old New York City street games. I wanted to help them build a foundation of knowledge in relation to the execution of games with little to no equipment.

Every time the students were introduced to a new game, they were also shown one way to modify it and then given the opportunity to modify it a second time on their own, making their own version of the game. During the instructional phase the students were also split into groups that played different games with different equipment that focused on similar skills, rules or strategies so they could compare and contrast the games later in a think, pair, share scenario. As the students explored these games I circulated around the gym asking questions and guiding their thought processes, but at no time did I finish an idea for them or tell them how something should look.

The choice component showed up in many different ways during this unit. First, as previously noted, the students were continuously given the choice of how they wished to modify and re-create the games that they were being introduced to. This not only gave them a sense of ownership over the games, but it also gave them some effective practice in terms of how to make a game of their own.

The real choice in this project came at the end. When the students created their own games at the end of the unit they were given the choice of equipment, type of game, rules, safety concerns and structure. The game was completely theirs to create; the only guidance they received was to make sure the game was their own, that it was safe (what it means to be safe was explained to them), and to use as little equipment as possible. With those three components in place, the students had a lot of room to be creative and to stretch their thinking.

When it came to research, the students had a few options. They were encouraged to look up games in their own time, talk to their parents or older relatives about the games that they used to play when they were kids, and to go online (Youtube mostly) to find new unique games to spark their creativity. Additionally, I put a video on my website for them to watch and reflect upon. This video is the trailer for a documentary entitled “Street Games, A Thing of the Past” which contrasts how streets used to look with how they look today.

After watching the video the students were asked a few thought-provoking questions to respond to. Keeping to the spirit of the assessment, I left the roads they chose to go down in terms of research up to them. It was their choice as to how they gathered information that they felt would be important for them to complete their task.

As of right now I have not tracked research during this particular assessment, however, in the future I am planning on opening up new avenues of exploration and create research checkpoints for students to hand in short examples of what they have found.

As the unit progressed, the students began to create their own games. They explored equipment, tried to implement rules, and really PLAY in every true sense of the word. When they were comfortable with what they had created, they invited other groups to try their game and provide feedback. After they received their peer’s recommendations, they went back and decided game modifications. At the end of the unit the students presented their games to their classmates and everyone had the opportunity to play each other’s games.

The unit may be over, but the students are still taking action to bring their games to the real world setting while giving back to their school community. We are currently setting up site visits at the high school for the elementary school students. The plan is to have 4th, 5th and 6th grade students come and learn these new games from the 7th and 8th graders. Each group will have an opportunity to explain their game and then assist the younger students as they engage in the activities.

Performance based assessments, when executed properly, create tremendous learning opportunities for your students. In this unit my students were mobilized by giving back to their school community when they introduce the elementary school kids to their games. In other PBA’s my students are planning on going before the school board, putting their teachers through fitness routines, and establishing a wellness day. How you choose to mobilize your students is up to you, but no matter what you choose, the fact remains, performance based assessments are much more than simply assessing the performance of a skill.