Creating Equal Opportunities for Children and Youth with Disabilities to Participate in Physical Education and Extracurricular Activities

ASSESSMENT, PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENT, AND GRADING

Assessment in PE and athletics should be planned and implemented so that progress and achievement can be rated accurately and fairly. Assessment instruments that compare the individual against herself or himself are able to measure both attainment and growth. These comparisons show the trajectory toward health and fitness, while avoiding the inappropriate application of some standardized benchmarks of health and fitness to children and youth with disabilities. For example, Body Mass Index has been shown to be inappropriate for people with certain disabilities who tend to have a different proportion of lean mass (Rimmer, et al., 2010). Some equipment and technologies may allow for more accurate assessments of the incremental improvements made by children and youth with disabilities. For instance, wheelchair scales increase the accurate measurement of a student's weight and a spreadsheet can track the changes. Better assessment can lead to better instruction, feedback, grading practices, and ultimately better outcomes for children and youth with disabilities.

When competitive performance is the sole or primary criterion for grades in PE classes, some children and youth with and without disabilities might earn failing grades. The methods used to grade progress and achievement can be used to encourage participation among children and youth with disabilities. For an individual child whose IEP includes annual goals for PE and athletics, the IEP must include a description of how a child's progress towards meeting the annual goals will be measured.