Students will receive grades in running, stretching and sit ups as part of a new physical education report card being sent home to parents in the South Colonie Central School District next week.
According to Athletic Director David Foust, the district has been working on a report card for physical education for the past several years. With help from the IT department, the district was able to come up with a system for recording and reporting a student’s progress.
The report cards are based on six physical fitness components: a pacer test to measure cardiovascular endurance; a sit-up test to measure abdominal strength and endurance; a sit-and-reach test to measure hamstring and lower back flexibility; a flexed arm hang to measure upper body strength; a shuttle run to measure agility; and a body mass index test of the ratio of height to weight.
Students are ranked as either a participant the most basic level; national; and presidential the highest level of physical fitness. They are graded with a
number that falls in a range that matches one of those three categories. The fitness grade does not affect a student’s overall grade point average.
If students fall into the participant category, suggestions are made for how they can work harder to achieve their fitness goals. If a student receives a presidential ranking, the comment bar to the side of the number grade congratulates the student and tells him or her what can be done to continue that success.
Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Buhner said this feature is what makes the report card a useful tool for students and parents.
`What I liked, as a superintendent, was that you don’t just have the reporting on the top but you also have some helpful information on the bottom. We want it to be a constructive tool to kind of make sure our kids know that fitness is important,` said Buhner.
While the report cards will be mailed out for the first time in the district this week, Foust said the district has had physical fitness tests for a while.
`We’ve done a fitness test for probably the past 17 or 18 years,` said Foust.
Foust said the district decided to actually report on the results following the recent rise in childhood obesity.
`As the concern has been continually raised nationally, we wanted to take it to another level,` said Foust.
The district tested the waters with the physical fitness report card by completing a pilot of the program in the fall. Foust said the pilot went well, so the district decided to proceed with the program.
Accompanying the report card will be a letter explaining to parents the intentions of the report card.
`We urge you, as parents, to encourage your child to maintain or improve their level of fitness and track their progress through subsequent reports,` said the letter.
Foust said he hopes this new system encourages parents to be involved with their child’s health. He also said the program will help the district reach their goals for each individual student.
`We want them to have the skill set and knowledge to maintain a healthy lifestyle once they leave Colonie Central High School,` said Foust.
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