I will speak on one test that we specifically do and that is the PACER test. We conduct a pre and post test in the PACER. All of the student usually participate but some are a little reluctant. We have an incentive for the students to reach on the post test. If they reach a certain number of PACER lengths, the students will earn a special shirt that they get to wear in PE class and around school. At the middle school level this is a very cool way to get students excited about taking the test again.

We test our classes twice a year at the elementary and middle school and only the same concepts as you (muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and body composition). I feel that my students do try their best every time, but I could have some that do not. I try to show the students their FitnessGram results from the previous test as a way to motivate them to try and beat their previous score. I also show the students the minimum requirement needed for them to be in the healthy fit zone. The problem with showing the minimum requirement needed is that I feel a small amount of students will be happy with just getting the minimum requirement even though they can perform at a higher level.

When fitness testing your students how often do you complete the tests? How do you handle kids that try to "sway" the test by not trying their hardest? I am proud to say that most of my students seem to give it their best effort in both the pre and post test, but there are still a few of the less motivated ones that will give a very poor effort on the pre test to ensure "success" on the post test. I only test on health-related fitness concepts (muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and body composition).

Hi Melanie,

My school fitness tests in the fall and spring. Fortunately at the elementary level we dont have kids that sway the test. However, for kids that dont try their hardest we try to use positive encouragement to motivate them. We dont use a pre and post test but just a fall and spring test. Most of the time we see better scores in the endurance portions in the fall rather than the spring because of the high level of physical activity that the kids get in the summer. But during the year we have the kids practice several activities that improve their cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility.

I fitness test my class once a year. My seventh grade has class everyday for a semester and my eighth grade has it for a nine weeks. Our state requires us to report the fitness test overall results to the state at the end of the year. I do get the students height, weight, BMI at the beginning of the class and at the end and discuss with them their results. I also give the pacer test at the beginning and at the end of the class. They do try their best in class, I encourage then to beat their old score even if it is by one!