CHAPTER 16
MEASURING GROWTH AND
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Jerry R. Thomas, Katherine T. Thomas,
and Jin H. Yan
Made by WANG YAN
§16.1 WHY MEASURE CHARACTERISTICS AND
BEHAVIOR?
§16.2 PRINCIPLES FOR DECIDING WHAT TO MEASURE
§16.3 WHO SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN MEASURING
GROWTH, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND MOTOR
DEVELOPMENT?
§16.4 MEASURING CHARACTERISTCS THAT VARY OVER
TIME
§16.5 EVALUATION
§16.6 EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR SELECTING TESTS
§16.7 MEASURING GROWTH
§16.8 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH
§16.9 MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE
§16.10 SUMMARY
 Test—an instrument developed to
measure a specific characteristic
 Measurement—the application of a test
to assess a characteristic or behavior
 Evaluation—use of measurements to
make decisions
§16.1WHY MEASURE
CHARACTERISTICS AND BEHAVIOR?
 Quantitative measures of human
characteristics and behavior are accurate
assessments that can be used in
decision-making.
 Can be used to assess normal changes
and compare those to established
standards.
§16.2 PRINCIPLES FOR
DECIDING WHAT TO MEASURE
 The characteristic or behavior to evaluate
should reflect an aspect of physical
activity and health that is important;
 The characteristic or behavior to evaluate
should reflect an aspect of motor
development and performance that is
important.
§16.3 WHO SHOULD BE INTERESTED
IN MEASURING GROWTH, PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY, AND MOTOR DEVELOPMENT?




Elementary and secondary schools
Physicians
Coaches, recreation leaders
Parents
§16.4 MEASURING
CHARACTERISTCS THAT VARY OVER
TIME
Important Issues in Measurement and
Evaluation




validity, reliability
scales of measurement.
norm-referenced evaluation a
criterion-referenced evaluation
 Test Reliability
Before a test can be useful as a
measurement tool, it must be shown to
yield reliable information; that is
consistent scores on separate
occasions.
 Test Validity
To be valid a test must first be reliable.
Test validity means that the test
measures what you think it measures.
 Scales of Measurement
 Scales of measurement represent the
score units by which a test measures
performance and include nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio scales.
§16.5 EVALUATION
 norm-referenced evaluation
 criterion-referenced evaluation
§16.6 EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR
SELECTING TESTS
 Measure an important characteristic related
to growth, physical activity, or motor
development/performance
 Be a valid and reliable indicator of the
characteristic to be measured (evidence of
validity and reliability should be cited)
 Have an appropriate scale of measurement
for its intended use
§16.7 MEASURING GROWTH
Growth is an important characteristic to
track in infancy, early childhood, childhood,
and adolescence.
 Stature
 Weight
 Body Mass Index
 Body Fatness
 BMI comes from a ratio of weight to
height and should be calculated and
recorded each time height and weight is
measured.
 The formula for estimating BMI is
Weight/Height2 (Morrow, Jackson, Disch,
& Mood, 2000), where weight is reported
in kilograms and height in meters.
 Jequier (1987) reports the following
ranges for BMI for adults:




20-25 = Desirable
25-29 = Grade I obesity
30-40 = Grade II obesity
> 40 = Morbid obesity
YMCA equation
 Females: %fat = .41563 x (sum of 3 skinfolds)
- .00112 x (sum of 3 skinfolds)2 + .03661 x
age + 4.03653
r =.825, se = 3.89%
 Males: %fat = .39287 x (sum of 3 skinfolds) .00105 x (sum of 3 skinfolds)2 + .15772 x
age – 5.18845
r = .893, se = 3.63%
 The r in the previous information represents
the correlation between the sum of the three
skinfold sites and hydrostatic weight.
§16.8 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND
HEALTH




Tests of Cardiovascular Endurance
Muscular Strength and Endurance
Flexibility
Fitness
 FITNESSGRAM
 President’s Challenge test
 Estimating Physical Activity
§16.9 MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND
PERFORMANCE
 Qualitative Indices of Early Motor
Development
Often the early markers of normal motor
develop (see Chapter 6) are what physicians
and parents can use to evaluate if the child is
developing normally.
The table shows the 50th percentile at
which several motor milestones occur in
boys and girls. Comparison of a child’s
development against these milestones
allows evaluation of normal development
Table of Motor Milestones for Normal Development
Boys 50th percentile (mo.) Girls 50th percentile (mo.)
Milestone
5.2
5.0
Roll to supine
6.0
6.0
Roll to prone
6.8
Pivot (moves in circle on stomach) 6.4
6.9
Crawl on stomach (pulls forward) 7.0
8.8
8.3
Creep on hands/knees
9.6
9.0
Creep on hands/feet
8.9
9.1
Sit up
8.7
8.4
Stand at rail
8.9
8.5
Pull to stand
9.8
Cruise at rail (sideways walking) 9.5
12.5
12.4
Stand momentarily
11.8
11.5
Walk, one hand held
13.1
13.0
Walk alone
19.7
18.9
Walk up and down stairs
 Motor Development Tests
 Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor
Proficiency
 Test of Gross Motor Development 2
 Fundamental Motor Skills
 Fundamental skills are the basis for
developing specific sport skills.
 These skills are sometimes evaluated by
components (what are the arms doing, what
are the legs doing) or as complete skills.
 Measuring Sport Skills
 Skills to be measured should be important
in the sport, thus yielding construct validity’
 While skills should be simple to measure to
help assure reliability, performance
outcomes must discriminate among
individual performances
 Skills should be measured in field settings
with minimal equipment required
 Provide a number of trials in order to
obtain a representative performance
Other Motor Characteristics
 Often other motor characteristics in
children and adolescents are measured.
In particular characteristics like speed,
balance, and agility are used.
 However, we should recognize that these
characteristics are often closely related to
the situation in which they are used.
MEASURING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
GROWTH, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT/PERFORMANCE
While we want children to increase their
physical activity and skills and we should
measure children’s growth, physical
activity, and motor
development/performance, we also want
them to learn why physical activity is
important and understand how to use
skills effectively during performance.
Leadership
Sportsmanship
Teamwork
Take time to think
before acting
Interferes with the
learning of others,
bullies or bosses
others, has
tantrums or pouts
Does not follow or
understand the
rules, does not
share or play well
with others, does
not try
Refuses to work
with others, fights
or argues with
others, makes
negative comments
to others, has
difficulty
understanding
feelings of others
Thumbs up
Double thumbs up
Leads when asked,
coaches when
asked
Coaches
classmates, knows
when to lead and
when to listen
Follows rules most
of the time, shares
with others,
demonstrates effort
Voluntarily follows
the rules all the
time, gives
maximum effort all
the time
Willingly works in
pairs or groups
most of the time,
does not say
negative things to
others, when
prompted
understands the
feelings of others
Supports all
classmates with
positive comments,
works with
classmates all of
the time, takes
turns fairly,
understands the
feelings of others
SUMMARY
 Testing, measuring, and evaluating
children and adolescents on growth,
physical activity, motor development and
performance, and cognitive knowledge is
an essential part of school programs and
has particular value for physical
education and classroom teachers,
recreation leaders, coaches, physicians,
and parents.
Thanks a lot!