Julie HaleFollow

Date

11-2014

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Judy Sandlin

Keywords

Body Mass Index, Criterion Referenced Competency Test Scores, Fitness, Self-Efficacy

Disciplines

Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Psychology | Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching

Abstract

This study sought to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI), physical fitness, self-efficacy, and their possible prediction on scores from the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) for eighth grade students in north Georgia. The participants were 183 eighth grade students in three north Georgia middle schools enrolled in physical education during the fall of 2013. Scores from the students' BMI, FitnessGram®, General Self-Efficacy Test (GSES), and results from the Georgia CRCT were compiled and analyzed to give a better understanding of their predictive relationship. Students complete CRCT tests every school year between third and eighth grade, and these scores were gathered from the sample population during the 2013-2014 school year. In the fall of 2013, students completed the GSES (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), which includes questions that measure extraversion, neuroticism, action orientation, hope for success, and fear of failure. Assisted by trained physical education teachers, all physical education students recorded BMI scores and FitnessGram® results. This quantitative correlational design determined the relationship between the variables BMI, fitness, self-efficacy, and academic success as measured by the Georgia CRCT scaled scores on the Reading, Language Arts, and Math tests. Multiple Linear Regressions (R) examined the direction and strength of the linear relationships. Results indicated that three predictor variables (aerobic capacity, curl-ups and push-ups as reported from FitnessGram®) explained a significant prediction on Reading, Math, and Language Arts Georgia CRCT test scores for eighth grade students in north Georgia. In addition self-efficacy predicted a significant prediction on the Language Arts Georgia CRCT test scores.

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