Assessing Basic Motor Competencies in Primary School – an International Comparative Study in Europe

A central aim of primary physical education (PE) is the promotion of physical competencies as a necessary condition of developing a physically active lifestyle and to be able to participate in the Olympic community. We defined basic motor competencies as physical performance dispositions, which evolved from task-specific requirements in the culture of sports and exercise. They are supposed to be learnable, based on previous experiences and can be improved through practice. Potential evaluations of effects in PE need to consider situation-specific and context-dependent characteristics of PE as well as prior experiences of pupils. Therefore, a design for test items, which are closely related to PE and vary in difficulty depending on the age of the pupils, is necessary. For this purpose, we developed the MOBAK-1 test instrument for the assessment of basic motor competencies in first graders. It allows teachers to identify groups in need of special support, and initiate these support measures to reduce inequalities. The first study took place in Zurich (Switzerland) and focused on construct validity (e.g., the factorial validity of the instrument). Between spring 2015 and spring 2016, the MOBAK-1 test instrument was and will be implemented in further countries in Europe. At this time, we have four samples of four different countries: (1) Switzerland (Zurich) (N = 317; girls = 55%; age: M = 7.04 years [SD = .37]; BMI = 16.08 [SD = 2.25]) assessed by University of Basel (Dr. Christian Herrmann); (2) Germany (Frankfurt) (N = 1061; girls = 45%; age: M = 6.80 years [SD = .89]; BMI = 16.30 [SD = 2.37]) assed by University of Frankfurt (Prof. Dr. Christopher Heim); (3) Lithuania (Kaunas) (N = 120; girls = 48%; age: M = 7.76 years [SD = .33]; BMI = 16.14 [SD = 2.30]) assessed by Lithuanian Sports University (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arunas Emeljanovas); (4) Italy (Foggia) (N = 85; girls = 45%; age: M = 7.24 years [SD = .30]; BMI = 17.53 [SD = 3.04]) assessed by University of Foggia (Prof. Dr. Dario Colella). Further samples are currently on the way to be completed in four other countries: (1) Luxembourg (N = 280) assessed by University of Luxembourg (Claude Scheuer); (2) Slovakia (Trnava) (N = 240) assessed by University of Trnava (Dr. Dana Masarykova); (3) Czech Republic (Brno) (N = 600) assessed by University of Brno (Dr. Petr Vlcek); (4) Belgium (Liège) (N = 450) assessed by University of Liège (Prof. Dr. Marc Cloes and Dr. Boris Jidovtseff). In the initial validation study in Switzerland, two factors consisting of four items each were found. The related EFA (Study 1: CFI=.98; RMSEA=.024) and CFA (Study 2: CFI =.95; RMSEA=.044) revealed good model fit indices. The first factor “Locomotion” represents body movements (e.g., balancing), the second factor “Object-control” represents ball control (e.g., catching). Conclusions: The developed MOBAK test instrument meets psychometric validity demands based on the Swiss data. The presentation will show the results of the validation studies in further European countries and the results of the comparative study.