| Both students and preservice teachers have reported a lack of understanding toward fitness testing in K--12 physical education settings (Hopple & Graham, 1995; Keating, Silverman, & Kulinna, 2002). The two-fold purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument that predicts teachers' intentions to administer fitness tests effectively and to determine the instrument's ability to predict teachers' intentions and actual behavior based on Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior (TPB). The dependent variables in Part One of the study were indirect measures of: (a) attitude (ATT); (b) subjective norm (SN); and (c) perceived behavioral control (PBC) and, (d) direct measures of intention. The dependent variables in Part Two of the study were teacher scores on: (a) the Teachers Intentions to Administer Physical Fitness Tests Effectively (TIAPFTE), (b) a behavior self-report, and (c) an observed behavior report.;In Part One of the study, a convenient sample of 104 physical educators completed a pilot version of the TIAPFTE and factor reduced the original 49-item survey to 29 items. Cronbach's (1951) alpha test measured internal consistency on each of the subscales: ATT (.90); SN (87); PBC (.69); as well as the entire survey (.87). Test-retest reliability estimates on each subscale were: ATT (.88); SN (.86); PBC (.79); and intention (.84); as well as the entire test score (.86). In Part Two of the study, a convenient sample of 197 physical educators completed the: (a) TIAPFTE prior to fitness testing and (b) behavior self-report after they administered fitness testing. Multiple regression analyses showed PBC and ATT significantly predicted intention. Furthermore, results showed that ATT significantly predicted teachers' behavior. |
