- Introducing Health-Related Physical Fitness
- How is Health-Related Physical Fitness Defined?
- What is the Essence of Health on the Brockport Test?
- How are Physical Fitness, Physical Activity, and Health-Related Physical Fitness Related?
- What Health-Related Needs are Associated with the BPFT?
- What Test Items are on the BPFT?
- What Standards are Used to Evaluate Physical Fitness?
- How are Results Presented and Interpreted?
- Can the BPFT be Used in Inclusive Physical Education Settings?
- How does the BPFT Relate to the Development of Individualized Education Programs?
- Can the BPFT be Used for Youngsters with Severe Limitations in Physical Fitness?
- What Resources are Necessary for the Administration of the Test?
- What Materials are Included as a Part of the BPFT and How Can They be Obtained?
- Who Should be Assessing the Health-Related Physical Fitness of Youngsters with Disabilities in our Schools?
- What Should Parents Do to Advocate Health-Related Physical Fitness Tests in Schools?
- Note
- Exercise Intervention Research on Persons with Disabilities
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- Health Promotion for People with Physical, Cognitive and Sensory Disabilities: An Emerging National Priority
- Food and Your Mood: Nutrition and Mental Health
- The Importance of Men's Health
- Rehab and Community Physical Activity - When and Where Shall the Two Meet?
- Without Health Promotion, the Health Care System Will Remain Broken for People with Disabilities
- Obesity and Physical Fitness of Pre-Adolescent Children During the Academic Year and the Summer Period
- Congratulations Mr. President!
- Nutrition for Healthy Aging
- Inspiration and Wellness: Completing the Mosaics
- The Disabled Poor* Need a Healthier Community to Return to in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
- Alzheimer's Disease and Nutrition
- The Right to Fitness
- The Tipping Point
- Environmental Disability
- Environmental Disability
- What the Late Marlon Brando Can Teach Us About Health Promotion
- Newspaper Misses Mark in Health Club Feature
- Setting Goals and Sticking with Them
- Choosing a Fitness Center
- Managed Care and Rehabilitation
- F.I.T.T.: Move More in May, Ladies!
- People with Disabilities Need to Start Out with Higher Levels of Fitness
- President's Proposed Drug Relief Plan Must Include Relief from America's Worst Ailment: Physical Inactivity
- The Winds of Change in Disability and Health
- Race, Poverty, and Disability: Three Pillars of Need in Health Promotion
- Children with Disabilities and Obesity
- Wellness Programming for Independent Living Centers
Joseph P. Winnick, Ed.D.
Francis X. Short, P.E.D.
State University of New York, College at Brockport
The testing and assessment of the physical fitness of school-aged youngsters in the United States has been going on for several decades. Originally these tests strictly focused upon identifying physical fitness status and comparing the results of youngsters with others (norm-referenced). Beginning in the 1970s, there became considerable interest in health-related tests of physical fitness in which results attained by youngsters are compared with criteria representing positive health (criterion-referenced) rather than simply on score comparisons with others. For example, the results related to running one mile or percentage of body fat are compared with levels representing positive health rather than with the scores of others - which may or may not reflect positive levels of health.
The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) published its first health-related test in 1980 and in 1996 endorsed the health-related physical fitness test entitled FITNESSGRAM developed by the Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research (CIAR, 1992) as its recommended test of health-related physical fitness for school-aged youngsters. This endorsement continues today and is particularly important since AAHPERD is America's largest professional group of physical educators and is very influential on practices in schools throughout the United States.
Although attention has been and continues to be given to the development of health-related physical fitness tests for nondisabled youngsters, until recently no comprehensive health-related criterion-referenced tests had been developed for use with youngsters with disabilities. Between 1993 and 1998, the U.S. Department of Education funded Project Target to establish a health-related test of physical fitness for youths (ages 10-17) with disabilities. This project resulted in the development of the Brockport Physical Fitness Test (BPFT) - a criterion-referenced health-related test of physical fitness appropriate for use with youngsters with disabilities. The test recommends test items and health-related criterion-referenced standards for youngsters with mental retardation, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, blindness, congenital anomalies and amputations and recommends a process to develop tests appropriate for youngsters with other disabilities and health-related needs.
