The Significance of Performance-Based Assessment for the Physical Education School Subject According to the Scoring System Used in the Romanian Educational System

Abstract

The main aim of the present paper is to observe the application of the assessment system within secondary school education in Romania. The study was conducted between 2015 and 2018, in the rural area, the subjects of the study being 7th and 8th grade pupils. Pupils were tested at the beginning and at the end of the school year by using 4 trials chosen from the National Assessment System. PE lessons were conducted during the school year according to the planning documents approved by the school management. Practical activities were focused on the development of motor skills and the learning of new, basic, applicative skills from different sports. We noticed an inconsistency between the pupils' performance and their note at the end of each semester. The average performances obtained in the trials were variable depending on the particularities of each one. The average of the results obtained in all 4 trials was equivalent to note between 6 and 6.5. At the end of each semester the pupils obtained the note 10. The obtained performance has a weight of about 60% of the final note obtained by the pupils. Other scoring factors, which do not have a real foundation or an assessment scale, have contributed to this. They are subjective factors used in order to justify the significant difference between the performance and the final note. The current scoring system is not objective and does not reflect pupils' competencies or their value-based ranking.