Proposing conditions for assessment efficacy in physical education

In arguing for more comprehensive practice, policy and research considerations of assessment in physical education (PE), this paper outlines and discusses four integrated conditions of assessment efficacy for the development and promotion of productive assessment in PE. These conditions are prefaced by the proposition that quality PE requires the concerted and considered alignment of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment and the inclusion of a primary focus on assessment for learning; authentic, integrated assessment; assurance of construct validity; and socially just approaches to assessment. The conditions themselves are not new, however their integration has been a notable omission from PE literature in the past. Implicit in these conditions is a call for a broadening of the curriculum content of PE and an employment of physical activity as site for learning in multiple domains in addition to its recognition as a learning focus. © 2009 North West Counties Physical Education Association and SAGE Publications.