School-based physical education, physical activity and sports provision: A concept mapping framework for evaluation

Area of Science:

• Health Promotion
• Educational Policy
• Sports Science

Background:

• Physical education, physical activity, and sports are crucial for school health promotion.
• A standardized evaluation framework for these components is currently lacking.
• A coherent evaluation requires a framework that considers distinct structures and impacting factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a standardized evaluation framework for school physical education, physical activity, and sports provision.
• To identify key structures and factors influencing provision.
• To provide a foundation for a national evaluation index.

Main Methods:

• Concept mapping methodology involving expert stakeholders.
• Generation and rating of 95 factor statements by 197 multi-disciplinary participants.
• Thematic and numeric rating and sorting of factors.

Main Results:

• An eight-cluster framework was derived with good validity (stress value: 0.266).
• Key clusters include Partnerships, Physical Activity & Sports, School Demographics, Equipment/Facilities/Budget, Extra Costs, Curriculum/Policy, School Management, and Timetable.
• School management factors were rated highest in importance and modifiability, while school demographics were rated lowest.

Conclusions:

• Eight overarching structures for school physical education, physical activity, and sports provision have been identified.
• The study illuminates structures and factors of greatest importance and modifiability.
• The findings support the development of a national provision evaluation index for policy and action, with recommendations for international replication.