The Influence of Relative Age Effect in the Assessment of High School Students in Physical Education in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The common practice of annually age grouping children in education, likely done under the assumption of similarly aged children sharing similar abilities and learner characteristics, may actually undermine equity and fairness in student assessments. This strategy has received criticism for (dis) advantaging those older children born closer to the “cut off” date for entry into an academic year and for promoting the existence of relative age effects (RAEs). This paper explores the possibility that RAEs may be prevalent in the end-of-year attainment levels of junior high school physical education (PE) students. The PE end-of-year attainment scores were collected from 582 students in grades 7, 8 and 9 (aged 11–14 years) in the United Kingdom (UK). The results from a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated a significant main effect for month of birth (p = .001) and gender (p = .001). Follow up interviews with heads of PE (HoPE) revealed a lack of awareness of RAEs and inconsiderate assessment strategies, which deviated from the requirements of the formal curriculum. The implications of RAEs in school PE assessment and possible recommendations are discussed.

Relative Age Effect and Gender Differences in Physical Education Attainment in Norwegian Schoolchildren

“…The findings are consistent with earlier results suggesting that the RAE plays a role in PE teachers' evaluation of students (Bell et al, 1997;Cobley et al, 2008Cobley et al, , 2009Roberts & Fairclough, 2012). Furthermore, they indicate that the RAE is robust phenomenon.…”

“…Roberts and Fairclough (2012) concluded, for example, that: "The observed difference in performance between boys and girls may be explained by the use of fitness testing and other predominantly physical tests within the assessment process" (p. 66). Such a notion is also supported by the present results, as marks for the boys were higher than for girls, regardless of birth date, that is, their evaluation do not allow for gender differences in many test elements.…”

“…Furthermore, they indicate that the RAE is robust phenomenon. It is reasonable to believe that Norwegian PE teachers, like their colleagues in other countries (Roberts & Fairclough, 2012), are not sufficiently aware of the RAE. Assessments made by the PE teachers may have been more product-oriented (see Penney, Brooker, Hay, & Gillespie, 2009) than one would expect based on the curriculum requirements, a practice that has been inherited, perhaps, from sports.…”

“…True enough, RAEs in PE have been reported in several studies. Cobley, Abraham, and Baker (2008) found RAE's among pupils of 11-14 years in a UK secondary school, as did Roberts and Fairclough (2012), while Bell, Massey, and Dexter (1997) found RAE's in ratings of sport performance in 16-year-olds taking a General Certificate of Secondary Education in PE.…”

Relative age effect in Turkish soccer

“…RAE refers to the individual advantage that individuals who were born earlier in the same year have over the ones who were born later in that year, among a group of individuals who are assigned a similar task (3,20,21,24).…”