Alternative Assessment in Tennis

The purpose of this study was to develop two valid and reliable alternative assessment tasks based on the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Schools Program Curriculum. These assessments might then be used to determine the effectiveness of the USTA Schools Program Curriculum as taught in selected schools.

The two alternative assessment tasks developed for this study were based on the goals and objectives of the USTA Schools Program Curriculum. The first task required subjects to work in groups of three to create a video explaining and demonstrating basic tennis skills. The second task required subjects to work individually to develop a booklet of basic tennis skills. Scoring rubrics were also developed based on the goals and objectives of the USTA Schools Program Curriculum. The rubrics contained descriptions that would serve as the basis for judging subject products.

Subject products were collected, coded, and then scored by trained raters. Raters were trained extensively in order to retain reliability. Three types of reliability methods (intra-rater, inter-rater, and subject) were used to determine the reliability of the assessment tasks, and they were analyzed by calculating rater agreement. A criterion score of .85 exact rater agreement was considered acceptable reliability.

Two types of validity were determined as well. Construct validity was determined by analyzing the results of subjects' products to determine whether the data supported the hypothesis for this study. Content validity was determined by analyzing the response of a USTA professional concerning the content of the assessment tasks and rubrics.

The results of this study supported the hypothesis that it was possible to develop valid and reliable alternative assessment tasks based on the United States Tennis Association Schools Program Curriculum.