title: School physical activity policy assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physical activity (PA) levels in schools vary widely, and there is interest in studying how student PA accrual relates to school policy and environmental conditions. School PA policy research, however, is in its infancy and generalizable measurement tools do not exist. We developed and assessed reliability of items on the School Physical Activity Policy Assessment (S-PAPA), an instrument designed to assess school PA policy related to physical education (PE), recess, and other opportunities.
  
  
  METHODS
  To develop items, we perused associated literature, examined existing instruments, and consulted school policy makers. For test-retest reliability assessment, 31 elementary school PE teachers completed the survey twice, 14 days apart.
  
  
  RESULTS
  S-PAPA uses open-ended, dichotomous, multichotomous, and checklist formatting and has 3 modules: 1) Physical Education (47 items), 2) Recess (27 items), and 3) Other Before, During, and After School Programs (15 items). Responses to more than 95% of items were highly related between Times 1 and 2. Generally, physical education and recess items had fair to substantial levels of agreement, and items about other school PA programs had fair to perfect agreement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Test-retest results suggest S-PAPA items are reliable and useful in assessing PA policies in elementary schools.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, USA.
authors.forename: Monica A F
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lounsbery
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: McKenzie
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.forename: Kathryn A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.forename: Ronald G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Budnar
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*