Reporting Deadline
The deadline for districts to submit their 2006-07 physical fitness data files to the PFT contractor, Educational Data Systems (EDS), is June 30, 2007.
Reporting Options
The new PFT contract has been awarded to EDS. Several options for districts to submit their annual PFT results, including their school-level information can be found on the EDS Web site (Outside Source). Options include online data entry, data file uploads, and mailing a CD or floppy disk. The EDS Web site also provides file formats in ASCII text, MS Excel, or MS Access. The provided file format templates must be used in the upload and CD or floppy disk options. When mailing a CD or floppy disk to EDS, districts should complete the District Contact Record found on the EDS Web site (Outside Source). For security reasons, districts should not e-mail the PFT student results to EDS.
To access the online data entry or the upload site, the PFT Coordinator must use the assigned password. If the district has a new PFT Coordinator or a change of e-mail address, the coordinator contact survey form found on the EDS Web site must be completed and faxed to the number on the form.
In addition, school districts can contract one of several outside agencies to perform scanning and data-entry services.
For more information regarding data submission, contact Maryse Doss at EDS at 1-800-532-4424 or by e-mail at fitness@eddata.com. More detailed information is provided below under “Electronic Reporting Options/Directions for 2007 Physical Fitness Test.”
Electronic Reporting Options/Directions for 2007 Physical Fitness Test
Reporting Physical Fitness Data: Once the data from physical fitness testing has been collected for each school, school districts, or their contractors, select one of the following options.
- Internet data entry: This is a good option for school districts with smaller numbers of students. The district representative enters individual student data one-by-one into a Web page data-collection form. To select this option, one needs the PFT Coordinator’s password. To obtain the password, see below.
- Data file upload: Data which is in plain text ASCII or uses EDS’ Excel or Access data entry templates may be submitted online via a special upload form. To select this option, one needs the PFT Coordinator’s password. To obtain the password, see below.
- CD-ROM or diskette in standard format files: Individual student data and school demographic data are compiled and are then downloaded onto a CD-ROM or diskette and forwarded to EDS.
Obtaining a PFT Coordinator’s Password:If a district has a PFT Coordinator, contact him/her for the password. If not, the district must complete the District Fitness Coordinator Contact Survey and fax the completed form to EDS. A password will be sent to the coordinator by e-mail. The form is available on the EDS Web site (Outside Source). Please note: If a contact survey has been submitted to EDS in the last three years, please do not submit another survey unless your contact information has changed.
Standard File Formats:EDS will accept data in a number of standard Windows PC file formats, as listed below. Please leave entries blank or null for tests not taken. The scoring program treats a result of zero differently from a blank score. A zero is given to show a student's result on a given skill (e.g., the student took the test but "0" push-ups were achieved). A score left blank indicates that the student did not take the test.
- Flat ASCII file: Files in this format are relatively small. Please read the School and Student Record layouts for details on the file specifications required for this format. The file layouts are available on the EDS Web site (Outside Source).
- MS Excel / MS Access Templates: These files are larger than the flat ASCII files, and Excel or Access must be installed on your computer. You may download a pre-formatted template (in four different formats) from the Web page, or you may contact EDS for assistance at 1-800-532-4424 or 408-776-7646 or by e-mail at fitness@eddata.com. This option includes Excel 97/2000, Access 97, or Access 2000.
- FITNESSGRAM® Export: Districts that use FITNESSGRAM® 6.0 Software or 8.0 to collect its fitness data should export the data using the custom format option and save the file as Excel 5.0. Districts using FITNESSGRAM® 8.0 should use the “Export to FG6” option and save the file in comma separated variable (csv) format.
Macintosh Users: Macintosh users may use the same data submission methods and file formats described above. Since files created on a Macintosh can look different on a Windows PC, please let EDS know if you have used a Macintosh to create your files.
Additional Information: For more information regarding data submission, contact Maryse Doss, EDS Fitness Project Manager, at 1-800-532-4424 or 408-776-7646 or by e-mail at fitness@eddata.com or on the EDS Web site (Outside Source).
Preparation Manual for Testing and Reporting, Part Two
The California Department of Education (CDE) will not be issuing a Preparation Manual for Testing and Reporting, Part Two. This supplemental manual would have provided guidance regarding EDS’ reporting requirements. These reporting requirements are listed under the “Reporting Options” heading at the beginning of this document. In addition, detailed information is provided under the “Electronic Reporting Options/Directions for 2007 Physical Fitness Test.”
FITNESSGRAM® Software and Ethnicity Codes
Last year, the ethnicity codes for Asian and Pacific Islanders were expanded to include subgroups for PFT reporting. However, the FITNESSGRAM® software uses only the federal ethnicity codes, which do not accept these expanded ethnicity subgroups. To accommodate this ethnicity code change, districts need to fix the values for these ethnicity subgroups after they export their FITNESSGRAM® files. If EDS receives a district’s file with invalid ethnicity coding, EDS will contact the district and ask it to correct this coding. If a district chooses not to make any changes to this invalid ethnicity coding, EDS will not make any changes to the district’s file. The district’s PFT results will still be posted to DataQuest later this year. However, there will not be any ethnicity information reported for the Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups.
FITNESSGRAM® Standards for Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ)
The HFZ numbers displayed in the tables for Skinfold Measurements and Body Mass Index have been reversed to indicate that the smaller numbers are better than larger numbers. The PACER HFZ standard for females, age 15 also was corrected. The corrected information was posted on the PFT Web site in March 2007.
More Information
Questions regarding the PFT should be directed to Carrie Strong-Thompson at 916-319-0341 or by e-mail at pft@cde.ca.gov.
