Development and Validation of Physical Activity Competency Scale for Elementary School Students

This study aimed to develop the Physical Activity Competency Scale (PACS), which measures the three physical activity competencies specified in the 2022 Revised Physical Education Curriculum for elementary school students, and to examine its reliability and validity. Following a literature review and an analysis of curriculum documents, an initial item pool was generated, and content validity examination by a panel of nine physical education experts yielded 30 preliminary items with 10 items for each competency. A preliminary survey of 344 elementary school students and subsequent exploratory factor analysis (EFA) produced a three-factor, 20-item structure that accounted for 60.192% of the total variance. In a main survey of 375 elementary school students, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated an acceptable model fit: *χ 2* =359.563( *df* =116), *χ 2* / *df* =3.100, TLI=.926, CFI=.937, RMSEA=.075, and SRMR=.047. The final scale comprised 17 items across three factors: movement performance competency (8 items), health management competency (5 items), and physical activity culture enjoyment competency (4 items). The internal consistency coefficients (Cronbach’s α) were .925, .865, and .784, respectively, and both convergent and discriminant validity were adequately established. These findings confirm that the PACS is a valid instrument for measuring elementary school students’ perceived levels of the three competencies presented in the 2022 Revised Physical Education Curriculum. The scale can be used to diagnose students’ developmental levels of physical activity competency and to inform the direction of teaching and learning.