Inter-rater and test-retest (between-sessions) reliability of the 4-Skills Scan for dutch elementary school children

In The Netherlands, the 4-Skills Scan is an instrument for physical education teachers to assess gross motor skills of elementary schoolchildren. Little is known about its reliability. Therefore, in this study the test-retest and inter-rater reliability was determined. Respectively, 624 and 557 Dutch 6- to 12-year-old children were analyzed for test re-test and inter-rater reliability. All tests took place within the school setting. The outcome measure was age-expected motor performance (in years). Results showed a small practice effect of.24 years for re-test sessions and assessment of motor skills was possible with acceptable precision (standard error of measurement = .67 years). verall, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was .93 (95% confidence interval: .92-.93) for test-retest reliability and .97 for inter-rater reliability. For the repeated measures, the smallest detectable change (SDC) was 1.84 and limits of agreement were -1.60 and 2.08 years. It can be concluded that the 4-Skills Scan is a reliable instrument to assess gross motor skills in elementary school children.