Daily Performance Record
Purpose
The Daily Performance Record is designed for the instructor to keep an accurate record of the athlete's daily performances as he/she learns the sports skills described in this guide, there are several reasons why the instructor should use the Daily Performance Record. One, the record becomes a permanent documentation of the athlete's progress, which is important in itself, and helps the instructor establish measurable consistency in the athlete's curriculum, This is extremely important when more than one instructor works with the athlete, Two, the record allows the instructor to be flexible during the actual instructional session because he/she can break down the skills into tasks that are more specific than those indicated in this guide and, thus, meet the individual needs of each athlete. Lastly, the record helps the instructor choose proper skills and tasks, viable conditions and criteria for mastering the skills and tasks, and correct levels of instruction to suit the athlete's learning abilities in future sessions. These reasons make the Daily Performance Record an important aspect of an individualized educational program.
Using the Daily Performance Record
At the top of the record, the instructor enters his/her name, the athlete's name, the sport and the sports skills program level from which the skills are taken, If more than one instructor works with the athlete, they should enter the dates that they work next to their names.
Skills and Task Analysis
Before the instructional session begins, the instructor decides what skill(s) will be taught. The instructor makes this decision based on the athlete's age, the athlete's interest and his/her mental and physical abilities. The skill should be a statement or a description of the specific terminal behavior that the athlete must perform, for example: "Chip a golf ball from 45 feet toward the cup." The instructor enters the skill on the top line of the left-hand column.
On the second line, the instructor enters the first task from the task analysis that described the skill. Each subsequent task is entered after the athlete masters the previous task. Of course, more than one sheet may be used to record all of the tasks involved in one skill. Also, if the athlete cannot perform a prescribed task, the instructor may break down the skill into even more specific tasks that will allow for the athlete's success.
Conditions and Criteria for Mastering
After the instructor enters the skill and the first task on the record, he/ she then decides on the conditions and criteria by which the athlete must master the skill and the task. Conditions are special circumstances which define the manner in which the athlete must perform a skill, for example: "given a demonstration, and with assistance," The instructor should always assume that the ultimate conditions in which the athlete masters a skill are, "upon command and without assistance," and therefore, should not feel obliged to enter these conditions in the record next to the skill entry, However, the instructor should enter conditions next to the task entry, and must select conditions that suit the task being performed and the individual abilities of the athlete. The instructor should arrange the tasks and conditions in such a way that as the athlete learns to perform the skill, task by task. He/she also gradually learns to perform it upon command and without assistance.
Criteria are the standards that determine how well the skill or task must be performed. A non-handicapped athlete should be able to perform a skill "upon command and without assistance, 90% of the time" for the instructor to consider that the athlete has mastered it. But, in the case of a Special Olympics athlete, the instructor should determine a standard that more realistically suits the athlete's mental and physical abilities, for example: "into a wider than normal target, six out of ten items." Given the varied nature of tasks and skills, the criteria might involve many different types of standards, such as: amount of time, number of repetitions, accuracy, distance or speed.
Dates of Sessions and Levels of Instruction Used
The instructor may work on one task for a couple of days, and may use several levels of instruction during that time to progress to the point where the athlete performs the task upon command and with assistance. To establish a consistent curriculum for the athlete, the instructor must record the dates he/she works on particular tasks, and must enter the levels of instruction that were used on those dates.
Click on the icons below to link to the various record templates.
