Use of Sompa Physical Dexterity Data to Determine Physical education of Mentally Retarded Children

Abstract

The motor performance of two classes of nonhandicapped children (n = 49) and two classes of mentally retarded children (n = 18) functioning at the mild and moderate levels, was assessed to determine the appropriateness of their physical education instruction. All subjects were administered the six-scale Physical Dexterity subcomponent of the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment. Discriminant analysis of the data resulted in two of the three functions being significant, together accounting for 98% of the variance, with all six scales contributing discriminatory power. Although 66% of the subjects were correctly classified, some nonhandicapped and mentally retarded children were misclassified. The implications for program placement change are discussed.

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