Motor Performance and Academic Achievement in Special School Students with Intellectual Disabilities (original) (raw)

Aim. The concept of the integrated development or the interrelationship between motor and intellectual abilities has served as the foundation of a number of theories of child development and of learning. It has been assumed by many that the learning and the performance of motor skills are closely related to intelligence. The basic purpose of this study was to determine the significance of the gender (male/ female) difference, grade-level differences in the basic motor development, related to the different IQ-maturity subcategories. Additionally, of special interest in this study was to establish the correlations among variables for the estimation of chronological age (Age/M), academic achievement (ScSs), intellectual maturity (IQ) and motor development (PFT) of Special Secondary School Students, using Pearson's, Kendall's, and Spearman's Correlations Coefficient. (r). 126 International scientific magazine KINESMETRICS Methods. The total sample of 176 subjects of both genders (118 male and 58 female) was included in the study. Instruments: A battery of Physical Fitness Tests (PFT) for the evaluation of motor development was applied (Fjørtoft et al. 2003), comprising nine different tasks (including running, jumping, throwing and climbing) for the estimation of explosive strength, running speed, agility and endurance of participants. Results. The significant relationship was estimated between chronological age and educational performance (at 0.5* level), and between IQ-maturity and educational performance (at 0.1* level) with Kendall's (.416) and Spearman's (.537) Correlation coefficient. Physical Fitness Tests (PFT) items scores were transformed into standardized z-score, and have not established significant correlation with other variables within total sample of participants. Conclusion. General conclusion, derived from results of this study, provided within Special education of Secondary school students do not support constant link between PET variables and common indices of academic achievement, such as average various educational subjects marks (grade-points). Continued research is needed to gain more causal understanding of the relationship between motor (physical fitness) and intellectual performance in children with special needs (intellectual disabilities). Future research should address and explain which parameters of physical fitness and activities obtain the greatest cognitive benefits, examine the effects of physical activity and fitness by cohorts, and investigate which moderators have the greatest impact on student cognition and education performance in children with intellectual disabilities , as these factors are important contributors to their health and well-being.