Developing the Spanish Physical Literacy Assessment for Children (SPLA-C): a delphi-based model for assessing physical literacy in schoolchildren aged 6-12 years.

There are different recognized assessments of physical literacy (PL), with the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy-2 (CAPL-2) being the most widely recognized worldwide. Owing to sociocultural differences, creating a country-specific PL assessment becomes necessary. The aims of this study are 1) to develop an assessment model of the Spanish Physical Literacy Assessment for Children (SPLA-C) for Spanish schoolchildren aged 6-12 years and 2) to identify the assessment weights for each of the SPLA-C components, specifying the optimal tools. A documentary analysis was carried out in which experts were consulted, and the Delphi method was used. Twenty-eight experts took part in the Delphi process, and 23 experts completed all the rounds of the survey. Experts' opinions are used to develop the assessment model of the SPLA-C and to identify the assessment weights for each component. A general consensus was obtained by the committee of experts for the proposed tools (85.2%).

conclusionThe SPLA-C could be considered a suitable method for assessing PL in Spanish children and adolescents and could be adapted to their educational-curricular and cultural context, after future studies analyze its psychometric properties, including the feasibility, reliability, and validity of each of the proposed instruments. WHAT IS KNOWN: • PL supports lifelong physical activity. • No culturally adapted PL assessment exists for Spanish children. WHAT IS NEW: • The SPLA-C is a culturally adapted model for Spanish schoolchildren. • It defines five PL components and provides consensus-based assessment tools.