Development and reliability of the KIM cycling scale – a measurement tool for the development process to cycling independently

ABSTRACT

Background: Cycling has gained more attention as an important lifelong physical activity. Learning to cycle independently without assistance is a milestone for most children that requires time and practice to master. Cycling was recently added to the motor development model and so a valid and reliable measure of cycling ability is required to allow accurate assessment of the skill. Cycling has many health benefits along with being a commonly reported physical activity globally and therefore is an important skill to promote in early childhood and throughout life. To date, there are no measurement tools examining the developmental process to independent cycling in the early childhood years. The current study aimed to develop and assess the inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the ‘KIM Cycling Scale’.

Methods: Development of the scale occurred in four phases: (1) development of criteria and stages, which used observation of children when learning to cycle and expert panels to develop the initial developmental stages, (2) review of instructions and criteria and pilot inter-rater and test-retest reliability, to ensure that the scale could be used as a standalone scale without requiring further instructions (3) cycling intervention, which allowed assessment of the developmental nature of children along the scale as they learn to cycle independently and to assess typical and alternate routes to independent cycling and (4) inter-rater and test-retest reliability.

Results: Ninety children took part in phase 1, thirty-six children took part in phase 2, seventy-four children took part in phase 3 and one hundred and forty-nine children took part in phase 4. All three hundred and forty-nine children were between 2 and 6 years. The developed scale included eight stages in total. The scale was found to have excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.96–0.98) and good to excellent test-retest reliability [(ICC = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.87–0.94) & (ICC = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.85–0.93)]. Typical routes to independent cycling along the scale were examined and reported as being step-wise on all occasions except one where a two stage jump was as common as the step-wise route. Alternate routes were also reported.

Conclusion: The current study developed a reliable measurement tool for assessing children between 2 and 6 years of age on the developmental process to independent cycling. Having a cycling scale will allow teachers and practitioners to assess competence in cycling and moreover, track changes in skill development. Furthermore, parents could also use the scale to better understand and better asses their child’s progression when learning to cycle.

KEYWORDS:

• Cycling
• scale development
• early childhood
• assessment

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Cameron Peers, Stephen Behan, Jodie McWilliams and Shane Robertson for their assistance in the Love to Ride – Learn to Ride cycling intervention and in the data collection process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jennifer Kavanagh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2867-7115

Kieran Moran http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2015-8967

Johann Issartel http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1016-1409

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Irish Research Council [EPSPG/2015/147]; Yvolution Ltd. [EPSPG/2015/147].