Creation and content validation of an instrument for assessing children's engagement in school physical education classes

Objective: Construction of an instrument for assessing children's engagement in School Physical Education (SPE) classes and the testing of the content validity of this instrument. Method: An evaluative instrument, using direct observation, was constructed in the following stages: construction of the first version of the instrument, a pilot study, relevance analysis, and instrument restructuring. Content validation was performed by five expert judges who assessed each item according to three criteria - Language Clarity (LC), Practical Pertinence (PP), and Theoretical Relevance (TR) - using a Likert scale. The Content Validity Coefficient (CVC) was calculated across five analytical steps, generating item-level (CVCᵢ), final (CVCf), and total (CVCt). CVCt > 0.80 were considered acceptable. The judges' critical comments were qualitatively analyzed and used to refine the final version of the instrument, which then underwent a new round of content evaluation by the same judges. Results: The pilot study was applied, evaluating 15 students of both sexes, from two private schools in Fortaleza/ CE. Ten students achieved adequate active participation, while 5 students had an average score between 2.2 and 2.4, being susceptible to improvements. The criterion LC generated the most divergence of opinion among the judges, in the behavioral dimension. Based on the judges' opinions, improvements were made to the instrument, and a new round of content evaluation showed that all criteria achieved acceptable CVCt values. Conclusion: The newly developed instrument shows satisfactory content validity and offers a reliable way for health and education professionals to assess children's engagement in SPE classes across different social contexts.