Eligibility criteria for student placement in specially designed physical education classes in California include: (1) significantly reduced performance level because of a physical disability verified by a licensed physician; (2) significantly reduced performance level in motor skills and/or physical fitness as determined by performance below age level or performance at the fifth percentile or less on normed measures of motor development or physical fitness; and (3) significantly reduced performance which prevents safe and successful participation in a regular physical education class as a result of a serious behavioral and/or learning disorder. To achieve the goals of reliability and objectivity in testing and placement, the Adapted Physical Education Assessment Scale (A.P.E.A.S.) was developed to be: (1) understandable to students being tested; (2) appropriate to the age, sex, handicaps, and parameters of interest of students being tested; (3) normed to a population which included students similar to those being tested for placement; (4) able to discriminate adequately among a broad range of performances; (5) easy to administer; and (6) economical. Field tests for inservice training and administering of the A.P.E.A.S. indicated that the test shows promise for being an objective and reliable tool for placement of students in appropriate physical education programs. (JD)