Evaluation of Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy implementation in Ontario: surveys of elementary school administrators and teachers

Abstract

BackgroundSchool-based structured opportunities for physical activity can provide health-related benefits to children and youth, and contribute to international guidelines recommending 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. In 2005, the Ministry of Education in Ontario, Canada, released the Daily Physical Activity (DPA) policy requiring school boards to “ensure that all elementary students, including students with special needs, have a minimum of twenty minutes of sustained MVPA each school day during instructional time”. This paper reports on the first provincial study evaluating implementation fidelity to the DPA policy in Ontario elementary schools and classrooms. Using an adapted conceptual framework, the study also examined associations between implementation of DPA and a number of predictors in each of these respective settings.MethodsSeparate cross-sectional online surveys were conducted in 2014 with Ontario elementary school administrators and classroom teachers, based on a representative random sample of schools and classrooms. An implementation fidelity score was developed based on six required components of the DPA policy. Other survey items measured potential predictors of implementation at the school and classroom levels. Descriptive analyses included frequency distributions of implementation fidelity and predictor variables. Bivariate analyses examining associations between implementation and predictors included binary logistic regression for school level data and generalized linear mixed models for classroom level data, in order to adjust for school-level clustering effects.ResultsAmong administrators, 61.4 % reported implementation fidelity to the policy at the school level, while 50.0 % of teachers reported fidelity at the classroom level. Several factors were found to be significantly associated with implementation fidelity in both school and classroom settings including: awareness of policy requirements; scheduling; monitoring; use of resources and supports; perception that the policy is realistic and achievable; and specific barriers to implementation.ConclusionsFindings from the surveys indicate incomplete policy implementation and a number of factors significantly associated with implementation fidelity. The results indicate a number of important implications for policy, practice and further research, including the need for additional research to monitor implementation and its predictors, and assess the impacts of study recommendations and subsequent outcomes of a reinvigorated DPA moving forward.

Implementeringen af motion og bevægelse i skolen – et review af hæmmende og fremmende faktorer set i et lærerperspektiv

“…Hvis laererne har viden på området og forstår sammenhaengen mellem fysisk aktivitet og laering, er de mere tilbøjelige til at integrere fysisk aktivitet i undervisningen (Cothran et al, 2010;McMullen, Kulinna, & Cothran, 2014), ligesom laererens kendskab til de politiske krav også er en fremmende faktor for integrering af fysisk aktivitet i undervisningen (Allison et al, 2016). Laererne er til gengaeld mindre villige til at integrere fysisk aktivitet, hvis de mener bevaegelsesaktiviteterne strider imod, hvordan de mener, at elevernes bedst laerer.…”

“…Mange studier viser, at jo vigtigere laererne mener, at fysisk aktivitet er, jo mere villige er de til at anvende bevaegelse i undervisningen (bl.a. Allison et al, 2016;Goh et al, 2013;Parks, Solmon, & Lee, 2007;Webster et al, 2013a).…”

“…Et studie af Gilmore & Donohoe (2016) viser ligeledes, at når laererne oplever, at de har tilstraekkelig viden, faerdigheder og kompetencer til at integrere bevaegelse i undervisningen, er det en vigtig, fremmende faktor for, hvorvidt bevaegelse rent faktisk også bliver en del af undervisningen (Gilmore & Donohoe, 2016). Omvendt viser studier, at oplevelsen af manglende viden om, hvad man som laerer skal gøre, også kan vaere en haemmende faktor (Allison et al, 2016;Holt, Bartee, & Heelan, 2013). I studier af henholdsvis laererstuderende (Webster, Monsma, & Erwin, 2010) og af laerere blev det vist, at oplevet kompetence og indstilling til at anvende bevaegelse i undervisningen også haenger positivt sammen med, hvor tilfreds den laererstuderende har vaeret med den idraetsundervisning, han/hun har oplevet gennem eget skoleforløb.…”

“…Mangel på tid opleves af laererne i mange studier som en af de vaesentligste barrierer for implementering af bevaegelse i undervisningen (Allison et al, 2016;Goh et al, 2013;Howie et al, 2014;Stylianou et al, 2016). Det handler isaer om oplevelsen af utilstraekkelig tid i undervisningen, men også om manglende forberedelsestid (LadeKjaer & Hjarbech, 2016;Naylor et al, 2006) og mangel på tid til at samarbejde og sparre med kolleger (Webster et al, 2013b).…”

“…En anden vaesentlig barriere er oplevelsen af begraenset plads til bevaegelse i klassevaerelset (Allison et al, 2016;Gibson et al, 2008;Goh et al, 2013;LadeKjaer & Hjarbech, 2016;Lowden et al, 2001;McMullen et al, 2014), og som ifølge et norsk studie isaer kommer til udtryk i udskolingen med fysisk større elever (Larsen, Samdal & Tjomsland, 2013). Og netop fordi pladsen i klassevaerelset opleves som trang af mange laerere, er bevaegelsesaktiviteter for nogle laerere forbundet med, at man forlader klassevaerelset og enten går ud på gangarealerne, bevaeger sig hen til en gymnastiksal eller går udenfor.…”