School Administrators and Physical Educators: A Scoping Review of Perceptions and Partnerships From 2000 to 2020

Abstract

Physical education (PE) is an academic subject that delivers students a standards-based program designed to foster the knowledge and skills needed to be physically active for a lifetime. Although there is a dearth of research that has examined school administrators’ perceptions and interactions with PE, it has been reported that school administrators often are a barrier that disrupts effective PE programming. This study aimed to conduct a scoping review of the literature to capture a comprehensive view of the peer-reviewed research that has focused on physical educators’ collaboration with and perceptions of school administrators, and literature related to school administrators’ collaboration and perceptions of physical educators. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews extension for Scoping Reviews Checklist guided this investigation. Seven databases were searched, and 29 articles met the full inclusion criteria. This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of the evidence and research trends; nonetheless, the heterogeneity of the studies and limited literature on this topic make it difficult to form any substantial conclusions. The need for additional research is especially true for research examining PE teachers’ perceptions and interactions with school administrators, as only three of the identified studies in this review focused on this topic. The recognition of these gaps in the literature may be important to the fields of educational leadership and PE, as it may lead to more concerted efforts to examine how these fields interact and how they can collaborate more effectively.

School Administrators’ Intentions to Promote Adapted Physical Education

“…This is especially important given that many adapted physical educators have expressed that there is a lack of collaboration between other school personnel and themselves. For instance, it has been reported that PE is seldom addressed adequately throughout the IEP process (Chaapel et al, 2013;Columna et al, 2014;McNamara et al, 2021aMcNamara et al, , 2021b. In addition, some physical educators may only be allowed to view a student's IEP and provide feedback, rather than attend the IEP meeting (Columna et al, 2014).…”

“…School administrators have a critical responsibility to ensure students with disabilities receive educational services to meet their educational needs, including students who are entitled to and qualify for APE. While recent surveys assessed school administrators' opinions toward APE, researchers acknowledged this line of research has been neglected (Bittner et al, 2020;McNamara et al, 2020;McNamara et al, 2021aMcNamara et al, , 2021b. In addition, the few available studies did not use a theoretical model to develop their surveys.…”

Principals’ attitudes and intentions toward supporting adapted physical education

“…This apparent lack the knowledge of APE aligns with previous research that has continually demonstrated this group, and school administrators in general, have a poor conceptualization of these services, how APE and PE fit within the special education process, and PE as a curriculum (e.g. McNamara et al, 2021bMcNamara et al, , 2022. To effectively supervise and provide leadership, school administrators need a strong grasp of the variety of subjects taught within their schools (Lochmiller and Acker-Hocevar, 2016).…”

“…Maher, 2017Maher, , 2018. Further, it has primarily centered on delivering inclusive PE experiences, rather than on APE services and teachers defined and mandated through US special education legislation (McNamara et al, 2021b). The research in the US has either focused exclusively on the perspectives of APE teachers (McNamara et al, in press) or has been simple descriptive survey research that, unlike qualitative research, is unable to provide participants' perspectives depicting a more holistic view of their attitudes and rationale for their values toward APE services and teachers (Bittner et al, 2020;McNamara et al, 2021a;Nassaji, 2015).…”

“…Although school administrators in the US are required to ensure all aspects of IDEA are properly implemented within their schools, there is evidence indicating they often hold unfavorable attitudes toward PE and APE, as well as frequently neglect PE and APE at the expense of other academic areas and special education services (Bittner et al, 2020;McNamara et al, 2021aMcNamara et al, , 2021bMcNamara et al, , 2022Rizzo, 2020). McNamara et al (in press) interviewed 24 APE teachers and constructed four themes from the data relating to attitudes and experiences with building principals.…”