School Administrators’ Intentions to Promote Adapted Physical Education

Abstract

A survey, developed with the Theory of Planned Behavior, was used to assess school administrators’ intention to promote adapted physical education (APE). Survey results indicated that when school administrators’ attitudes and subjective norms were favorable, the intention to promote APE was subsequently higher. The results indicate that if we expect public school administrators to promote APE in schools, they must know the importance of high-quality physical education to students with disabilities.

Principals’ attitudes and intentions toward supporting adapted physical education

“…Along with having knowledge of APE, when principals believe they can promote APE and have favorable beliefs and attitudes to promote high-quality APE, they are more likely to do so (Ajzen, 1991;Rizzo, 2020). Previous survey data has indicated the PBC construct was not significantly associated with school administrators' intentions to support APE; however, it was suggested this lack of significance may have been attributed to an overarching indifference toward APE (McNamara et al, 2021a). However, findings from the current study indicate that resources, a major component of PBC, influenced the perceived control administrators' feel they must promote and support APE.…”

“…TPB constructs, along with principals’ attributes, will measure and explain their intentions to promote APE. McNamara et al (2021a) recently assessed school administrators’ intention to support APE services using a survey grounded within the TPB. Linear regressions indicated that higher levels of attitudes and subjective norms related to supporting APE were related to being more likely to have intentions to support APE services.…”

“…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). All of this points to the continued dearth of research focused on building principals’ attitudes and support of APE services.…”

“…This lack of prioritizing PE and APE increases the likelihood of not providing educational support necessary to optimize PE experiences (e.g. McNamara et al, 2021a; Rizzo, 2020). After all, principals have administrative oversight and are responsible for allocating resources and facility space to school staff.…”

“…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.…”