The successful inclusion of children with disabilities into general physical education (PE) depends in large part on the attitudes and competence of general PE teachers. Unfortunately, many PE teachers' undergraduate preparation is insufficient when it comes to including children with disabilities. In-service professional development can provide…

Adventure education (AE) is a student-centered curricular model built upon acceptance where various types of learners can experience challenge, success, emotional growth, and peer interaction. Most studies focus exclusively on the perspectives of the instructors, whereas this study includes parental perspectives of children with disabilities and…

Evidence suggests that youth with visual impairments often experience exclusion from participation in physical education (PE). This study examined the frequency that individuals with visual impairments reported having learned fundamental motor skills and commonly taught PE sports skills, the importance that they ascribed to learning such skills,…

The purpose of this study was to understand career changes of inservice teachers transitioning to the adapted physical education (APE) profession after completing online APE professional development graduate courses. This study was based on intentional change theory (Boyatzis, 2006). Participants were five in-service teachers who decided to change…

Within adapted physical education (APE), there is a lack of knowledge regarding content and attitudes toward curricular domains, which can influence student learning. This study assessed APE teachers' attitudes toward four curricular domains. Participants (n = 219) completed a modified version of the Attitudes Toward Curriculum in Physical…

For many students with autism spectrum disorder, physical education is the responsibility of an adapted physical education specialist. In this study, we examined the training focused on teaching students with autism spectrum disorder received by a sample of 106 adapted physical education specialists. Competencies necessary on a course to train…

Background: In 2008, Ayers and Housner published a descriptive analysis of undergraduate PETE programs' application of the 2003 NASPE standards. The shift in emphases from the 2003 to 2008 standards motivated the examination of how U.S. PETE programs address current standards. Purpose: Based upon recommendations for future research, this study…

Emerging professionals, particularly senior-level undergraduate and graduate students in kinesiology who have an interest in physical education for individuals with and without disabilities, should understand the basic assumptions of the quantitative research paradigm. Knowledge of basic assumptions is critical for conducting, analyzing, and…

Physical education college preparation programs continue to require only one adapted physical education (APE) course. Due to the importance of the one APE course often provided to preservice physical education, this study investigated the status of introductory APE courses across the United States. A content analysis of the course descriptions and…

Service-learning (SL) has become a popular teaching strategy to work with individuals with disabilities in adapted physical education/ physical activity (APE/APA) courses. Despite the increasing popularity of the use of SL in APE/APA courses, little is known about kinesiology students' experiences in these contexts. This study examined kinesiology…

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect the type of APE service approach had on GPE teachers' efficacy when working with students with disabilities. The three approaches of APE service delivery chosen for the study were (a) consultation, (b) itinerant, and (c) collaborative. Results indicate significant differences between levels of…

Physical education teacher education (PETE) programs vary on how the topics of safe teaching and risk management are addressed. Common practices to cover such issues include requiring textbooks, lesson planning, peer teaching, videotaping, reflecting, and reading case law analyses. We used a mixed methods design to examine how risk management is…

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain master of arts students' academic and social experiences during the transition to an adapted physical education (APE) graduate program. In this study, we used the theory of transition, which allowed us to understand students' transition to graduate studies and to assist them in connecting to…

Purpose: Much of the information physical educators learn about children with disabilities occurs in an introduction to adapted physical education course. Because disabilities often have concomitant medical conditions, it is critical that PE teachers are knowledgeable about risks and safety measures for children with special needs. The purpose of…

The purpose of this study was to analyze quantitative needs for more adapted physical education (APE) teachers based on both market- and prevalence-based models. The market-based need for more APE teachers was examined based on APE teacher positions funded, while the prevalence-based need for additional APE teachers was analyzed based on students…