Finding a Home for Adapted Physical Education in Individualized Education Program Software

• Main Authors: Scott McNamara, Suzanna Dillon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palacký University Olomouc 2020-04-01
• Series: European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity
• Subjects: disability; special education; iep; technology; educational software
• Online Access: https://eujapa.upol.cz/artkey/euj-202001-0004_finding-a-home-for-adapted-physical-education-in-individualized-education-program-software.php
• ISSN: 1803-3857; 1803-3857

The United States' Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) is a law that mandates special education is free and appropriate for all children with disabilities and includes services in physical education (PE). Few scholars have examined how PE for students with disabilities is documented within individualized education program (IEP) software systems. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the extent to which PE is being included in IEP software. Fifteen IEP software companies were surveyed. In addition, nine state IEP templates were randomly selected and reviewed in order to determine how they labeled PE services. Four IEP templates were selected from states with an adapted physical education (APE) teaching certificate or endorsement, and five IEP templates were selected from states that did not have an APE teaching certificate or endorsement. The findings from this study indicate that IEP software companies and state IEP templates across that nation are using a variety of terms (e.g., adaptive PE) to label PE services for students with disabilities. Furthermore, many of the documents are also incorrectly classifying PE services as a related service, rather than a direct service which is the correct classification of PE services. These findings support the need for PE experts to be consulted during the development of state IEP templates and IEP software