Parent/Guardian Awareness of Adapted

Physical Education
Table 1- Control Group Individual Question Scores Figure 1 –Intervention
APE Awareness Survey Questions
Percentage of Parents Who Effectiveness on Parent
Answered Correctly
Kristin Goeser Awareness of Adapted Physical
Question 1: APE Definition 71%
University of Utah Education (Individual Questions)
Question 2: Areas of APE 8%
Question 3: Benefits of APE 88%
Intervention Effectiveness
Question 4: APE Law 38% 100

90

80

70

I. Introduction II. Methods III. Results

Percent Correct
60

50

• 6.6 million children with disabilities in the United Participants: Parents/guardians of children with disabilities Survey data was analyzed for 40

States participating in the U-Fit program at the University of Utah • Percent correct on pre-test 30

• When parents are involved in their children’s • Control Group: 48 Parents/Guardians • Individual questions (Table 1) 20

education, academic success is improved • Intervention Group: 12 Parents/Guardians • Whole test scores (Table 2) 10

• Without awareness, parents cannot advocate for • Difference between pre-test and post-test scores for 0
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4

their children’s right to a free and appropriate
education
Physical education is the development of:
• Motor skills, aquatics, dance, individual & group
games/sports and fitness
Adapted physical education (APE) is:
• Physical education that has been adapted or
modified to meet the needs of a student with a
disability
Federal law requires that:
• If a school offers physical education to students
without disabilities, students with disabilities
must also participate in and benefit from the
same amount of physical education
The purpose of this study was to:
• Assess parent awareness of adapted physical
education
• Provide an intervention to increase awareness
and survey parents afterward to see if awareness
has increased.
Intervention: Informational parent seminar individual questions of the intervention group (Figure 1) Survey Questions
Pre-Test Post-Test
Measure: 4-Item survey asking the following information: Whole test scores were classified at a certain awareness level
• Definition of adapted physical education (APE) based on their score (Table 2). The levels of classification were:
• Areas of APE • 100% = Very Aware of Adapted Physical Education
• Benefits of physical education • 75% = Aware of Adapted Physical Education
• Federal law regarding APE • 50% = Somewhat Aware of Adapted Physical Education
• 25% = Little Awareness of Adapted Physical Education
Procedure: Survey-Intervention-Survey • 0% = Unaware of Adapted Physical Education IV. Discussion/Conclusion
1. 48 parents were given a pre-test survey measuring level
of awareness of APE Parents who received the intervention improved their • Parent awareness of Adapted Physical Education is
2. 12 of the 48 parents attended the parent seminar whole test scores by an average of 21% (Figure 1). low (See Table 2).
3. All 12 parents that attended the parent seminar filled of • The least known information about Adapted Physical
the same post-test survey Education are:
• Areas of Adapted Physical Education
• Law regarding physical education for
Table 2- Control Group Whole Test Scores students with disabilities (See Table 1)
• The intervention to increase awareness proved
Percentage of
effective (See Figure 1).
Parent Survey Score Analysis
Parents Who Fast Facts:
Received That • Only 33% of parents classify as
Score Numbers infer that more interventions need to be done
“Aware” or ”Very Aware” of Adapted
Very Aware of APE (100%) 4% throughout the state to build awareness. Future
Physical Education (APE) researchers could expand on this study by:
Aware of APE (75%) 29% • 31% of Parents say their child with • Surveying a more diverse population
Somewhat Aware of APE (50%) 42% disability DOES NOT attend physical • Creating other forms of interventions, such as a
Little Awareness of APE (25%) 17% education class website.

Unaware of APE (0%) 8%

Study conducted with funding from a U of U Undergraduate Research and Kristin Goeser
University of Utah
Creative Opportunity Grant and lab assistance from the U of U Department of Exercise and Sport Science
Biology. kristingoeser@gmail.com