This editor frequently receives inquiries from adapted physical educators eager to revise the adapted physical education curriculum at their schools. Sometimes these teachers report that there is no standard adapted physical education (or physical education) curriculum adopted by their school districts. In other cases, the teacher is only concerned about how to improve content of the courses s/he teaches. The purpose of this Issues article is to suggest ways in which these teachers might approach the task of curriculum revision.
Curriculum Revision
Whenever possible, curriculum revision should be conducted at the school district level, or minimally among all schools that feed into a single high school. Curriculum revision should involve both adapted and regular physical education teachers at all levels of the program. School administrators, community leaders, and recent graduates of the physical education program should also be involved in this effort. Often, curriculum revision efforts are more effective when guided by a knowledgeable consultant from a local university.
The leadership group should first develop a list of program (general) and instructional (specific) objectives for the K-12 physical education program. These objectives should be prioritized by a variety of constituent groups to insure that the resulting content in the physical education program is valued by the community and will subsequently be supported by the administration and school board.
Next, the leadership group should determine amount of instructional time available at each grade level and should then determine the number of objectives that can be effectively taught within that time frame. Physical educators should then determine grade levels at which selected performance objectives should be taught. Once a core curriculum composed of sequenced, high-priority objectives is adopted, the group should turn its focus to developing instructional materials designed to facilitate student achievement of those objectives.
Advantages of such a district-wide curriculum revision effort include:
* Continuity across grade levels and schools. If all teachers within the school district use the same core curriculum, students moving from grade to grade and school to school will experience a logical sequence of instructional activities. Ultimately, students should exit the school system with competence and highly-valued physical education objectives.
- Collaboration and communication among teachers in the district. Physical educators who teach at different grade levels or at different schools within the district are more likely to communicate and collaborate when they are working toward common objectives for their students.
- Inclusion of students with a disability. Adapted physical education can prepare students with disabilities for inclusion more effectively when a clearly conceived core curriculum is in place throughout the school district.
- Replicability. A well-documented district-wide curriculum has more potential to serve students than curricular materials prepared by a single teacher or by a small group of teachers. Written objectives and instructional materials can be shared, evaluated, and systematically improved.
Making IEP, IFSP, and ITP Decisions
Ideally, IEP (individual educational plan), IFSP (individual family service plan), and ITP (individual transition plan) objectives should be selected from the district-wide core curriculum. Depending upon capabilities of the student with a disability, objectives selected from the core curriculum may be fewer in number than for typically-developing students, or objectives may require some modification for successful participation.
Advantages of working within the context of the core curriculum when determining IEP, IFSP, and ITP objectives include:
- Inclusion being facilitated. Most students with disabilities prefer to learn the same skills as other children in their families and neighborhoods–they want to fit in. Students with disabilities may be more readily accepted by other students if they can perform valued physical education skills.
- Teacher expertise being valued. When IEP, IFSP, and ITP objectives are selected or modified from the core curriculum, physical educators are in a position to use their expertise by teaching skills they know how to teach.
- Selected objectives usually being feasible and practical to implement. Usually schools have the needed facilities and equipment to facilitate instruction in core curriculum objectives.
Conclusion
When individual adapted physical education teachers ask for advice about curriculum revision, it is suggested that they: (a) spearhead a district-wide effort to improve the physical education curriculum for all students; (b) collaborate with parents and others in selecting IEP, IFSP, or ITP objectives from the district-wide core curriculum; (c) develop effective instructional materials for modifying objectives and teaching those objectives to students with disabilities; and (d) share their instructional materials with other teachers in the district.
