State Laws Governing Adaptive Pe: Making Pe Accessible For All

The National Physical Activity Plan identified policies supporting quality physical education (PE) and opportunities for school related physical activity as a key strategy to improve children’s physical activity. Many studies have documented the reliable association of strong state laws with PE-time allotment in schools and with physical activity levels in children. However, prior research has primarily focused on PE for students without disabilities. PURPOSE: This study examined the prevalence and components of state laws governing adaptive PE (APE; i.e., PE which has been adapted or modified to accommodate persons with a disability). METHODS: State laws (statutes and regulations) effective as of December 31, 2019, were compiled for the National Cancer Institute’s Classification of Laws Associated with School Students (CLASS) system using Boolean keyword searches of the state law databases available through commercial legal research services, LexisNexis and Westlaw. A series of dichotomous (y/n) variables assessed whether state laws: (1) require APE and specify who qualifies, (2) provide a APE credentialing pathway, (3) require that a teacher credentialed in APE teach APE, and (4) address making extracurricular PA activities available to students with disabilities or accommodations. Each states’ law was coded by two coders and a consensus coding was reached on each state and variable. RESULTS: Preliminary analyses indicate that 31 states’ laws address providing APE and mention who is required to receive it. 24 states’ laws provide for an APE credentialing (i.e., licensure/certification) pathway although most of these states do not specify a certain number of credit hours for the credentialing. Laws in 12 states require that credentialed APE teachers actually teach APE. Finally, 23 states’ laws address making extracurricular PA activities available to students with disabilities or who otherwise require accommodations. CONCLUSIONS: While the majority of states have laws addressing APE, such provisions are far from universal and requirements for APE teacher credentialing are limited, thus creating an opportunity for advocates and decisionmakers to work with states to ensure that PE is more inclusive for all children.