While many classrooms have evolved over the years to better work with students with disabilities, the school gym and athletic fields may be the exception.
A 2010 report from the federal Government Accountability Office concluded as much, finding that "education has provided little information or guidance on PE or extracurricular athletics for students with disabilities, and some states and districts GAO interviewed said more would be useful."
Part of the reason? Federal rules about serving students with disabilities focus on all sorts of other things, and many school districts find the money they have to spend on these students doesn't go far enough as it is.
Looking at various data, the GAO found some high notes, such as that 29 percent of students with physical disabilities or long-term health problems attend physical education classes five days a week compared to 34 percent of students without disabilities. And for many children with disabilities, physical education is the one general education class they take on a regular basis. But whether any accommodations are provided, and what those are, may not be spelled out in a child's individualized education program, or IEP.
Some states offer or require a supplemental adapted PE license for teachers to teach adapted physical education, the GAO found. These teachers, often scarce, may travel from school to school working with students. Or, the GAO found, "in one district we visited in Florida, the sole adapted PE teacher overcame challenges in scheduling her time by having students who took adapted PE bused to a central school so she could provide them with services." Presumably, some might wonder if the benefit here outweighs the drawbacks of busing.
Now, the U.S. Education Department has offered some guidance for meeting the challenge of providing physical education for students with disabilities in response to the GAO report. The Office of Special Education Programs noted in August that physical activity is 4.5 times lower for children and youth with disabilities than their peers without disabilities. While for some students this is because ...
