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Chloe R. Knapp

 MSCIN Program, Western Governor’s University 

D180:  Educational Research (OPM3) 

Stacey Loyd 
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Restatement

Research Topic

The topic for my proposed research study is going to focus on how our adaptive and

special education students’ psychomotor, affective, and cognitive domains are affected by being

put into a general physical education class.  Our elementary school does not have an adaptive PE

program, and just throws these students into whatever fits their schedule and where there is

room.  There is no reason to where they are being put and I believe that these students could have

negative effects because of that.  This topic aligns with the field of curriculum and instruction

because the curriculum and instruction that we are using to teach our general physical education

classes, is not the same type of instruction or curriculum that we would use in order to teach an

adaptive PE class.  The instruction needs to be adapted in order to fit their needs, and they need

to have their own curriculum, while still paralleling the general PE curriculum.  According to

Jayakrishnan (2019), “For differently abled students (mental/physical), participating in a regular

PE class along with other students may become a challenge altogether.  Adapted physical

education (APE) is the art and science of developing, implementing, and monitoring a carefully

designed physical education instructional program for a learner with a disability, based on a

comprehensive assessment, to give the learner the skills necessary for a lifetime of rich leisure,

recreation, and sport experiences to enhance physical fitness and wellness.”

This topic is important to the field of instruction and curriculum because elementary

school is where students gain their foundational knowledge and skills of the fundamental motor

and non-locomotor skills.  If not given the right tools and instruction, they will soon fall behind
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 and it will be very hard for them to catch up later on.  The way that we are teaching these

fundamental skills can lead to impacting how a student is able to perform these skills.  According

to TES (2022), “APE helps integrate students with special needs into a typical PE class by

modifying activities and games, making it more accessible for those who struggle with a general

PE class.”  This is why it is important to make sure that the curriculum and instruction aligns

with the needs of those students.

Problem Statement

The adaptive and special education students that are thrown into general physical

education classes are struggling with their social, cognitive, and psychomotor developments. 

There is no adaptive PE program at our school. Our current PE program is not suitable for all

students and is not supporting all of our students needs. This is important and has a major

impact on these students because it is limiting their ability to be successful in this class and

causes them to fall behind.  Not only is their psychomotor development being affected, but also

their social and emotional skills, as well as their cognitive skills.  A potential cause of this is that

the schedule does not allow for there to be an adapted PE program.  Another cause could be that

the administration has never implemented an elementary PE program before and may not find a

use for it now.

Type of Capstone

I will be conducting an applied research project, with the evaluation of an educational

program.  

Research Question(s)
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How does our school’s PE program support the abilities of our students with special

needs in the psychomotor and cognitive domains?

Research Product

The product for this capstone will be an evaluation report that documents the

effectiveness of our PE program, as it supports our students with special needs in the

psychomotor, affective, and cognitive domains. This is appropriate and aligns with the problem

statement because it will help to evaluate the strengths and flaws of the program, as it pertains to

our students with special needs. I am trying to research and understand how our school supports

all of our students in our PE program, and the most appropriate way to put the research all

together would be through an evaluation report. This product also aligns with the problem

statement because this evaluation report will determine, through the research done, how these

students are being affected or supported, through our PE program in the three different domains.

Research Purpose

The purpose of my proposed research topic is to evaluate whether or not our PE program

is supporting our adaptive students. Our school does not have an adaptive program, and this

research would help to show why we need to implement one. Every student needs the

opportunity to be successful and the purpose of this research is to help determine whether or not

this program is suitable and supportive for all students. My end goal and whole purpose to why I

wanted to do this research is because I am hoping to be able to bring my findings to the

administration and board of education to show why implementing an adaptive curriculum and

program would be so beneficial for all of our students.  I am hoping this research could be a new

beginning for an adaptive program at my school.

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Barriers

One barrier that I may face when it comes to this proposed research project would be

accessing data to complete a comprehensive evaluation report.  I may not be able to access the

data, and there may not be enough data that has been collected.  Another barrier that I might face

would be getting site approval in order to conduct this research.  This might be something that

the district may not allow me to do.

Methodology

Participants or Stakeholders

  Since this research is not an action research, there are no active participants involved in

this study.  This research will involve the stakeholders.  The stakeholders will include the five

students who have since graduated from the elementary school, last year and are now in 6th

grade up at the high school.  The stakeholders also include the parents, the administration of the

elementary school, as well as the board of education members.  All these stakeholders expect our

schools to provide students with the best opportunity to learn and to be successful.  This school is

located in a very rural community, which means the students and parents do not always value the

education system and what it is doing for their students.  The stakeholders are also very

conservative when it comes to their views on education.  The stakeholders data that will be used

are students who are all now involved in the adaptive physical education program at the middle

school.

Research Method

  For this research, I will be using a quantitative method.  This method is appropriate for

addressing my research question because I will be using data that has been previously collected
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from past assessments, and comparing the scores for those assessments to the PE national

standards, in order to determine how well our general PE program supports our students with

disabilities.

Data Collection Instruments

  There will be two different types of data instruments that I will be looking at in order to

gather my data.  This includes the TGMD-3 assessment that is given to students at the beginning

and end of every year in order to determine where students are in relation to the standards when

it comes to their locomotor skills.  These assessments will have already taken place.  The second

data collection instrument that I will be analyzing the data from will be the fifth grade summative

assessment.  This assessment tests the students cognitive domain of what they have learned in

PE.   The type of data that I will be collecting through these instruments will be quantitative data

because it will allow me to see what students learned and were able to do in relation to the PE

national standards.  

Research Procedures 

In order to be able to perform this research and start analyzing data, I would first need to

make sure that I get site approval.  I need to make sure that I get approved to analyze research

from this district.  I would then need to figure out the stakeholder’s (students) data that I would

be using in order to determine the effectiveness of the PE program in the elementary school. 

This data would be taken from previous assessments from 1st grade-5th grade.  The data would

come from the TGMD-3 assessment, and the end of the 5th grade year summative assessment. 

This data would then need to be found through the files of old assessments that are kept on each

of the students as a reference.  The data will determine the progress made for these
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students every year that they were here and were involved in the general physical education

program.  It will also determine what they know and have learned when they left the program. 

The data will then be analyzed and split into groups, on excel, depending on the locomotor skill. 

Excel will help to organize, analyze, and visually see the results and comparisons.  Descriptive

statistics would then be used for the final step, as the data analysis technique to compare the

analyzed data to the PE national standards in order to determine whether or not these students are

meeting the standards for their grade level. 

Research Resources

  The resources that will be required for this research project will be the previous TGMD-3

assessments, as well as the fifth grade cognitive assessment in order to collect the data.  Another

resource that I will be needing is the PE national standards book.  This book will allow me to

look up standards across the grade levels in order to determine where each student should be

when it comes to the psychomotor and cognitive domains.  I will then need excel in order to

collect, organize, and analyze the data.  Excel will help to provide visuals to represent the data,

which will then be used to show relationships and comparisons.

Data Analysis Techniques

  The data analysis technique that I will be using for this research project will be

descriptive statistics.  Since the TGMD-3 and cognitive assessments are quantitative by nature,

by using descriptive statistics, this will allow me to see characteristics of the data, as well as

correlations between the data collected and analyzed, and the PE national standards.  This

technique will help to determine how well our general PE program accommodates our students

with special needs.

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References

 Adaptive physical education. (2022).  Total Education Solutions.

https://www.tesidea.com/services/adapted-physical-education/#:~:text=It%20helps

%20integrate%20students%20with,%2C%20sports%2C%20and%20motor%20skills.

Jayakrishnan, Parvathy. (2019, January 3).  The need for adaptive physical education.  Scoo 

News.  https://scoonews.com/news/news-the-need-for-adaptive-physical-education-4460/