PerceptualandMotorSkillr, 1991, 72, 1211-1214. O Perceptual and Motor Skills 1991
EFFECTS O F FIELD-BASED TRAINING O N TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AND T H E MOTOR PROFICIENCY OF THEIR HANDICAPPED STUDENTS ' VINCENT J. MELOGRANO AND E. MICHAEL LOOVIS Cleveland State UniversiQ Summary.-The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of field-based training on the knowledge and attitudes of regular physical education teachers and the motor proficiency of their handicapped students. Twenty-four physical education teachers from a large, city school district completed a program in two phases, one on appropriate motor development for special populations followed by an implementation phase involving 46 handicapped students. An inventory was designed to measure teachers' knowledge, the Measurement of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons scale measured teachers' attitudes, and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency measured handicapped students' motor ability. Analysis showed that teachers' knowledge increased significantly from pre- to midproject. Nonsignificant changes were noted for teachers' attirudes although positive increases occurred throughout the project. There was a significant increase in the motor ability of the handicapped students as a result of appropriate programming. Some change among teachers and students was encouraging.
Incident to PL 94-142 and PL 99-457-the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (formerly known as the Education of the Handicapped Act)-comprehensive surveys were conducted in Ohio in 1980 and 1988, respectively (Melograno & Loovis, 1982, 1988). These original and follow-up surveys examined the status of physical education programming and the needs and competencies of physical educators relative to appropriate motor development for handicapped students. Analysis confirmed the belief that regular physical education teachers did not possess needed competencies (Melograno & Loovis, 1989, 1991). General findings indicated that physical education teachers (a) were not involved in the process for placing handicapped students, (b) lacked knowledge of aspects of PL 94-142, (c) needed assistance in conducting motor behavior assessments, (d) had little interest in teaching handicapped students, and (e) excluded students based on nature of handicap, functional ability, and activity chosen. As a separate population within the follow-up survey, physical educators of the Cleveland City School District reflected a profile similar in nature to teachers throughout the state. Given the results, it was clear that the -physi. cal education teachers were in need of extensive, continuous, professional training on appropriate physical education programming in the least restric-
'Address correspondence to Dr. Vincent J. Melograno, HPERD Department-PE land State University, Euclid Ave. and 24th Street, Cleveland, O H 44115.
225, Cleve-
1212
V. J. MELOGRANO & E. M. LOOVIS
tive environment. Therefore, a comprehensive program was developed and implemented as is consistent with the recommendation of Churton (1987) following an extensive 10-yr. review that, "Field-based teachers must be trained if qualified personnel are to teach in the regular physical education program that services the handicapped" (p. 7). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of field-based training on the knowledge and attitudes of regular physical education teachers and the motor development of these teachers' handicapped students. A data-based approach was utilized that considered change among teachers and students as the criterion of effectiveness. Some specialists (Burrello & Orbaugh, 1982; Cline, 1984; Jamison, 1983) suggested that participants (teachers) and others (students) affected by programs are major sources of data in evaluation.
subject^ A sample of 24 regular physical education teachers (17 women, 9 men; 16 elementary and 10 secondary school; mean experience 13.0 yr.) were selected from a population of 141 physical educators. Criteria for selection included two years experience, favorable teaching performance ratings, availability during the training, and willingness to develop and implement o motor program for handicapped students. A total of 46 handicapped students (20 girls, 26 boys; 23 elementary and 23 secondary school; age range 6 to 16 years, mean age 10.9 yr.) were identified in the schools of these teachers. These students were categorized as learning disabled, mentally retarded, seriously emotionally disturbed, deaf, and other health impaired as defined by PL 94-142. They were in the regular physical education classes of the teachers but had not received motor programming specific to their special needs. ~nstrurnentation
Critical to the purpose of this project was the assessment of training effects in reference to (a) change in teachers' knowledge and attitudes and (b) change in motor proficiency among the handicapped students. Teachers' knowledge was assessed on a 10-item, true-false inventory developed for this purpose. Content was validated using the rules and regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Reliability was calculated at .94 using an internal consistency method. Teachers' attitudes were assessed on the Measurement of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons scale (Yuker, Block, & Younng, 1970), using a six-point scale to indicate agreement of disagreement on the 30 items (Form A). Construct validity was estimated by correlation with measures of prejudice and with other variables related to attitudes of prejudice. Test-retest reliability was .78. Teachers' knowledge and attitudes were assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of their training. Handicapped students were pre- and posttested on the 14-item Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Bruininks, 1978). Construct validity was estimated by correlation with measures of chronological age, internal consistency of the subtests, and factor analysis of subtest items. For example, the median correlation coefficient was .78 between test scores and chronological age. Test-retest reliabilities were established for various grades (e.g., .87 for Grade 2 and .84 for Grade 6). Scores served as the criterion for inferring the effectiveness of the teachers' motor program developed as part of the training.
TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES: INFLUENCE
1213
Procedure
Tramng was carried out in two phases from January, 1989 to June, 1990. The program began w ~ t hseven all-day workshops in which teachers completed learning "modules" that covered (a) underscanding PL 94-142, (b) attitude, (c) assessment, (d) least restrictive environment, (e) planning, implementing, and evaluating, (f) collegiality, (g) individual education plan, and (h) behavior analysis. Preproject knowledge and attitude data were collected from each teacher. Identified handicapped students were pretested at the conclusion of the workshops. Teachers' ability to select, analyze, and interpret assessment data for use in designing appropriate motor programming was taught during the next segment in summer, 1989. In a program development institute, teachers wrote "Cleveland Handicapped Activity Packets" (CHAPS) for each handicapped student who had been pretested. These were critically analyzed by the investigators and by the other teachers, then refined for implementation during the next school year (1989-90). Midproject knowledge and attitude data were collected from each teacher. During Phase 2, CHAPS were implemented between September, 1989 and May, 1990. Posttesting of each student was conducted during May, 1990. During a final workshop in June, 1990, teachers shared with each other their experiences about the implementation, classroommanagement strategies, instructional skills, and interactions with their students. Then, postproject knowledge and attitude data were collected.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION One-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the teachers' scores. Significant outcomes were followed by Scheff6 post hoe tests to identify which scores differed o n each variable. A paired t test was computed for the students' pretest and posttest motor proficiency scores. Significance was established at the .05 level. Table 1 contains the descriptive data for teachers' knowledge and their attitudes, and handicapped students' motor proficiency. TABLE 1 D E S C ~DATA E FOR24 TEACI-IERS AND 46 HANDICAPPED STUDENTS Variable Teachers' Knowledge Preproject Midproject Postproject Teachers' Attitudes Preproject Midproject Postproject Handicapped Students' Motor Proficiency Pretest Posttest
M
SD
6.5 7.4 7.0
1.2 1.6 1.0
130.6 134.5 137.4
21.1 19.2 18.3
19.7 27.5
32.4 31.4
The difference between teachers' pre- and midproject knowledge scores was significant (F,,,,= 4.92, p< .05), but their attitude scores were not different (F,,,,= 2.10, p> .13). There was a significant increase in the motor proficiency scores of the handicapped students (t,, = 2.77, p < .01). This in-
1214
V. J. MELOGRANO & E. M. LOOVIS
crease in teachers' knowledge from pre- to midproject coincided with the concentrated training workshop and program design (CHAPs) aspects of Phase 1, but no change in teachers' knowledge was observed during Phase 2. Teachers' attitudes increased positively from pre- to mid- to postproject, but the differences were not statistically significant. The significant increase in the motor proficiency of students was associated with the individualized CHAPs developed by teachers using pretest scores as baseline. The ultimate outcome of training was to improve the motor ability of students, considered the criterion of effectiveness. REFERENCES B R ~ I N K SR., H . (1978) Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. BURRELLO, L. C., & ORBAUGH, T.(1982) Reducing the discrepancy between the known and the unknown in inservice education. Phi Delta Kappan, 63, 385-388. CHURTON,M. W. (1987) Impact of the Education of the Handcapped Act on adapted physical education: a 10-year overview. Adapted Physical A c t i v i ~Quarterly, 4, 1-8. CLINE,D. (1984) Achieving quality and relevance in inservice teacher education: where are we? Teacher Education and Special Education, 7, 199-208. JAMISON,P. J. (1983) Systematic development and evaluation of quality practices for inservice education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 6, 151-158. MELOGRANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1982) Motor development programs for schooCaged handicapped students: assessing the needs of rofessional educators. Cleveland, O H : Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document ReproBuction Service No. E D 212 618) MELOGRANO, V., & IAJOVIS, E. M. (1988) Motor development programs for school-aged handicapped studenh: a follow-up needs assessment. Cleveland, O H : Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. E D 295 934) MELOGRANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1989) A comparative analysis of physical educators' needs (1980 and 1988) for teaching handicapped students. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. E D 299 253) MELOGHANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1991) Status of physical education for handicapped students: a comparative analysis of teachers in 1980 and 1988. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 8, 28-42. YUKER,H . E., BLOCK,J. R., & YOUNNG, J. H . (1970) The measurement of attitudes toward disabled persons. Albertson, NY: INA Mend Institute at Human Resources Center.
Accepted May 20, 1991.
EFFECTS O F FIELD-BASED TRAINING O N TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AND T H E MOTOR PROFICIENCY OF THEIR HANDICAPPED STUDENTS ' VINCENT J. MELOGRANO AND E. MICHAEL LOOVIS Cleveland State UniversiQ Summary.-The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of field-based training on the knowledge and attitudes of regular physical education teachers and the motor proficiency of their handicapped students. Twenty-four physical education teachers from a large, city school district completed a program in two phases, one on appropriate motor development for special populations followed by an implementation phase involving 46 handicapped students. An inventory was designed to measure teachers' knowledge, the Measurement of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons scale measured teachers' attitudes, and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency measured handicapped students' motor ability. Analysis showed that teachers' knowledge increased significantly from pre- to midproject. Nonsignificant changes were noted for teachers' attirudes although positive increases occurred throughout the project. There was a significant increase in the motor ability of the handicapped students as a result of appropriate programming. Some change among teachers and students was encouraging.
Incident to PL 94-142 and PL 99-457-the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (formerly known as the Education of the Handicapped Act)-comprehensive surveys were conducted in Ohio in 1980 and 1988, respectively (Melograno & Loovis, 1982, 1988). These original and follow-up surveys examined the status of physical education programming and the needs and competencies of physical educators relative to appropriate motor development for handicapped students. Analysis confirmed the belief that regular physical education teachers did not possess needed competencies (Melograno & Loovis, 1989, 1991). General findings indicated that physical education teachers (a) were not involved in the process for placing handicapped students, (b) lacked knowledge of aspects of PL 94-142, (c) needed assistance in conducting motor behavior assessments, (d) had little interest in teaching handicapped students, and (e) excluded students based on nature of handicap, functional ability, and activity chosen. As a separate population within the follow-up survey, physical educators of the Cleveland City School District reflected a profile similar in nature to teachers throughout the state. Given the results, it was clear that the -physi. cal education teachers were in need of extensive, continuous, professional training on appropriate physical education programming in the least restric-
'Address correspondence to Dr. Vincent J. Melograno, HPERD Department-PE land State University, Euclid Ave. and 24th Street, Cleveland, O H 44115.
225, Cleve-
1212
V. J. MELOGRANO & E. M. LOOVIS
tive environment. Therefore, a comprehensive program was developed and implemented as is consistent with the recommendation of Churton (1987) following an extensive 10-yr. review that, "Field-based teachers must be trained if qualified personnel are to teach in the regular physical education program that services the handicapped" (p. 7). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of field-based training on the knowledge and attitudes of regular physical education teachers and the motor development of these teachers' handicapped students. A data-based approach was utilized that considered change among teachers and students as the criterion of effectiveness. Some specialists (Burrello & Orbaugh, 1982; Cline, 1984; Jamison, 1983) suggested that participants (teachers) and others (students) affected by programs are major sources of data in evaluation.
subject^ A sample of 24 regular physical education teachers (17 women, 9 men; 16 elementary and 10 secondary school; mean experience 13.0 yr.) were selected from a population of 141 physical educators. Criteria for selection included two years experience, favorable teaching performance ratings, availability during the training, and willingness to develop and implement o motor program for handicapped students. A total of 46 handicapped students (20 girls, 26 boys; 23 elementary and 23 secondary school; age range 6 to 16 years, mean age 10.9 yr.) were identified in the schools of these teachers. These students were categorized as learning disabled, mentally retarded, seriously emotionally disturbed, deaf, and other health impaired as defined by PL 94-142. They were in the regular physical education classes of the teachers but had not received motor programming specific to their special needs. ~nstrurnentation
Critical to the purpose of this project was the assessment of training effects in reference to (a) change in teachers' knowledge and attitudes and (b) change in motor proficiency among the handicapped students. Teachers' knowledge was assessed on a 10-item, true-false inventory developed for this purpose. Content was validated using the rules and regulations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Reliability was calculated at .94 using an internal consistency method. Teachers' attitudes were assessed on the Measurement of Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons scale (Yuker, Block, & Younng, 1970), using a six-point scale to indicate agreement of disagreement on the 30 items (Form A). Construct validity was estimated by correlation with measures of prejudice and with other variables related to attitudes of prejudice. Test-retest reliability was .78. Teachers' knowledge and attitudes were assessed at the beginning, middle, and end of their training. Handicapped students were pre- and posttested on the 14-item Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Bruininks, 1978). Construct validity was estimated by correlation with measures of chronological age, internal consistency of the subtests, and factor analysis of subtest items. For example, the median correlation coefficient was .78 between test scores and chronological age. Test-retest reliabilities were established for various grades (e.g., .87 for Grade 2 and .84 for Grade 6). Scores served as the criterion for inferring the effectiveness of the teachers' motor program developed as part of the training.
TEACHERS' KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES: INFLUENCE
1213
Procedure
Tramng was carried out in two phases from January, 1989 to June, 1990. The program began w ~ t hseven all-day workshops in which teachers completed learning "modules" that covered (a) underscanding PL 94-142, (b) attitude, (c) assessment, (d) least restrictive environment, (e) planning, implementing, and evaluating, (f) collegiality, (g) individual education plan, and (h) behavior analysis. Preproject knowledge and attitude data were collected from each teacher. Identified handicapped students were pretested at the conclusion of the workshops. Teachers' ability to select, analyze, and interpret assessment data for use in designing appropriate motor programming was taught during the next segment in summer, 1989. In a program development institute, teachers wrote "Cleveland Handicapped Activity Packets" (CHAPS) for each handicapped student who had been pretested. These were critically analyzed by the investigators and by the other teachers, then refined for implementation during the next school year (1989-90). Midproject knowledge and attitude data were collected from each teacher. During Phase 2, CHAPS were implemented between September, 1989 and May, 1990. Posttesting of each student was conducted during May, 1990. During a final workshop in June, 1990, teachers shared with each other their experiences about the implementation, classroommanagement strategies, instructional skills, and interactions with their students. Then, postproject knowledge and attitude data were collected.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION One-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the teachers' scores. Significant outcomes were followed by Scheff6 post hoe tests to identify which scores differed o n each variable. A paired t test was computed for the students' pretest and posttest motor proficiency scores. Significance was established at the .05 level. Table 1 contains the descriptive data for teachers' knowledge and their attitudes, and handicapped students' motor proficiency. TABLE 1 D E S C ~DATA E FOR24 TEACI-IERS AND 46 HANDICAPPED STUDENTS Variable Teachers' Knowledge Preproject Midproject Postproject Teachers' Attitudes Preproject Midproject Postproject Handicapped Students' Motor Proficiency Pretest Posttest
M
SD
6.5 7.4 7.0
1.2 1.6 1.0
130.6 134.5 137.4
21.1 19.2 18.3
19.7 27.5
32.4 31.4
The difference between teachers' pre- and midproject knowledge scores was significant (F,,,,= 4.92, p< .05), but their attitude scores were not different (F,,,,= 2.10, p> .13). There was a significant increase in the motor proficiency scores of the handicapped students (t,, = 2.77, p < .01). This in-
1214
V. J. MELOGRANO & E. M. LOOVIS
crease in teachers' knowledge from pre- to midproject coincided with the concentrated training workshop and program design (CHAPs) aspects of Phase 1, but no change in teachers' knowledge was observed during Phase 2. Teachers' attitudes increased positively from pre- to mid- to postproject, but the differences were not statistically significant. The significant increase in the motor proficiency of students was associated with the individualized CHAPs developed by teachers using pretest scores as baseline. The ultimate outcome of training was to improve the motor ability of students, considered the criterion of effectiveness. REFERENCES B R ~ I N K SR., H . (1978) Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service. BURRELLO, L. C., & ORBAUGH, T.(1982) Reducing the discrepancy between the known and the unknown in inservice education. Phi Delta Kappan, 63, 385-388. CHURTON,M. W. (1987) Impact of the Education of the Handcapped Act on adapted physical education: a 10-year overview. Adapted Physical A c t i v i ~Quarterly, 4, 1-8. CLINE,D. (1984) Achieving quality and relevance in inservice teacher education: where are we? Teacher Education and Special Education, 7, 199-208. JAMISON,P. J. (1983) Systematic development and evaluation of quality practices for inservice education. Teacher Education and Special Education, 6, 151-158. MELOGRANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1982) Motor development programs for schooCaged handicapped students: assessing the needs of rofessional educators. Cleveland, O H : Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document ReproBuction Service No. E D 212 618) MELOGRANO, V., & IAJOVIS, E. M. (1988) Motor development programs for school-aged handicapped studenh: a follow-up needs assessment. Cleveland, O H : Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. E D 295 934) MELOGRANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1989) A comparative analysis of physical educators' needs (1980 and 1988) for teaching handicapped students. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State Univer. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. E D 299 253) MELOGHANO, V., & LOOVIS,E. M. (1991) Status of physical education for handicapped students: a comparative analysis of teachers in 1980 and 1988. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 8, 28-42. YUKER,H . E., BLOCK,J. R., & YOUNNG, J. H . (1970) The measurement of attitudes toward disabled persons. Albertson, NY: INA Mend Institute at Human Resources Center.
Accepted May 20, 1991.
