A competency-based in-service training program model for implementing public law 94-142 in physical education.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop an in-service training program designed to accommodate training requirements and mandates of Public Law 94-142 as they relate to physical education, and to develop an instructional delivery design for a special physical education program utilizing the competency-based approach.

Relevant literature on the topic was examined, and a survey was made of the 196 physical educators in the Metro Nashville School System to determine their preparedness to teach the handicapped. Of the 196 questionnaires distributed, 102 were returned. The results of this survey substantiated the findings of the related literature that there is a desire and need for in-service training in physical education programming for the handicapped.

Responses for each item in the questionnaire were grouped and tabulated, and the percentages of each type of response for each item were obtained. Chi-square computations were also used to determine the significance of each type of response. Both Chi-square computations and percentages were used in analyzing the data to obtain information on the form and content of the in-service training course to be designed.

As a result of the analysis of the survey, the in-service training program took the form of a four-hour, graduate level course which combined both theory and practical experience in two distinct components. This course is a competency-based, modularized course of study based on the acquisition of en route competencies for each module, resulting in the acquisition of terminal competencies by the end of the course. The first component of the course consists of eight weeks of independent work and structured classroom work on identified tasks contained in seven modules. The second component is a six-week, sixty-hour practicum. A student manual with an addendum for instructors has been prepared as a guide throughout the course.

Since this in-service training program was designed to meet the needs of teachers in the Metro Nashville School System, recommendations for its implementation were made. Additional recommendations were made for further study of the problem and creation of other in-service training programs.