How Do APE Teachers Spend Their Time?

Authors

  • Melissa Bittner California State University, Long Beach
  • Amanda Young California State University, Long Beach
  • Munir Kahssay Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Terri Fernandez Los Angeles Unified School District
  • Barry Lavay California State University, Long Beach

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/PALAESTRA-2025-V39-I1-12969

Abstract

Adapted physical education (APE) teachers have many job responsibilities including assessments, Individualized Education Program (IEP) preparation/meetings, direct instruction, collaboration/consultation, and travel. The purpose of this study was to determine how APE teachers spend their time fulfilling their job responsibilities. Data were collected from 46 APE teachers currently working in public school districts throughout the United States. Participants filled out two surveys. The first survey collected demographic information and asked teachers to predict how they thought they spend their time. The second survey required participants to fill out a two-week time log (Monday – Friday), in which participants documented how they spend their time (in minutes) fulfilling the various APE job responsibilities. After data collection, descriptive statistics were used to determine how APE teachers divided their time between all job responsibilities. The results indicated that APE teachers spend 26% of the time in direct instruction, 20% in collaboration, 16% in IEP meeting/paperwork, 11% in preparation, 10% in travel, 10% in work done outside of the job hours, 4% in assessment, and 3% in consultation. Differences between projected time spent versus actual time spent included less direct service than what teachers predicted, more collaboration than what teachers expected, and less time in assessment. These findings can be used by school administration (to provide resources and support for current APE teachers), university APE programs (to better prepare future APE teachers), and APE teachers (to determine how to use their time more efficiently to better meet their students’ needs). 

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Published

2025-03-03

Issue

Vol. 39 No. 1 (2025)

Section

Feature Articles

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