WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report yesterday that found schools provide students with and without disabilities similar opportunities to participate in physical education (PE), but face serious challenges when serving students with disabilities in general PE classes and extracurricular athletics.
The report was conducted at the behest of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), chair of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee.
The report was conducted at the behest of U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), chair of the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Assistant to the Speaker and U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee.
“All students, including students with disabilities, should be able to reap the benefits of physical activity and team sports in school and in life,” said Miller. “It is clear from this report that we need to work harder to remove the obstacles students with disabilities face in physical education and athletics.”
“While many schools have made great strides educating students with disabilities in mainstream academic classrooms, sports programs and physical education classes are the final frontier for full inclusion in schools,” said McCarthy. “The benefit of increased physical activity of all people, including those with disabilities, is well established, but understanding the barriers to participation specific to students with disabilities is critical to crafting appropriate responses. The GAO report is a step toward understanding and addressing these barriers. I look forward to working with Chairman Miller, the Department of Education, and interested students, parents, and groups to respond to the concerns raised and recommendations provided in the GAO report.”
“I thank the GAO for conducting this study. As we see from their conclusions, while many schools make good faith efforts to include students with disabilities, we can do more to provide guidance on best practices and the requirements of the federal law. I look forward to working with the Department of Education to disseminate this information on the local level,” said Van Hollen.
“The health and social benefits of physical activity and athletic participation are well established. These benefits may be even more important for students with disabilities, who are at a greater risk for being sedentary and developing secondary conditions. Students with disabilities should have an equal opportunity to participate in PE and in extracurricular athletics or adaptive sports if they so desire, and we need to do all we can to encourage such participation.” said Harkin.
GAO visited five states, California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and New Jersey, and conducted phone interviews with officials from Georgia and Texas, to determine students with disabilities’ participation in physical education and athletics. They found students with disabilities “generally attend PE class about the same amount of time as students without disabilities” but that a challenge to note was the lack of “sufficient training or experience for PE or classroom teachers.”
In all the states GAO spoke with, school officials said every student, including those with disabilities, are permitted to try out for interscholastic athletic teams. In some instances, schools provide accommodations depending on the students’ disabilities.
In New Jersey, for example, a high school provided an interpreter for a deaf student playing baseball. In California, a school adapted rules for students on the wrestling team who were deaf and blind.
While some schools took steps to provide extracurricular athletic opportunities to students with disabilities, on the whole, GAO reported that school districts cited budget constraints and a general lack of clarity regarding their schools’ responsibility to students with disabilities as barriers to participation.
In response to the report, lawmakers wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking him to heed the recommendations in the GAO report to “clarify and communicate schools’ responsibilities” in providing opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in extracurricular sports. They also asked the Department of Education to issue guidance on the best ways to better provide extracurricular athletic opportunities to students with disabilities
View the full report
“While many schools have made great strides educating students with disabilities in mainstream academic classrooms, sports programs and physical education classes are the final frontier for full inclusion in schools,” said McCarthy. “The benefit of increased physical activity of all people, including those with disabilities, is well established, but understanding the barriers to participation specific to students with disabilities is critical to crafting appropriate responses. The GAO report is a step toward understanding and addressing these barriers. I look forward to working with Chairman Miller, the Department of Education, and interested students, parents, and groups to respond to the concerns raised and recommendations provided in the GAO report.”
“I thank the GAO for conducting this study. As we see from their conclusions, while many schools make good faith efforts to include students with disabilities, we can do more to provide guidance on best practices and the requirements of the federal law. I look forward to working with the Department of Education to disseminate this information on the local level,” said Van Hollen.
“The health and social benefits of physical activity and athletic participation are well established. These benefits may be even more important for students with disabilities, who are at a greater risk for being sedentary and developing secondary conditions. Students with disabilities should have an equal opportunity to participate in PE and in extracurricular athletics or adaptive sports if they so desire, and we need to do all we can to encourage such participation.” said Harkin.
GAO visited five states, California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and New Jersey, and conducted phone interviews with officials from Georgia and Texas, to determine students with disabilities’ participation in physical education and athletics. They found students with disabilities “generally attend PE class about the same amount of time as students without disabilities” but that a challenge to note was the lack of “sufficient training or experience for PE or classroom teachers.”
In all the states GAO spoke with, school officials said every student, including those with disabilities, are permitted to try out for interscholastic athletic teams. In some instances, schools provide accommodations depending on the students’ disabilities.
In New Jersey, for example, a high school provided an interpreter for a deaf student playing baseball. In California, a school adapted rules for students on the wrestling team who were deaf and blind.
While some schools took steps to provide extracurricular athletic opportunities to students with disabilities, on the whole, GAO reported that school districts cited budget constraints and a general lack of clarity regarding their schools’ responsibility to students with disabilities as barriers to participation.
In response to the report, lawmakers wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking him to heed the recommendations in the GAO report to “clarify and communicate schools’ responsibilities” in providing opportunities for students with disabilities to participate in extracurricular sports. They also asked the Department of Education to issue guidance on the best ways to better provide extracurricular athletic opportunities to students with disabilities
View the full report
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