Adapted Physical Education (APE)

PEP Grant

The Anchorage School District Adapted P.E. department was awarded the first PEP Grant, called Project ACCESS, that addressed students with special needs in October of 2003. Grant monies will enable APE staff to better serve students with special needs in the physical education setting.

Opportunities for better access to physical education for students with disabilities is the result of over $75,000 dollars to spend on appropriate equipment needs. Browse through our photo gallery of equipment showing the variety of adaptations that are used at the Anchorage School District. Equipment purchased through the PEP Grant is noted.

Project ACCESS (All Children Can Experience Sports Safely)

Project ACCESS addresses the need for intensive collegial professional development, along with the acquisition of optimal adapted physical education equipment, to significantly improve the Anchorage School District’s (ASD) Adapted Physical Education (APE) program. It will also address identified gaps in preservice PE preparation, awareness and training at the local, state and national level.

The project applies the Adapted Physical Education National Standards (APENS) and (Oregon) state PE standards to benefit our students with disabilities. Moreover, Project ACCESS will develop proposed Alaska state APE standards—the first state APE standards in the nation—to submit to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. These will meld Oregon’s exemplary PE standards and the APENS, as a beacon to our state and to the rest of the nation.

Proposed activities include:

• Professional development and collaboration within the APE and PE departments, with national expert presenters.
• Learning and applying an alternative assessment that works in inclusion settings.
• Liaison and training at the university level in APE pre-assessment program to build consistency of delivery.
• Development of model APE state standards.
• Incorporation of APE methods and adaptations in regular PE classroom programs, K-12.
• Acquisition of APE equipment for appropriate programming for all grade levels.

The main outcomes will be that regular physical educators will be able to recognize the needs of students with disabilities and will be able to collaboratively meet their needs. All APE students (K-12) district-wide will benefit by having access to quality adapted PE equipment. The result will be that they will receive quality programming. Sites with intensive needs students will each have the adapted equipment necessary for higher needs programs. They will have ACCESS to appropriate programming that will begin immediately. Also, the ASD will have an exemplary APE Web site that will be a resource at the city, state and national level.