Background/Purpose: The features of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) can pose significant teaching challenges in general physical education (GPE). To facilitate individualized interventions in GPE, an instrument measuring factors contributing to teaching challenges in GPE is needed. As the first step of instrument development, Obrusnikova and Dillon (2011) used the Goldfried and D'Zurilla's (1969) behavioral-analytic model to elicit teaching challenges in GPE. The purpose of this study was to develop and assess content validity, reliability, and factor structure of the Inventory of Teaching Challenges for Inclusive Physical Education (ITC-IPE).
Method: The ITC-IPE development proceeded in three steps: (a) a content validation study, (b) a pilot study, and (c) a validation study. Content validity was established by seven content experts. A background questionnaire and the ITC-IPE were administered to two samples of certified physical educators: a convenience pilot sample (n = 220) and a randomly stratified validation sample (n = 253). Teachers rated teaching challenges using a difficulty scale and a frequency scale.
Analysis/Results: An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors (task-related challenges, social behavior challenges, environmental challenges, and challenges related to narrow interest and inflexibility), explaining 60% of variance for both scales in the pilot sample. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed an adequate model fit to both sets of validation data (CFI > .95; RMSEA < .08). Internal consistency ranged between .88-.94. All factors were inter-correlated (p < .01).
Conclusions: The current study provides preliminary support for using the ITC-IPE to assess teaching challenges when including children with ASD in GPE.
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