Background/Purpose This study assessed attributes of middle and high school principals on their intentions to promote physical education.
Method Sample size was estimated and showed a need to survey 55 principals (a=.05). The Principals' Attitude toward Physical Education (PAPE) survey was sent to 150 principals and 106 (70%) responded. PAPE conformed to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB). Eight experts in Kinesiology reviewed the survey for content relevance and theoretical appropriateness. Coefficient alpha of the PAPE for beliefs, normative beliefs, control beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intention was .82, .88, .41, .78, .63, and .81 respectively.
Analysis/Results Middle school principals' exhibited higher scores on each TpB construct when compared to their high school counterparts (Wilks'λ= 0.814; F7,96= 3.132; p=0.005;h2= 0.186; 1-β = 0.933). Better working experiences with physical educators resulted in higher scores on each TpB construct (Wilks'λ= 0.607; F21,270= 2.448; p= 0.001; h2= 0.153; 1-β = 0.996). Similarly, better personal experiences taking physical education classes resulted in higher scores on intention, attitude, subjective norms, beliefs and normative beliefs (Wilks'λ= 0.672; F28,336= 1.403; p= 0.088; h2= 0.095; 1-β = 0.939). Higher perceived competence in promoting physical education results in higher scores on TpB constructs except control beliefs (Wilks'λ= 0.702; F 21,270= 1.688; p= 0.032; h2=0.111; 1-β = 0.955). Lastly, when compared to Caucasians, non-Caucasians scored lower on subjective norms and normative beliefs (Wilks'λ= 0.834; F7,96= 2.739; p= .01; h2= 0.166; 1-β= 0.891).
Conclusions The selected attributes make a difference in the intentions to promote physical education among principals.
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