Are Teacher Characteristics Associated With Quality Of Implementation Of Physically-active Academic Lessons?

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PURPOSE: To determine whether teacher characteristics (i.e. attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC), perception of principal behaviors) were associated with physically active academic lesson implementation outcomes (i.e. physical activity (PA) intensity, ease of implementation, overall rating, duration, number of lessons). METHODS: Participants were 87 fourth grade teachers (M age=39.1; 92.9% Female; 92.9% White) from 19 intervention schools of the Texas Initiatives for Children’s Activity and Nutrition (I-CAN!) program. Teachers reported attitudes (Cronbach’s α=.91) and PBC (α=.92) regarding implementation of I-CAN! lessons. Supportive (e.g. “The principal goes out of his/her way to help teachers”), directive (e.g. “The principal monitors everything teachers do”), and restrictive (e.g. “Administrative paperwork is burdensome”) subscales of the OCDQ-RE were adapted to assess principal behaviors (PB). Items were rated from rarely occurs (1) to very frequently occurs (4) and summed for each scale. Average number of lessons per week was calculated for the Fall semester. Each lesson, teachers rated PA intensity, ease of implementation, overall rating, and duration from 1 (Low/Poor) to 5 (High/Excellent). Semester averages for each outcome were calculated. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were run, controlling for age, number years teaching overall, intervention condition (math, language arts), and school. RESULTS: Directive PB was positively associated with average PA intensity (β=.38, p=.003). Ease of implementation was associated with greater directive PB (β =.28, p=.03) and PBC (β =.38, p=.02). PBC (β =.35, p=.03) and directive PB (β =.35, p=.01) were positively associated with average overall rating. Average duration of lessons was positively associated with attitudes (β =.29, p=.05) and supportive PB (β =-.32, p=.03). Average number of lessons per week was positively associated with PBC (β =.42, p=.01) and restrictive PB (β =.41, p=.01). CONCLUSIONS: Ensuring physically active academic lessons are implemented with high quality is imperative for success. Teacher trainings should focus on enhancing attitudes and PBC towards lesson implementation and address facilitators/barriers to implementation associated with perception of principal behaviors.NIHR01HD070741