National Standards and History
Physical education has long been part of the American educational system. Prior to the 1950s, instruction for individuals with disabilities emphasized medical remediation rather than educational programming. As societal perspectives shifted and recognition of the abilities of individuals with disabilities grew, adapted physical education emerged as a professional specialty. Colleges and universities began preparing teachers to meet the diverse educational needs of students with disabilities.
Federal legislation accelerated this evolution. Public Law 94–142 (1975), later reauthorized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 2004), mandated that all students with disabilities must receive physical education, adapted when necessary, and delivered by qualified professionals. However, states were left to define the term “qualified,” resulting in wide variation in certification procedures. By the early 1990s, only a small number of states had formal endorsements or certifications in adapted physical education, leaving many teachers without guidance on what they needed to know to provide appropriate services.
To address these inconsistencies, the National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities (NCPERID)—now NCPEID—convened the 1991 Action Seminar on Adapted Physical Education. National leaders identified significant barriers to providing appropriate services, including:
- limited understanding of what adapted physical educators should know
- lack of consistent state-level qualifications, and
- absence of nationally defined professional standards.
In response, NCPERID launched a five-year federally funded initiative through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, to develop the Adapted Physical Education National Standards (APENS) and a corresponding national certification examination. The purpose of the APENS project was twofold:
- to develop national knowledge standards for adapted physical education, and
- to create a national certification examination to measure knowledge of the standards.
The project involved extensive national input, including:
- a job analysis of 585 practicing adapted physical educators across 48 states;
- four major committees—Executive, Steering, Standards, and Evaluation & Review;
- development and validation of 15 national standards, each with five levels of content;
- large-scale review and refinement by more than 300 professionals; and
- dissemination to state directors of education, advocacy groups, and university programs.
The standards were intentionally developed as knowledge-based, not performance-based. As APENS documents emphasize, the exam was designed to measure what adapted physical educators should know to perform their roles, not how effectively they teach. This distinction was essential to avoid confusion with state licensure or credentialing systems.
The APENS project ultimately produced:
- a national job analysis report,
- fifteen validated knowledge standards,
- a national certification examination (now known as the APENS exam),
- a study guide, and
- detailed documentation of the rationale for the standards.
These products formed the foundation for CAPE (Certified Adapted Physical Educator) certification, awarded by NCPEID to individuals who meet eligibility requirements and pass the APENS exam.
Since the first national offering in 1997, the APENS standards and exam have been periodically updated to reflect evolving practice, research, and federal expectations. Today, APENS continues to serve as the nationally recognized framework for defining the knowledge adapted physical educators need to provide appropriate services to students with disabilities.