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The relationship among HRpeak, RERpeak, and VO2peak during treadmill testing in girls

Clear criteria for maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) determination in youth are not available, and no studies have examined this issue in girls. Our purpose was to determine whether different peak heart rate (HRpeak) and peak respiratory exchange ratio (RERpeak) cut points affect girls' (N = 453; M age = 13.3 years, SD = .1) VO2max during a maximal treadmill test. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed VO2max (ml kg(-1) min(-1) differed significantly among HRpeak, 180-189 b min(-1) = 34 (SD = .8), 190-194 bmin(-1) = 35 (SD = .9), 195-199 b min(-1) = 38 (SD = .8), 200-204 b min(-1) = 40 ml kg1 x min(-1) (SD = .8), and > or = 205 bmin(-1) = 42 ml kg1 x min(-1) (SD = .7) but not RERpeak. In studies where evidence of a VO2 plateau was examined, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) did not differ between plateau and no-plateau groups. Although our results suggest the association between lower VO2peak and lower peak heart rate is a true cardiovascular limit to aerobic energy production, we cannot rule out participant effort.     

Making the Rice: Latina Performance Testimonios of Hybridity,Assimilation, and Resistance

This performance testimonio is the result of collaboration between two U.S. Latina graduate students/ university instructors: a Latina of Puerto Rican descent and a white Chicana. It is a dialogue in which the authors “come together to engage our differences, face-to-face, and work to find common ground” (The Latina Feminist Group, 2001 The Latina Feminist Group. 2001. Telling to live: Latina feminist testimonios, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 1). We offer this performance testimonio to interrogate and be accountable for our performances of hybrid/assimilated identities, as we strive to recognize the ways we produce, maintain, and resist dominant and oppressive cultural paradigms. To do this, we draw on the models of resistance found in Latina/Chicana feminist discourse and performance autoethnography. The text was created to be performed before an audience.     

Dual identities: organizational negotiation in STEM-focused Catholic schools

In the last decade, STEM-focused schools have opened their doors nationally in the hope of meeting students’ contemporary educational needs. Despite the growth of these STEM-focused institutions, minimal research exists that follows how schools make a transition toward a STEM focus and what organizational structures are most conducive to a successful transition. The adoption of a STEM focus has clear implications for a school’s organizational identity. For Catholic schools, the negotiation of a new STEM focus is especially complex, as Catholic schools have been shown to generally possess a distinct religious and cultural organizational identity. The adoption of a second, STEM-focused identity raises questions about whether and how these identities can coexist. Framed by perspectives on organizational identity and existing conceptualizations of the cultural and religious hallmarks of Catholic schools, this study utilizes a multiple-case study design to explore the organizational transition of four Catholic K-8 institutions to Catholic STEM-focused schools. These cases demonstrate the particular challenges of negotiating multiple organizational identities. While variation existed in how the four schools accommodated these identities, the most promising environments for successful transition drew upon an aggregative model of identity negotiation, that is, when schools attended to both identities, but ensured that the original Catholic identity of the school remained foundational to all decisions. The least successful identity negotiations occurred when there was a lack of common understanding about what comprised a STEM-focused school, leading to minimal buy-in from stakeholders or when a school sought to make the transition for recruitment or marketing rather than mission-driven reasons. Discussion of the more successful identity aggregation provides a framework for schools within and beyond the religious sector that desire to adopt an additional STEM-focused identity.     

Independent study: Direction is the key to success

Independent studies are designed to enable advanced students to investigate a specific topic of interest in greater depth than is possible in a traditional classroom environment. Student and faculty advisor must work together to provide direction for the independent study and to insure its success. This paper explores the role of both students and faculty advisors in developing independent studies. In addition, how to plan for independent studies and a step-by-step guide for directing them is proposed.She is currently completing a dissertation and plans to remain in the field of higher education.     

Aligning an Early Childhood Assessment to State Kindergarten Content Standards: Application of a Nationally Recognized Alignment Framework

This article describes an alignment study conducted to evaluate the alignment between Indiana's Kindergarten content standards and items on the Indiana Standards Tool for Alternate Reporting. Alignment is the extent to which standards and assessments are in agreement, working together to guide educators' efforts to support children's learning and development. The alignment process in this study represented a modification of Webb's nationally recognized method of alignment analysis to early childhood assessments and standards. The alignment panel (N = 13) in this study consisted of early childhood educators and educational leaders from all geographic regions of the state. Panel members were asked to rate the depth of knowledge (DOK) stage of each objective in Kindergarten standards; rate the DOK stage for each item on the ISTAR rating scale; and identify the one or two objectives from the standards to which each ISTAR item corresponded. Analysis of the panel's responses suggested the ISTAR inconsistently conformed to Webb's DOK consistency and ROK correspondence criteria for alignment. A promising finding was the strong alignment of the ISTAR Level F1 and F2 scales to the Kindergarten standards. This result provided evidence of the developmental continuum of skills and knowledge that are assessed by the ISTAR items .