A confirmatory study of rating scale category effectiveness for the Coaching Efficacy Scale

This study extended validity evidence for measures of coaching efficacy derived from the Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES) by testing the rating scale categorizations suggested in previous research. Previous research provided evidence for the effectiveness of a four-category (4-CAT) structure for high school and collegiate sports coaches; it also suggested that a five-category (5-CAT) structure may be effective for youth sports coaches, because they may be more likely to endorse categories on the lower end of the scale. Coaches of youth sports (N = 492) responded to the CES items with a 5-CAT structure. Across rating scale category effectiveness guidelines, 32 of 34 evidences (94%) provided support for this structure. Data were condensed to a 4-CAT structure by collapsing responses in Category 1 (CAT-1) and Category 2 (CAT-2). Across rating scale category effectiveness guidelines, 25 of 26 evidences (96%) provided support for this structure. Findings provided confirmatory, cross-validation evidence for both the 5-CAT and 4-CAT structures. For empirical, theoretical, and practical reasons, the authors concluded that the 4-CAT structure was preferable to the 5-CAT when CES items are used to measure coaching efficacy. This conclusion is based on the findings of this confirmatory study and the more exploratory findings of Myers, Wolfe, and Feltz (2005).     

Path analysis of self-efficacy and diving performance revisited

The Feltz (1982) path analysis of the relationship between diving efficacy and performance showed that, over trials, past performance was a stronger predictor than self-efficacy of performance. Bandura (1997) criticized the study as statistically "overcontrolling" for past performance by using raw past performance scores along with self-efficacy as predictors of performance. He suggests residualizing past performance by regressing the raw scores on self-efficacy and entering them into the model to remove prior contributions of self-efficacy imbedded in past performance scores. To resolve this controversy, we reanalyzed the Feltz data using three statistical models: raw past performance, residual past performance, and a method that residualizes past performance and self-efficacy. Results revealed that self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of performance in both residualized models than in the raw past performance model. Furthermore, the influence of past performance on future performance was weaker when the residualized methods were conducted.     

Athletes' evaluations of their head coach's coaching competency

This study provided initial validity evidence for multidimensional measures of coaching competency derived from the Coaching Competency Scale (CCS). Data were collected from intercollegiate men's (n = 8) and women's (n = 13) soccer and women's ice hockey teams (n = 11). The total number of athletes was 585. Within teams, a multidimensional internal model was retained in which motivation, game strategy, technique, and character building comprised the dimensions of coaching competency. Some redundancy among the dimensions was observed. Internal reliabilities ranged from very good to excellent. Practical recommendations for the CCS are given in the Discussion section.     

A Culturally Responsive Alternative to “Drill and Kill” Literacy Strategies: Deep Roots,Civil Rights

This article describes two approaches to improving literacy in a high poverty, diverse urban high school. One curriculum program, “Striving Readers,” included a prescribed course of study for students reading below grade level along with schoolwide strategies. This approach did not improve targeted students’ reading scores or motivation to read. The alternative approach, “Deep Roots: Civil Rights,” was a culturally responsive curriculum that had a strong impact on the identified students’ academic development as well as their understanding of racism in this country. An examination of “Striving Readers” and “Deep Roots: Civil Rights” projects provides insight into the impact of the curriculum on student achievement and motivation. At a time when many schools are implementing the Common Core State Standards, this article is a reminder that a compelling, rigorous, culturally responsive curriculum best serves all our nation's schoolchildren. Projects such as “Deep Roots: Civil Rights” provide an effective alternative or complement to prescribed reading programs.     

The paradoxes of Utopian game-playing

In The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia, Suits maintains the following two theses: (1) game-playing is defined as ‘activity directed towards bringing about a specific state of affairs, using only means permitted by rules, where the rules prohibit more efficient in favour of less efficient means, and where such rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity’ and (2) ‘game playing is what makes Utopia intelligible.’ Observing that these two theses cannot be jointly maintained absent paradox, this essay explores the logical possibility that if (2) is true, then (1) must be false. More specifically, in the tradition of conceptual analysis it is argued that Suits’ definition of game-playing is too narrow inasmuch as it excludes really magnificent Utopian games of significance.     

Ethnic identity maintenance within the Latino-American church: a structuration perspective

The Latino ethnic/immigrant church plays a significant role in maintaining the ethnic identity of its congregants. Through the perspective of structuration theory, this qualitative analysis investigates how the activities of the church impact its members and how an individual might contribute to the cultural structure of the Latino church (i.e., duality of structure). Interviews of 25 pastors from Spanish-speaking congregations in both urban and rural settings in Oregon resulted in several themes including the initial planting of the church, the denominational structure, the emergence of a new multi-ethnic cultural identity, generational differences, and the influence of Spanish.