The Costs and Benefits of Early Sport Specialization: A Critical Review of Literature

ABSTRACT

There is a growing trend toward specialization in American youth sport, evident in the number of elite youth competitions and position statements from major medical organizations. Despite growing interest on this topic for kinesiology professionals within higher education, there is a dearth in research regarding the relationship between specialization and athlete health outcomes, especially psychosocial outcomes. This critical review describes specialization theory and the limited extant research on the costs and benefits of single-sport specialization. Topics include: (a) the proposed benefits of specialization from the performance perspective; (b) early specialization and alternative sport participation pathways; (c) the posited psychosocial and physical health risks of sport specialization; (d) ethical concerns; and (e) methodological issues and recommendations for future research. Deeper understanding of the costs and benefits of sport specialization has significant practical implications for youth athletes’ performance and well-being and for other relevant stakeholders in the youth sport system.     

Aligning Teaching to Learning: A 3-Year Study Examining the Embedding of Language and Argumentation into Elementary Science Classrooms

How can classrooms become communities of inquiry that connect intellectually challenging science content with language-based activities (opportunities to talk, listen, read, and write) especially in settings with diverse populations? This question guided a 3-year mixed-methods research study using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach in cooperation with 2 universities, area education agencies, 6 school districts, 32 elementary teachers, and over 700 students each year. The participating teachers engaged in a yearly summer institute, planned units, implemented this curriculum in the classroom, and contributed to ongoing data collection and analysis. Findings demonstrate that critical embedded language opportunities contribute to an increase in student Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) scores in science and language based on level of implementation particularly for elementary students who receive free and reduced lunch (an indicator of living at the poverty level).     

Probing personal knowledge: The use of a computer-based tool to help preservice teachers map subject matter knowledge

This paper reports on the use of a HyperCard^TM-based tool to create and modify concept maps about science related subject matter. The tool was trialed with seventy-one preservice teachers who were planning to teach a science topic to a primary school class. Data gathered from interviews, journals and analysis of concept maps indicated that the concept mapping tool was easy to use because it generated little cognitive load and quickly became transparent to the users. This allowed preservice teachers to focus their attention upon the construction of their maps and to organise their cognitive frameworks into more powerful integrated patterns. It was also found that the process of concept map construction may enhance preservice teacher thinking about effective teaching.     

Examining Elementary Students’ Development of Oral and Written Argumentation Practices Through Argument-Based Inquiry

Argumentation, and the production of scientific arguments are critical elements of inquiry that are necessary for helping students become scientifically literate through engaging them in constructing and critiquing ideas. This case study employed a mixed methods research design to examine the development in 5th grade students’ practices of oral and written argumentation from one unit to another over 16 weeks utilizing the science writing heuristic approach. Data sources included five rounds of whole-class discussion focused on group presentations of arguments that occurred over eleven class periods; students’ group writings; interviews with six target students and the teacher; and the researcher’s field notes. The results revealed five salient trends in students’ development of oral and written argumentative practices over time: (1) Students came to use more critique components as they participated in more rounds of whole-class discussion focused on group presentations of arguments; (2) by challenging each other’s arguments, students came to focus on the coherence of the argument and the quality of evidence; (3) students came to use evidence to defend, support, and reject arguments; (4) the quality of students’ writing continuously improved over time; and (5) students connected oral argument skills to written argument skills as they had opportunities to revise their writing after debating and developed awareness of the usefulness of critique from peers. Given the development in oral argumentative practices and the quality of written arguments over time, this study indicates that students’ development of oral and written argumentative practices is positively related to each other. This study suggests that argumentative practices should be framed through both a social and epistemic understanding of argument-utilizing talk and writing as vehicles to create norms of these complex practices.     

Development of Automated Scoring Algorithms for Complex Performance Assessments: A Comparison of Two Approaches

Performance assessments are typically scored by having experts rate individual performances. The cost associated with using expert raters may represent a serious limitation in many large-scale testing programs. The use of raters may also introduce an additional source of error into the assessment. These limitations have motivated development of automated scoring systems for performance assessments. Preliminary research has shown these systems to have application across a variety of tasks ranging from simple mathematics to architectural problem solving. This study extends research on automated scoring by comparing alternative automated systems for scoring a computer simulation test of physicians'patient management skills; one system uses regression-derived weights for components of the performance, the other uses complex rules to map performances into score levels. The procedures are evaluated by comparing the resulting scores to expert ratings of the same performances.     

Human Rights and People with Disabilities

Discusses human rights issues related to people with disabilities in Australia. The issues surrounding human rights for people with disabilities are related to the concepts of discrimination, legislation and social justice. Findings from recent Federal inquiries into homeless children and mental illness highlight major deficits in services for persons with disabilities. Given the rapidly changing nature of our society, improved community‐based services must become a priority. Schools and education have a major role to play in the provision of such services. It is concluded that every Australian has the responsibility to advocate with and on behalf of people with disabilities.