Supporting Black Male Community College Success: Determinants of Faculty–Student Engagement

The purpose of this study was to examine determinants of Black male students’ engagement with faculty in the community college. Data from this study were derived from the 2011 three-year cohort of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Using data from 11,384 Black male respondents within 260 community colleges, this study investigated faculty–student engagement using hierarchical, multilevel modeling. Among other findings, this study illustrated the importance of reading remediation, participation in learning communities, study skills courses, and college orientation in positively contributing to faculty–student interactions. Implications for college practice are discussed.     

High Schools That Work and college preparedness: Measuring the model's impact on mathematics and science pipeline progression

The High Schools That Work school improvement initiative is the nation's largest comprehensive school reform model with over a thousand schools adopting its framework. The initiative's premise is that all students can meet the demands of a college preparatory curriculum if provided the right supports. Analyzing over a decade of data on student course taking and performance, we employ a rigorous comparative interrupted time series strategy to assess the extent to which HSTW meets its goal by increasing students’ successful progression through the mathematics and science pipelines. Each pipeline consists of three college preparatory courses: algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 in mathematics and biology plus two physical science courses in science. The results show no effect on pipeline progression for the average student and some evidence of increased gaps in course taking between more advantaged and disadvantaged students.     

Mindfulness training attenuates the increase in salivary cortisol concentration associated with competition in highly trained wheelchair-basketball players

This study determined the effect of 8 wk of mindfulness training (MT) on salivary cortisol (sCort) and rate of salivary Immunoglobulin-A (sIgA) secretion in wheelchair-basketball players during a competition period. The mindful group completed 8 weeks of MT in addition to training and competition. sCort and rate of sIgA secretion were measured at baseline, at 2-week intervals, the end and 2 weeks following the intervention. A significant time and group interaction was observed for sCort (F = 3.297, P = 0.040, ES = 0.191); sCort increased in the control group from MT-BL to MT-2wk (P = 0.001) and remained significantly elevated at MT-4wk (P = 0.013) and MT-6wk (P = 0.002). sCort decreased from MT-6wk to MT-8wk (P < 0.001) and concentrations were not different at MT-8wk and Post-2wk to MT-BL (P > 0.05). Mindful group sCort increased from MT-BL to MT-2wk (P = 0.042) but decreased to concentrations no different to MT-BL for the rest of the intervention period (P > 0.05). There were no group differences in rate of sIgA secretion during the intervention (P = 0.810). It was concluded that 8 weeks of MT attenuated the increase in sCort associated with the competition period.     

Sleep restriction impairs maximal jump performance and joint coordination in elite athletes

ABSTRACT

The study objective was to examine the effects of three days of sleep restriction on maximal jump performance and joint coordination. Eleven elite cyclists obtained a one-week baseline of habitual sleep then restricted sleep to 4 h/night (SR) for three nights assessed through self-report and actigraphy. Pre and post-intervention measures were a box drop maximal vertical jump with 3D motion capture to assess physical performance and biomechanical changes, and Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) assessed changes in response time. Associations between biomechanical, physical, and cognitive performance measures were assessed. Participants restricted reported sleep from 7.4 ± 0.5 h/night at baseline to 4.0 ± 0.2 h/night and actigraphy indicated 6.7 ± 0.7 to 3.7 ± 0.2 h/night. Following SR, jump height decreased (0.44 ± 0.09 vs. 0.42 ± 0.10 m, p = 0.02, g = 0.21). Hip sagittal/knee frontal (Δ15.5°, p = 0.04, g = 0.40) and hip frontal/knee frontal (Δ11.0°, p < 0.01, g = 0.44) plane coordination variability increased after SR. Hip sagittal/knee frontal plane coordination variability after SR was associated with increasingly slower PVT response time (r = 0.63, p = 0.03). These findings suggest SR for three days decreased maximal jump performance. SR increased joint coordination variability and was associated with greater impairment in response time. SR leads to deviations from preferred movement patterns, which may have implications for decrements in athlete performance and increased injury risk.