Childhood Physical Fitness and Performance as Predictors of High School Sport Participation

ABSTRACT

Participation in youth sport is positively associated with physical fitness and performance. The purpose of the current study was to examine if physical fitness measures during childhood and early adolescence predicted high school sport participation. Participants included youth in the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study. Measures consisted of the endurance shuttle run, Wells sit-and-reach, jump and reach, standing long jump, agility shuttle run and 30-yard dash. Individual, generalized estimating equation models were used to estimate the association between each measure and the odds of participating in high school sport. For both sexes, the endurance shuttle run and agility shuttle run were related to sport participation. For boys only, the long jump and 30-yard dash were also associated with sport participation. Better physical fitness and performance across several dimensions in childhood, including those related to motor skills, enhanced the likelihood of sport participation in high school.     

Strategies for Expanding E-Journal Preservation

The responsibility for and the initiative to preserve electronic journal content is neither clear nor easy, and knowing the preservation status of an e-journal is not a basic step within the NASIG Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians life cycle of electronic resources management. Columbia and Cornell University Libraries secured funding for a project to specifically evaluate strategies for expanding e-journal preservation. A wide range of e-journal categories are evaluated within the scope of the project, including: content direct from publishers, small and society publishers, Open Access e-journals, full-text content from third-party content providers, and university generated e-journals. Discussed are techniques for identifying at risk e-journals, integrating preservation into license negotiation with publishers, tracking the preservation status of e-journals, and developing relationships with existing preservation agencies. The quality of future of scholarship and teaching hinges on the preservation of the scholarly record.     

Access and Express: Professional Perspectives on Public Library Makerspaces and Intellectual Freedom

This study examines the roles of makerspaces and librarians in public libraries, as defined by nine librarians instituting makerspace services. It explores their understanding of creative spaces and library policy, specifically the foundational principles of intellectual freedom and access. Using constructivist discourse analysis tools, this study analyzes interview data to illuminate a concept of access grounded in expression, incorporating hands-on activities, tools, and social connections. This study has implications for practitioners and policymakers in reconsidering access as a positive liberty enabled by social contexts, and librarians’ enzymatic roles in facilitating those contexts.     

Enjoying A Good Story: Why We Use Children’s Literature When Teaching Adults

Early childhood teacher educators frequently enhance their teaching by reading children’s books to their adult students. It is not unusual for faculty outside of early childhood to question devoting precious class time to read-alouds which they may consider a curious, if not frivolous, instructional strategy. Quality children’s literature can, however, enhance students’ experiences in the college classroom, contribute to their understanding of course content, promote their personal growth and self-understanding, increase their appreciation for quality children’s literature, and enhance their ability to integrate storybooks into their own teaching. Children’s books often capture a child’s point of view. They have the potential to provide historical or cultural perspectives on children and families. They also can lead to the examination of universal truths and can facilitate the discussion of sensitive or emotional issues A list of books with suggested uses is included.     

Interpersonal and relational orientation among pre-service educators: differential effects on attitudes toward inclusion of students with disabilities

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the extent to which pre-service educators’ interpersonal characteristics affected their attitudes toward teaching students with disabilities (inclusion), as measured by the FIRO-B and ATIES pre- and post-course. The FIRO-B was administered to assess expressed and wanted aspects of three interpersonal needs: personal inclusion, affection and control. The ATIES was administered to measure attitudes toward classroom inclusion of students with physical, academic, behavioral and social disabilities. Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed a main effect for wanted inclusion and an interaction effect for expressed inclusion and expressed affection on attitudes toward classroom inclusion. Ultimately, these findings reveal how unique relational characteristics may influence preparation initiatives and may encourage consideration of how individual factors may mediate teacher training and preparation.     

The Consistency and Concomitants of Inhibition: Some of the Children, All of the Time

Toddlers displaying extremely inhibited behavior may be at risk for becoming socially withdrawn. However, behavioral inhibition may be a multifaceted characteristic, and its concurrent relation to toddler wariness with peers has not been examined. In this study, 108 toddlers (54 females) and their mothers were observed in novel situations involving unfamiliar settings, adults, and peers. Vagal tone, temperament, separation-reunion behavior, and maternal oversolicitousness also were assessed. There was little consistency of inhibited behavior across the 3 situations. Consistently inhibited toddlers had fearful temperaments, showed distress following maternal separation, and had mothers who were warm and controlling but unresponsive to children's cues during interaction. Toddlers with highly fearful temperaments and highly oversolicitous mothers were the most inhibited across contexts.     

Developing cultural competency in higher education: an agenda for practice

As a result of changing national values and unrest, demographic and population shifts, and ever-changing admissions practices and policies, implementing a diversity and cultural-competency agenda within university settings has become a priority across the UK, Europe, and US. Furthermore, public institutions across the UK, EU, and US are now more racially and ethnically diverse than ever [Snyder, T. D., C. Debray, and S. A. Dillow. 2016. ‘Digest of Education Statistics 2016.’ NCES 2016-006. National Centre for Education Statistics; Sursock, Andree. 2015. Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities. European University Association. Accessed October 28 2017. www.eua.be/Libraries/publicationshomepage-list/EUA_Trends_2015_web.]. Yet, cultural competency efforts on campuses remain largely under theorized [Bezrukova, K., K. A. Jehn, and C. S. Spell. 2012. “Reviewing Diversity Training: Where We Have Been and Where We Should Go.” Academy of Management Learning and Education 11 (2): 207–227] and diffuse [Sue, S., D. C. Fujino, L. T. Hu, D. T. Takeuchi, and N. W. Zane. 1991. ‘Community Mental Health Services for Ethnic Minority Groups: A Test of the Cultural Responsiveness Hypothesis.’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 59 (4): 533–540]. This article seeks to outline an agenda for this work, highlighting outcomes of cultural competency learning and underscoring the role of campus leadership in the development of supportive characteristics. These characteristics include attention to shared knowledge, professional learning at all levels of the organization, inclusive instructional methods, integration with other campus initiatives, and inclusivity of diversity foci. Posited are six supportive conditions for successful implementation.     

University Counseling Centers at the Twenty‐First Century: Looking Forward,Looking Back

The author examines the historical foundations of the university counseling movement, including the origins of professional affiliation, training, and education. The article also reviews existing literature that attempts to determine changes the university counseling profession must address to remain viable on the dynamic, pluralistic, 21st‐century campus.     

Advice to doctoral guidance committees from alumni at two universities

This investigation provided a comparative analysis of results of follow-up studies of graduates of doctoral programs at Ohio State and Michigan State universities. The same questionnaire survey and similar sampling procedures were used in both settings. The survey considered alumni perceptions of guidance committee activities, course work, comprehensive examinations, and dissertations. Most findings were consistent across both institutions (e.g., about one-fifth of the graduates from both universities wish they had taken more course work in research methodology). However, some striking contrasts were also found (e.g., the proportion of graduates who published articles based on their dissertations was 40% at one university and 23% at the other). The report offers recommendations for doctoral guidance committees suggested by the findings.