Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens Executive Summary

This executive summary highlights the main findings from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve. Drawing on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- we investigated the relationship between participation and three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles

Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens

The third in a series of reports from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, Making Every Day Count examines how Club participation is related to youth's positive and healthy development in three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles.The report draws on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- to investigate the relationship between participation and outcomes. The findings show that teens who had higher levels of participation in the Clubs experienced greater positive change on 15 of 31 outcomes examined, including increases in integrity (knowing right from wrong) and academic confidence, decreases in incidents of skipping school, and a lower likelihood of starting to carry a weapon or use marijuana or alcohol.Qualitative data bolster these findings, providing insights from youth and staff about the practices and strategies that support the influence of the Club, as a whole, on youth's lives. The data suggest that there is a confluence of things the Clubs are doing right to serve teens and sustain their connection to the Club as they transition from middle school to high school. Interviewed staff and the teens spoke about the overall Club environment, the safe place it provides and the role of interactions with supportive adults and peers as crucial -- and, in their view, more important than specific programming -- in helping promote teens' positive development.The findings from the evaluation offer a promising picture of the role Clubs can play in the lives of teens; they also point to valuable lessons for the larger out-of-school-time field, where there is increasing interest in the question of how to effectively engage teens -- a population that has been critically underserved in many low-income communities

Feminist Modernist Dance

This is the first of two special issues of Feminist Modernist Studies dedicated to feminist modernist dance (the second will be Summer, 2022). We have wrestled in our joint editorial work here, as well as in our own work, over the disjunctions embodied in these three terms conjoined. Though feminist scholars have been doing important work in modernist studies for half a century, the term modernism remains mired in gatekeeping canon formations that center white male artists, primarily writers, with few exceptions. The continued need to specify “feminist modernism” signals an exasperating truism that modernism persists in its reliable male-orientation. At the same time, feminist modernist studies struggles with its own rigid canon, rooted in literature despite attempts to be interdisciplinary, and forged around a handful of authors. Dance, an art form in which women dominate, similarly shares a fraught relationship with the term modernism. Dance played a critical role in defining and disseminating modernist aesthetics, occupying center stage for some of our most retold stories about modernism’s rocky relationship with a resistant public, as in the legendarily tumultuous 1913 premiere of the Ballet Russes’ Sacre du Printemps. But as Carrie Preston points out in her introduction to Modernist Cultures’ 2014 special issue on dance, even in this instance where dance provides the occasion for interdisciplinary modernist artistic innovation, the embodied art of the dancers themselves is neglected in critical discussions in favor of attention to the score, the set, and even the impresario. Dance lies at the center of mythologies of modernism and its aesthetics, and yet it is under-acknowledged in contemporary modernist studies

Clinical Correlates of Social Affect in Early Infancy: Implications for Early Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Earlier intervention for infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enhances developmental gains (Rogers, et al. 2012) and necessitates ascertainment of early, reliable indicators of ASD. Diminished social attention and positive social affect have been among the leading hypothesized risk factors for ASD in the prelinguistic period, between 6-12 months of age, however research has resulted in mixed findings for the predictive value of social engagement in 6-9-month-old infants for the development of ASD. If abnormalities in infant social affect contribute to the early phenotypic expression of ASD, it is important to determine whether diminished social affect is a unique construct associated exclusively with social impairments or if it is, alternatively, an expression of normal variation in individual development better explained by temperamental style. The current study sought to enhance the understanding of social development in early infancy by investigating individual differences in social engagement during face-to-face dyadic interactions. Expression of positive social affect during a structured dyadic parent-infant interaction was measured for 33 typically developing 6-8-month old infants. This measure was then correlated with concurrent clinical measures of social-communication, vocal production, autism symptomology, and temperament. Results revealed a positive association between positive social affect and the receptive language component of social-communication. No significant relations were observed between positive social affect, vocal production, autism symptomology, or temperament. These results suggest that infant positive social during interaction with a caregiver is a reflection of some elements of social-communicative ability for 6-8 month old infants, but not temperamental style. Further research is needed to understand how diminished positive social affect in early infancy may impact later developmental outcomes. Implications for early identification of ASD and relevant intervention strategies are discussed

The Influence of Hip Strength and Core Endurance on Recurrent Patella Dislocations: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patellar instability can be a source of pain and functional disability. Aspects of patellar dislocations explored in the literature include demographics, radiographic findings, physical features, and quadriceps and hamstring strength. A lack of information exists on muscular strength as a predisposing factor for recurrent patellar dislocations. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of hip strength and core endurance on recurrent patellar dislocations. It was hypothesized that decreased hip strength and core endurance would be associated with this injury. METHODS: In this case control study, cases with recurrent patellar dislocation at a rehabilitation clinic were all offered the chance to participate. Healthy controls without any current knee injuries or previous surgeries were matched by sex and age. Participants provided anthropometric and demographic data and filled out the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, KOOS Knee Survey, Kujala Knee Pain Scale, and a patellofemoral instability form. Cases underwent a patellofemoral exam and joint testing protocol. Both groups completed the forward step down test, strength of hip external rotation and abduction using a dynamometer, and bilateral side plank endurance. Recordings of the forward step down test were reviewed by six researchers to determine inter-rater reliability. RESULTS: Side plank endurance and hip external rotation strength were significantly decreased in the cases compared to the controls. There was no statistical difference for hip abduction strength between the two groups. Moderate to good inter-rater reliability was found for the forward step down test. CONCLUSIONS: Weak hip external rotators and core endurance could lead to an increased risk for patellar dislocations. While hip abduction strength was not statistically significant between cases and controls, it was 4% less in the case group. The gluteus medius is active during side plank exercise and may contribute to significant results observed in core endurance testing. The forward step down test could be used to assess dynamic weakness in hip abductors and external rotators across providers based on reliability findings. This pilot study was the first to investigate hip strength and core endurance as a risk factor for recurrent patellar dislocations and further research is needed to confirm findings

Meiotic drive adaptive testes enlargement during early development in the stalk-eyed fly

The sex ratio (SR) X-linked meiotic drive system in stalk-eyed flies destroys Y-bearing sperm. Unlike other SR systems, drive males do not suffer fertility loss. They have greatly enlarged testes which compensate for gamete killing. We predicted that enlarged testes arise from extended development with resources re-allocated from the accessory glands, as these tend to be smaller in drive males. To test this, we tracked the growth of the testes and accessory glands of wild-type and drive males over 5–6 weeks post-eclosion before males attained sexual maturity. Neither of the original predictions is supported by these data. Instead, we found that the drive male testes were enlarged at eclosion, reflecting a greater allocation of resources to the testes during pupation. Testes grow at a higher rate during early adult development in drive males, but there was no evidence that this retards the growth of the accessory glands. Further experiments are proposed to investigate whether smaller accessory glands only arise in drive males post-copulation or when flies are subjected to nutritional stress. Our experimental findings support the idea that enlarged testes in drive males arise as an adaptive allocation of resources to traits that enhance male reproductive success

More Time For Teens: Understanding Teen Participation -- Frequency, Intensity and Duration -- In Boys & Girls Clubs

Written midway through a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, this report explores a topic of continuing interest to program operators and funders: What does it take to involve teens in positive out-of-school-time activities? Drawing on survey data from a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 400 seventh and eighth graders, Clubs attendance data tracked over a period of 17 months, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders, More Time for Teens identifies a set of factors that appear to contribute to three specific aspects of Club participation: frequency, duration and retention. The report highlights links found between accessible, safe places that provide a variety of informal and formal activities of interest to teens and higher levels of participation. It also distills lessons for programs interested in boosting teen participation. These include establishing relationships when children are younger (these relationships often endure through the teen years), taking into account the importance teens place on friendships and working with teens to establish flexibility in attendance policies as they enter their high school years

Active Shooter Preparedness Among Dental Hygiene Students

Purpose: Active shooter incidents (ASIs) occurring in dental hygiene academic settings present unique challenges and research examining institutional preparation of dental hygiene students for such incidents is lacking. The purpose of this pilot project was to examine the perceived preparedness, confidence, and awareness of dental hygiene students regarding ASIs. Methods: A validated 24-item electronic survey was distributed to dental hygiene students (n=68) at one institution to measure their preparedness, confidence, and awareness regarding ASIs. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlations were used for data analysis. Results: Fifty-seven dental hygiene students completed the survey for a response rate of 84%. Many participants felt slightly prepared (n=26, 45.6%) or not prepared (n=15, 26.3%) to respond to an ASI in the classroom. Most were slightly confident (n=26, 45.6%) or not confident (n=16, 26.3%) in helping to control the classroom during an ASI. Over half (n=32, 56.1%) were not certain if their institution provided active shooter trainings and were not certain if drills occurred (n=25,43.8%). Perceived preparedness was positively correlated with confidence in helping to control an ASI in the classroom (r(56)=.616, p=.000). Positive correlations were also identified with perceived preparedness to respond in a lab or clinic with the assumption that ASIs are taken seriously at their institution (r(56)=.375, p=.004). Conclusion: A general lack of preparedness and confidence for responding to ASIs may exist among dental hygiene students along with a lack of awareness regarding trainings and drills. Educational institutions should implement best practices for preparing dental hygiene students for ASIs

Advancing Achievement: Findings from an Independent Evaluation of a Major After-School Initiative

This report presents outcomes from Public/Private Ventures research on CORAL, an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative of The James Irvine Foundation. Findings described in the report demonstrate the relationship between high-quality literacy programming and academic gains and underscore the potential role that quality programs may play in the ongoing drive to improve academic achievement. The report includes a 12-page executive summary