EVALUATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF A PREVENTATIVE PROPRIOCEPTIVE PROGRAM IN REDUCING LATERAL ANKLE SPRAINS IN D1 COLLEGIATE FOOTBALL PLAYERS

Context: Ankle sprains are one of the most common injuries seen in collegiate football players. Limited studies are available to evaluate the effects of a preventative proprioceptive program aimed at reducing lateral ankle sprains in Division 1 collegiate football players. Objective: To determine if a 4-week preventative proprioceptive program can reduce the occurrence of ankle sprains in Division I football athletes. Design: Retrospective Non-Randomized Crossover Setting: Athletic Training facility and University Strength and Conditioning Room Patients: Forty-four collegiate male football players. (mean height = 74.75 inches, mean age =20.32 years, mean weight = 237.09 lbs, mean # of previous ankle sprains = 1.80) Intervention: Four-week preventative proprioceptive program completed 3-4 times weekly Main Outcome Measurements: BESS Scores, Lateral Ankle Sprains Methods: Each volunteer will complete the BESS (Balance Error Scoring System) Test. The researcher will first ask which the volunteer\u27s dominant leg is and will then record any errors the volunteer makes according to the BESS testing standards. The volunteer will first stand with their feet together, eyes closed for thirty seconds. Second, standing on a single leg (dominant leg), eyes closed. Finally, they will stand in a tandem position with their dominant leg in the back position with their eyes closed. These three positions will first be tested on a firm, stable surface and then on a foam, unstable surface. The researcher will record scores for all 6 tests for the volunteers. The volunteers will then begin the four-week proprioception program. Volunteers will complete the assigned exercises of the protocol three times a week before their scheduled weight and conditioning times in either the Redbird Arena Weight Room or the Hancock Stadium football field on the campus of Illinois State University. The four-week protocol will consist of proprioceptive exercises progressing each week in the four weeks. Exercises include static stances such as single leg stance with arms crossed at chest that progress to more dynamic exercises such as single leg stance with heel taps and single leg stance bend and reach. At the end of the four-week proprioceptive program, the researcher will have each volunteer complete the BESS Test post-program completion. During the Fall 2018 football season, the researcher will track and record all ankle sprains that the volunteers may endure. All possible injuries will be evaluated and diagnosed by the team\u27s athletic training staff

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ABSTRACT The authors sought to understand the types of parent involvement that teachers, parents, and students believe affect the academic achievement of adolescent learners at the junior high school level. Research that included focus groups, interviews, and surveys indicated that teachers and students believed that parent involvement at school was considered less important to a child's academic achievement than parent involvement in academics at home. In addition, parents rated themselves as more participatory in academics than did their children or junior high school teachers. Keywords: academic achievement, junior high school students, parent involvement as a predictor of grades

The parent perspective

This chapter discusses the parent perspective in terms of what parents of students attending the SSL think about their child's involvement. Over time, a number of projects have examined parent perceptions but the most recent one is discussed in this chapter. This particular project involved surveying and interviewing parents of students attending the three SSL campuses during Terms 3 and 4 of the 2012 school year. While the sample is not large, it certainly provides support to the large body of anecdotal evidence about the very high level of parent satisfaction with the SSL. The findings from the interviews conducted with 15 parents have already been published in a refereed conference paper, which is referred to later in this chapter. The findings from the pre- and post-surveys completed by 38 parents indicated that parents were aware of both the benefits and challenges faced by their children. Moreover, they had very high expectations in terms of the type of growth in understanding of self, others and the ecosystem in which they were living, as outcomes of the SSL experience. Post-survey results illustrated that these expectations were not only met but exceeded