As the number of at-risk collegiate student athletes continues to rise and their academic success continues to be scrutinized, the role of the learning specialist is becoming increasingly important. The purpose of this research was to determine the essential duties of learning specialists in collegiate athletics, possible correlations between the learning specialist’s degree and the frequency of their tasks, as well as the possible connection between conference, number of learning specialists on staff, and tasks assigned and number of students on the learning specialists’ caseload. A survey was completed by 90 individuals who self-identified as learning specialists and members of N4A. Results indicate that the three tasks most frequently performed by learning specialists are developing learning strategies with individual students, sending reminders, and holding study hall and these tasks remain consistent regardless of their educational background, conference or number of learning specialists on staff. Implications of these findings and future research recommendations are also discussed.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA (2009) defines the term “risk” as a “student-athlete’s likelihood of graduation”. The ability of athletic departments and athletic academic professionals to identify which of their student-athletes might be considered at risk is less straightforward. While many departments use their own tools to assess risk, there has been little research on the subject. This exploratory study sought to generate a collective understanding of how athletic academic units across the country define the term “at-risk” and assess which of their student-athletes are at-risk in order to begin creating a framework for use across the industry. A survey was completed by 43 member of the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) who serve in learning specialist roles, within athletic academic units. The results showed that academic units, across NCAA institutions, do not have one clear definition of risk, but rather the definition falls into four distinct categories. The study also found that there are three initial risk assessments used most frequently to determine student-athletes’ risk upon arrival at the institution, while the continued risk assessments fall into six distinct categories of assessments. As this is an exploratory study, the researchers acknowledge that we are only scratching the surface in regards to the breadth` and depth of assessment usage to determine risk of student-athletes at NCAA institutions. Therefore, the implications for future research are discussed.
Keywords: Risk, assessment, initial assessment, continued assessment
Many, if not most, instances of severe head trauma in infancy are attributable to child abuse. Thorough post mortem examination demonstrates upper cervical spinal cord lesions in a substantial fraction of infants who die of their head injuries,1 but these spinal cord injuries are seldom recognized ante mortem. Spinal column fractures have been described as incidental findings in the setting of child abuse, but they are seldom apparent clinically.2 Spinal cord injury without spinal fracture and without head injury is a rare presentation of child abuse, and the true nature of this syndrome may escape recognition unless other characteristic signs of abuse are detected.
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