Measurement properties of Brief-BESTest scores from children, adolescents, and youth with visual impairments.

Purpose: This study aimed to vet the measurement properties of Brief-BESTest scores in children, adolescents, and youth with visual impairment and blindness (YVI). Methods: A cross-sectional sample of YVI (N = 101) completed the Brief-BESTest, a modified version of the Y-Balance Test, the 360-degree turn test, bipedal quiet stance, and Activity-Specific Balance Confidence Scales. Thirty-seven YVI completed test-retest of the Brief-BESTest using a one-year interval. Using classical test theory, various forms of total and item-level Brief-BESTest score reliability and validity were investigated in YVI. Results: All inter-rater reliability coefficients were ≥ .80. When considering the eight items of the Brief-BESTest, 27 of the 28 possible correlations were statistically significant (p<.05). Various internal consistency and item difficulty results were strong. When taking total Brief-BESTest scores and their association with the complementary balance tasks/metrics into account, 11 of 13 associations were statistically significant (p<.05) providing strong convergent validity evidence. Being multimorbid and degree of vision significantly predicted total Brief-BESTest scores (p<.001) suggesting construct (i.e. known groups) validity. Numerous test-retest results (e.g. coefficients, limits of agreement) following the one-year interval were indicative of score stability. Conclusion: Practitioners and researchers should have confidence in, and consider adopting, the Brief-BESTest to examine multidimensional balance in YVI.

Rehabilitation, motor, and health professionals should view the Brief-BESTest as the preeminent clinical balance assessment for children, adolescents, and youth with visual impairment and blindness (YVI).Brief-BESTest scores may be used to investigate multidimensional balance, provide 'systems-based' balance profiles, and inform targeted balance interventions in YVI.Practitioners and researchers may now investigate Brief-BESTest scores alongside pertinent health- or movement-relevant outcomes of interest (e.g., gait, mobility, falls).

Appropriate Instructional Practice in Physical Education: A Systematic Review of Literature From 2000 to 2020.

Appropriate instruction is a key component of quality physical education, which aligns student learning activities with grade-level learning outcomes. Historically, in the 1980s and late 1990s, an abundance of research was conducted to empirically link teacher effectiveness to student learning outcomes. In recent years, however, limited research has been published. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to: (a) identify research studies examining appropriate instructional practice in K-12 physical education since 2000, (b) describe the study characteristics and summarize the findings, (c) compare research to the SHAPE America's guidelines for appropriate instruction, and (d) make recommendations for future research. Methods: This study was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) standards of quality for reporting meta-analyses. A systematic search of five electronic databases was conducted. Two reviewers retrieved articles, assessed risk of bias, and performed data extraction. The findings were synthesized using a descriptive analysis. Results: A total of 37 articles met the inclusion criteria. A thematic analysis was conducted to reduce the included articles into four themes that influenced student outcomes: (1) student engagement and participation, (2) motivation, (3) student learning, and (4) physical activity and fitness. Conclusions: This review of the literature provides evidence of the benefits of effective teaching practices and suggests that future studies in instruction should focus on teacher effectiveness and its relation to student learning outcomes. Recommendations and future directions are discussed.

Rationale for the Essential Components of Physical Education.

Purpose: This introductory article provides the context and rationale for conducting systematic literature reviews on each of the essential components of physical education, including policy and environment, curriculum, appropriate instruction, and student assessment. Methods: Four research teams from Doctoral Physical Education Teacher Education programs (D-PETE) conducted these systematic reviews using the PRISMA guidelines process. Results: This article explains the role of the national framework for increasing physical education and physical activity (i.e., Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program) in supporting the essential components of physical education. It also highlights the expectations for physical education and provides a brief history of these components. Lastly, this article highlights each of the articles presented in the special feature. Conclusion: Understanding the implementation of these components may be important for improving the physical education experience for all students and creating a foundation for lifelong physical activity and health.

Neurobehavioral assessment of mice following repeated postnatal exposure to chlorpyrifos-oxon.

Chlorpyrifos (CPF), one of the most widely-used organophosphorus (OP) insecticides in agriculture, is degraded in the field to its oxon form, chlorpyrifos-oxon (CPO), which can represent a significant contaminant in exposures to adults and children. CPO is also responsible for the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition associated with CPF exposures; CPF is converted by liver CYP450 enzymes to CPO, which binds to and inhibits AChE and other serine active-site esterases, lipases and proteases. Young children represent a particularly susceptible population for exposure to CPF and CPO, in part because levels of the plasma enzyme, paraoxonase (PON1), which hydrolyzes CPO, are very low during early development. While a number of studies have demonstrated developmental neurotoxicity associated with CPF exposure, including effects at or below the threshold levels for AChE inhibition, it is unclear whether these effects were due directly to CPF or to its active metabolite, CPO. PON1 knockout (PON1-/-) mice, which lack PON1, represent a highly sensitive mouse model for toxicity associated with exposure to CPF or CPO. To examine the neurobehavioral consequences of CPO exposure during postnatal development, PON1-/- mice were exposed daily from PND 4 to PND 21 to CPO at 0.15, 0.18, or 0.25 mg/kg/d. A neurobehavioral test battery did not reveal significant effects of CPO on early reflex development, motor coordination, pre-pulse inhibition of startle, startle amplitude, open field behavior, or learning and memory in the contextual fear conditioning, Morris water maze, or water radial-arm maze tests. However, body weight gain and startle latency were significantly affected by exposure to 0.25 mg/kg/d CPO. Additionally, from PNDs 15-20 the mice exposed repeatedly to CPO at all three doses exhibited a dose-related transient hyperkinesis in the 20-min period following CPO administration, suggesting possible effects on catecholaminergic neurotransmission. Our previous study demonstrated wide-ranging effects of neonatal CPO exposure on gene expression in the brain and on brain AChE inhibition, and modulation of both of these effects by the PON1(Q192R) polymorphism. The current study indicates that the neurobehavioral consequences of these effects are more elusive, and suggests that alternative neurobehavioral tests might be warranted, such as tests of social interactions, age-dependent effects on learning and memory, or tests designed specifically to assess dopaminergic or noradrenergic function.