Online Learning and Mentors: Addressing the Shortage of Rural Special Educators Through Technology and Collaboration

This article describes a promising model in comprehensive special education personnel preparation to support the recruitment and retention of special education teachers in rural areas. The approach draws on several bodies of research to include best practices for teacher education, online service delivery, collaboration among key stakeholders, and the development of strong mentoring and induction programs. The implementation plan, based on evidence-based practice in special education and online learning, is presented. A key element of this plan is developing and maintaining strong relationships among rural districts, the state department of education, and higher education

Mentors Increasing Special Education Retention

Lack of effective professional mentoring and minimal ongoing support programs have been suggested as two primary contributors to the chronic shortages of special education teachers. Few programs have been designed to address these specific causes. In this article we describe TATERS, a partnership between a university special educator preparation program, a state Department of Education, and district level administrations designed to (a) develop effective mentoring systems, and (b) strengthen training and recruitment of preservice and new special education teachers, especially in rural areas

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

Engaging Parents of Students with Disabilities: Moving Beyond the Grief Model

Educators in many Western nations have used the Kübler-Ross stage model of grief for five decades as a lens to explain parental response to disability. A recent article in Improving Schools, representing this deficit model, asserted that the grief lens is useful in understanding parent’s response to learning that their child qualified for special education services. Implicit assumptions in such a perspective unintentionally undermine parent–educator relations. This article describes that phenomenon and notes an emerging ‘transformational’, empowering model of parental response to disability based on a social-ecological conceptualization of disability. Educators’ intent on improving 21st century schools must confront belief perseverance regarding the grief lens and adopt a more empowering strength-based approach in order to effectively engage parents of students with disabilities in strong collaboration relationships

A Parent-Implemented, Technology-Mediated Approach to Increasing Self-Management Homework Skills in Middle School Students with Autism

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in secondary school settings (i.e., grades 6-12) typically struggle with multiple academic challenges. Critics have noted that secondary schools traditionally have not been particularly effective in helping students with ASD develop self-determination (e.g., self-management) skills, which are considered pre-requisites to success in academics. Thus, there is a significant need for increased parent-professional collaboration in secondary schools. This study examined the effectiveness of coaching parents to implement a technology-mediated (e.g., iPad) approach to increasing the homework-related self-management skills for mathematics of five middle school students with ASD. Results indicate that these five students significantly increased their math homework self-management skills as a consequence of effectively using iPad applications when coached by their parents

Reconciling Leadership and Partnership: Strategies to Empower Professionals and Families

When early childhood professionals attempt to carry out traditional leadership roles at the same time they implement family-centered early care and education, they may find themselves in a quandary. A number of the assumptions associated with traditional leadership are not in harmony with family-centered practices, which include engaging families as partners with programs and teachers in their children’s development and learning (Douglass & Gittell 2012). In their work with families, early childhood professionals often find themselves challenged by the need to be both leaders and partners