An Examination of Mandated Rights Pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Mandated Components Described in an Individualized Education Plan

The number of students identified as having a disability and requiring special education services in the United States has more than doubled since the authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975. Simultaneously, public schools are experiencing a significant shortage in qualified special education teachers. Unqualified teachers are being placed in special education classrooms and given the responsibility of developing, writing and implementing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Federal law requires that a student’s IEP incorporates mandated rights and components in order to meet compliance. Unqualified teachers may not have the training and/or knowledge to be able to develop, write and implement IEPs that meet compliance standards. In this study, 103 IEPs were examined to determine percentage of compliance for five mandated rights and ten mandated components pursuant to IDEA. Data were also analyzed to determine whether teachers who were fully licensed and had more experience working with students with disabilities wrote IEPs with fewer violations in comparison with teachers who held provisional licenses and had fewer years of experience. Results indicated that out of the 103 IEPs reviewed for the study, none met compliance standards 100% of the time for any mandated right or component. However, mandated rights had higher percentages of compliance than mandated components. Results also suggest that teachers who were fully licensed with fewer years of experience had fewer violations than experienced teachers who were fully licensed, and that teachers who were fully licensed had fewer violations than those teachers who were provisionally licensed

Calcospherite (Calcification Nodule) Size in the Short Rib Polydactyly Syndromes

The short rib polydactyly syndromes (SRP) are lethal neonatal skeletal dysplasias with a narrow chest, short limbs, and other abnormalities. Type II (Majewski) short rib polydactyly can be distinguished from the Type I/III (Saldino-Noonan) type on the basis of radiographic and histologic changes. Our previous transmission electron microscopic studies suggested unusual patterns of cartilage calcification in these syndromes. We evaluate calcification in the present study using scanning electron microscopy and quantitative morphometry of calcification regions digested to expose calcospherite nodules (calcification nodules), distinctive morphologic structures which form during cartilage calcification. Mean calcospherite area of the Majewski Type II SRP (3.5 ± 0.24 x 10-6 mm2 (3) (mean ± sem (n)) did not differ from normal control means (3.1 ± 0.5 x 10-6 mm2, (3)). The mean area for Type I/III, however, was significantly larger than both the control and Type II means (8.9 ± 1.16 x 10-6 mm2 (7), p=.001). This difference in calcospherite size adds a further differentiating feature between these two dysplasias

Antecedent-Consequent Relations of Perceived Control to Health and Social Support: Longitudinal Evidence for Between-Domain Associations Across Adulthood

Objectives. To examine antecedent-consequent relations of perceived control to health and social support across adulthood and old age. Methods. We applied (multigroup) change score models to two waves of data collected 9 years apart from 6,210 participants of the Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS, 24-75 years at baseline). We used composite measures of perceived control (personal mastery and constraints), health (chronic conditions, acute conditions, and functional limitations), and social support (support and strain associated with spouse/partner, family, and friends). Results. Analyses revealed evidence for direct and independent multidirectional accounts. Greater initial control predicted weaker declines in health and stronger increases in support. In turn, increases in control were predicted by better initial health and more support. Changes in control were also accompanied by concurrent changes in the other two domains, and relations involving control were larger in size than those between health and support. We found only small sociodemographic differences across age, gender, and education group. Discussion. We conclude that perceiving control may serve as both a precursor and an outcome of health and social support across the adult age range and suggest routes for further inquir

Electrically tunable multi-terminal SQUID-on-tip

We present a new nanoscale superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) whose interference pattern can be shifted electrically in-situ. The device consists of a nanoscale four-terminal/four-junction SQUID fabricated at the apex of a sharp pipette using a self-aligned three-step deposition of Pb. In contrast to conventional two-terminal/two-junction SQUIDs that display optimal sensitivity when flux biased to about a quarter of the flux quantum, the additional terminals and junctions allow optimal sensitivity at arbitrary applied flux, thus eliminating the magnetic field "blind spots". We demonstrate spin sensitivity of 5 to 8 $\mu_B/\text{Hz}^{1/2}$ over a continuous field range of 0 to 0.5 T, with promising applications for nanoscale scanning magnetic imaging