Self-Determination and Career Planning Model for Students with Disabilities: An Analysis of Evidence-Based Practices.

This study investigated the capacity of a self-advocacy curriculum implemented in Tennessee suggested components that make up the conceptual framework of self-determination curriculum, (2) school-wide intervention had occurred, (3) self-determination goals were included in individualized education programs (IEPs) and transition plans, and (4) there was awareness of the curriculum capacity among Tennessee educators. This study employed descriptive and comparative statistical methods to establish assumptions regarding the curriculum\u27s effectiveness. Educators were grouped based on their teaching role (i.e., special education, regular education, and administration) and whether or not they received training and technical assistance from the University of Tennessee\u27s Center on Disability and Employment. An on-line survey provided data necessary to determine educators\u27 perceptions of the curriculum\u27s capacity to provide students opportunities to learn and practice self-advocacy skills. Seven major findings evaluated the Self-Determination and Career Planning Model as evidence-based. Educators agreed the curriculum helped students demonstrate self-advocacy skills.Educators who received training to implement the self-advocacy curriculum were better prepared to observe students\u27 demonstration of self-advocacy skills.Self-advocacy goals were included in IEPs and transition plans.Attendance at IEP meetings did not bias educators\u27 opinions of students\u27 skills.The self-advocacy curriculum contained 4 recommended curriculum dimensions.Tennessee educators have a high awareness of self-determination curriculum capacity.Educators indicated an increase in student IEP participation. These findings evaluated the Self-Determination and Career Planning Model as evidence-based. Suggested curriculum improvements should be implemented and accountability of school districts to implement the curriculum should be communicated to all educators

Measuring the environmental dimensions of human migration: The demographer's toolkit

In recent years, the empirical literature linking environmental factors and human migration has grown rapidly and gained increasing visibility among scholars and the policy community. Still, this body of research uses a wide range of methodological approaches for assessing environment-migration relationships. Without comparable data and measures across a range of contexts, it is impossible to make generalizations that would facilitate the development of future migration scenarios. Demographic researchers have a large methodological toolkit for measuring migration as well as modeling its drivers. This toolkit includes population censuses, household surveys, survival analysis and multi-level modeling. This paper’s purpose is to introduce climate change researchers to demographic data and methods and to review exemplary studies of the environmental dimensions of human migration. Our intention is to foster interdisciplinary understanding and scholarship, and to promote high quality research on environment and migration that will lead toward broader knowledge of this association

Making Labor Flexible: The Recomposition of Tijuana's Maquiladora Female Labor Force

This article revisits the debate over the benefits of export-oriented manufacturing employment for women by taking up Linda Lim's (1990) critique that such research is often biased in its methods and conclusions. Using a sample of 198 women workers from the 1993 Labor Trajectories Survey, I conduct a multivariate statistical analysis to test whether the social and demographic characteristics of the female maquiladora labor force influence their position in the labor market. I find that maquiladoras in Tijuana, Mexico, employ married women, women with children, and women with low levels of education who constitute a low-wage sector of the labor force with few other employment alternatives. In the drive to keep production costs low, multinational manufacturers have tapped into this low-wage labor force, thereby taking advantage of women's labor market disadvantages and making a labor force willing to accept more "flexible" terms of employment.Women, Low-WAGE Employment, Maquiladoras, Mexico, Flexible Labor,

First impressions : a Study of the Relationship Between Presenting Problems and Clinical Perception

Processes involved in clinical perception typically result in tangible outcomes of interest to clients and practitioners (e.g., diagnoses). In developing an overall impression of clients, practitioners integrate information related to target problems clients present. Substance abuse counselors, in particular, are increasingly being asked to assess clients for co-occurring problems. Domestic violence has been identified as a particularly salient co-occurring problem associated with substance abuse. This dissertation draws on theory by Solomon Asch (1946, 1952) to examine how presenting problems such as domestic violence shape clinical outcomes and processes in substance abuse assessment interviews. Most clinical interactions occur, however, under confidential conditions. Designed as an added component to a study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the dilemma of confidentiality was circumvented by using a standardized patient. Standardized patients (SPs) are actors trained to simulate a set of symptoms across multiple clinical encounters, allowing researchers to investigate therapeutic interactions. Eighteen participating substance abuse counselors conducted one mock assessment interview each with a SP who alternated her presenting problem between (a) a problem with violence in a domestic setting and (b) a problem with methamphetamine use. Post interview questionnaires and transcribed videotaped interactions were analyzed using frequency counts, t-tests, content analysis, blind ratings of questionnaires on particular dimensions and narrative analysis. Results include a serendipitous finding that counselors substantially referenced the SP\u27s maternal role and associated status throughout analyses. However, divergent patterns in impression formation processes and outcomes occurred for the two groups, providing evidence that a dynamic interaction occurred between the SP\u27s maternal status and her presenting problem in perception formation processes for counselors. Findings support Asch\u27s (1946, 1952) assertions on dynamic processes involved in interpersonal perception, drawing attention to implications of socially salient roles, including associated expectations, in clinical contexts. Social psychological theory as well as practice related to substance abuse counseling and domestic violence intervention benefit from identifying how socially defined information presented initially shape clinical encounters. The dissertation suggests lines of inquiry for future research on impression formation from multiple methodological perspectives using standardized patients, a combination supportive of bridging the gap between research and practice

Experiences of graduate registered nurses in aged care: A case study

The number of Registered Nurses (RNs) working in aged care is declining, with few new RNs choosing aged care in their graduate year. This paper describes a study exploring 11 female graduate RNs’ experiences of working in an aged care setting in Victoria, Australia to assist in informing recruitment and retention strategies in aged care. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken and thematically analysed using open coding. This paper presents findings related to the themes of ‘free choice or allocated to aged care’ ‘reasons for graduate choices’, ‘nature of aged care: a match or mismatch for graduates’, ‘lack of professional support for graduate RNs in aged care’ and ‘role confusion’. Findings supported the recruitment of graduate RNs with an initial interest in aged care into the sector. A clearer definition of the new graduate RN’s role in aged care and a standardised graduate program may assist in increasing retention of such nurses in the future