Analysis of Vocational Rehabilitation Transition Outcomes of Youth from Illinois

The transition to postsecondary education and employment is natural after high school graduation, but is often more difficult and less successful for students with disabilities. The Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS)/Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) works in partnership with students with disabilities from around Illinois to provide the Successful Transitional Experience Program (STEP). The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of youth with disabilities in the state of Illinois participating in VR transition programs. Five years of transition data from the Illinois VR system was analyzed to determine what demographic and case level factors were different and predicted rehabilitated or nonrehabilitated outcomes. Extensive data cleaning left a total of 22,440 youth to be analyzed. Results indicated there were differences in outcomes based on race, location, disability type, number of services received, office region, and case expenditure. Further, positive postsecondary and employment outcomes were predicted by race and office region, whereas negative outcomes were predicted by race, type of disability, and case expenditure. The data revealed that a small percentage of participants are being successfully rehabilitated in the VR system (16.06%). Based on the data findings, it was recommended that DRS/VR alters and updates the STEP program. It was also recommended that there is a need for clarification of the intake system and eligibility requirements for VR services. Important information was revealed that can be used to help youth with disabilities throughout Illinois achieve positive employment and postsecondary educational outcomes

Aligning theory with practice: Understanding school-family partnerships at an inner-city high school

Ideally, theoretical constructs and real world practice should be closely related. The aim of this study was to examine the ways in which ecological principles (i.e., cycling of resources, adaptation, interdependence, and succession) were reflected in school-family partnerships. Parents (n = 15) and school personnel (n = 10) at a predominantly African American inner-city high school participated in in-depth interviews regarding their conceptualizations of parental involvement, home-school interactions and strengths and weaknesses of home-school communication. Four major themes emerged to highlight the connection between the theoretical principles of ecology and the practice of parental involvement: effective communication, initiation of contact, provide and protect, and contextual conditions. Although theory and practice overlap, study findings suggest ways in which the ecological principals might expand to better align with the practice of school-family partnerships in inner-city high schools. Future directions for theory and practice are discussed.Ecological principals School-family partnerships Qualitative

Corrected Tables for Fatigue Scales and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Issues of Sensitivity and Specificity, DSQ v.31 no.1 (Winter 2011)

These tables correct formatting errors that appeared in the previous version of this article.   These tables are authoritative and supercede those in the previous issue of DSQ

Fatigue Scales and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Issues of Sensitivity and Specificity

Few studies have explored issues of sensitivity and specificity for using the fatigue construct to identify patients meeting chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) criteria. In this article, we examine the sensitivity and specificity of several fatigue scales that have attempted to define severe fatigue within CFS. Using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, we found most scales and sub-scales had either significant specificity and/or sensitivity problems. However, the post-exertional subscale of the ME/CFS Fatigue Types Questionnaire (Jason, Jessen, et al., 2009) was the most promising in terms of specificity and sensitivity. Among the more traditional fatigue scales, Krupp, LaRocca, Muir-Nash, and Steinberg’s (1989) Fatigue Severity Scale had the best ability to differentiate CFS from healthy controls. Selecting questions, scales and cut off points to measure fatigue must be done with extreme care in order to successfully identify CFS cases

The Development of a Revised Canadian Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Case Definition

Abstract: Problem statement: Several investigators have indicated that case definitions for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are characterized by vaguely worded criteria that lack operational definitions and guidelines. The most widely used CFS case definition is the Fukuda et al. criteria, which uses polythetic criteria (i.e., patients are only required to have four out of a possible eight symptoms). Yet two of these eight symptoms (post-exertional malaise and memory/concentration problems) are an essential feature of this illness and the Fukuda et al. criteria do not require that these symptoms be present among all patients. Significant methodological problems could occur if investigators in different settings recruit samples with different percentages of these core symptoms. In contrast, the Canadian clinical case definition does require specific ME/CFS symptoms such as post-exertional malaise and memory/concentration problems. The provision of operationally explicit, objective criteria on specific key symptoms might reduce criterion variance as a source of unreliability. In addition, the use of structured interview schedules will ensure that symptoms are assessed in a consistent way across settings. Conclusion/Recommendations: In this article, we specified explicit rules for determining whether critical symptoms meet ME/CFS criteria using a revised Canadian case definition and a questionnaire has been developed to assess core symptoms. It is hoped that these developments will lead to increased reliability of this revised Canadian case definition as well as more frequent use of these criteria by investigators