Development and Use of Curricular Adaptations for Students Receiving Special Education Services

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The published version can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022466912464782This study is a quasi-experimental descriptive design, with existing educator-made adaptations evaluated. The goals of this study were to (a) describe how educators develop adaptations and (b) evaluate the effectiveness of educator-made adaptations in facilitating the learning of students with disabilities. Findings suggest that (a) most adaptations were made in core general education classes; (b) experienced educators created more simplified curricular adaptations, whereas novice educators created more functional alternative adaptations; (c) educators are generally satisfied with the adaptation they have created and believe it was effective in teaching the student; (d) educators spent on average 59.1 min creating the adaptation; (e) educators in rural areas and novice educators provided adaptations that were rated lower in quality and clarity than experienced and urban educators; and (f) general education teachers provided adaptations that were of lower quality and clarity than special education teachers and paraeducators. Recommendations for practice are provided

Place and Destination Branding: A Review and Conceptual Mapping of the Domain

Although there is increasing interest in place and destination branding, the inter‐disciplinary nature of the field poses challenges for the development of a coherent knowledge base. With a view to informing both research and practice, this article presents a systematic review combining place and destination branding, identifying and defining its core themes, and developing a conceptual map of the inter‐play between them. The following key themes are identified: general, brand identity, image and personality, politics, heritage, communication/media, country‐of‐ origin, and designscape and infrastructure. The article concludes with an agenda for further research including the need for research on specific themes across a wider range of place entities

I’ve Changed, I’m Smarter: Empowering Youth to Thrive Neurosequential Approach to Employment, Education and Training Outcomes for Youth

This paper explores the impact of a neurosequential brain development approach on employment, education and training outcomes of vulnerable long-term unemployed youth, aged 15-24 years. The Empowering Youth to Thrive (EYTT) program utilises neuroscience research, which underpin varied creative and sensory and regulatory experiences used to engage youth in social and emotional learning. The aim is to enhance brain pathways to increase youth’s higher order thinking functions such as problem solving, communication and critical thinking skills. These are considered necessary attributes for positive engagement in the current and future workforce. A bricolage methodology was used to evaluate the impact of the program, with findings determining the EYTT program had benefits for participants in gaining successful training, education and/or employment opportunities

Elliptical Subject Specific model for respiratory motion

Respiratory motion of the heart poses a problem for high resolution cardiac MR imaging. Prospective slice following uses the navigator position immediately prior to the imaging segment to correct the slice positions throughout the segment [1]. The navigator is typically placed over the right hemi-diaphragm and a fixed correction factor is used to adjust for the difference to the motion of the heart. The relationship between the motion of the heart and the superior-inferior motion of the diaphragm is approximately linear although highly subject specific, with an element of hysteresis [2]. We investigated a more complex model to incorporate non rigid transformation of the heart as well as hysteresis