Three Buckets and Eight Strategies: Recruiting, Supporting, and Retaining a Racially Diverse Special Education Teacher Workforce

Cultivating a racially diverse special education teacher workforce is critical to the success of students with disabilities, particularly students of color with disabilities. We examine the literature and provide suggestions for recruiting, supporting, and retaining special education teacher candidates of color. Specifically, we present a vignette that highlights the decision-making process of a Black male on a journey to become a special education teacher. We propose recruitment strategies (e.g., anti-racist mission and vision statements), support strategies (e.g., racial affinity groups), and retention strategies (e.g., adopting anti-racist curriculum) that Institutions of Higher Education must consider to promote efforts to diversify the special education teacher workforce

Universal Design for Transition: A Conceptual Framework for Blending Academics and Transition Instruction

This theoretical paper comprised the development of a conceptual framework for blending academic and transition content to help members of the special education field meet both the academic and transition needs of students with disabilities, including students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The current conceptual framework was used to explain how the components from Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and transition are blended to create the Universal Design for Transition (UDT) framework, which is a guide for implementing and promoting barrier-free transitions. In the current study, the final conceptual framework included multiple components that use the following UDL academic principles: (a) multiple means of representation, (b) multiple means of expression, and (c) multiple means of engagement. The UDL concept of barrier-free learning was combined with the transition-based principles of: (a) multiple life domains, (b) multiple means of assessment, (c) self- determination, and (d) multiple resources and perspectives, to form the UDT conceptual framework. Implications and planning for future research regarding the UDT framework are discussed

Effect of varying crude protein levels on spawning frequency and growth of Sarotherodon niloticus breeders

Four-month-old S. niloticus breeders were fed with dry pellets containing 20-50% crude protein and the frequency of spawning involving removal of egg from the mouthbrooding females and growth were determined. When the diets contain high quality proteins from fish meal and soybean oil meal and the amounts of daily food allowance are at satiation level, the influence of increasing dietary crude protein on spawning frequency involving egg removal from the brooder and growth may not be significant

Understanding COVID-19 risks and vulnerabilities among black communities in America: the lethal force of syndemics

Black communities in the United States are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic and the underlying conditions that exacerbate its negative consequences. Syndemic theory provides a useful framework for understanding how such interacting epidemics develop under conditions of health and social disparity. Multiple historical and present-day factors have created the syndemic conditions within which black Americans experience the lethal force of COVID-19. These factors include racism and its manifestations (e.g., chattel slavery, mortgage redlining, political gerrymandering, lack of Medicaid expansion, employment discrimination, and health care provider bias). Improving racial disparities in COVID-19 will require that we implement policies that address structural racism at the root of these disparities

Freshwater prawn research at SEAFDEC/AQD

The Philippines lags behind Thailand and Indonesia as far as research and commercial production of the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium sp., are concerned. Although studies on Macrobrachium sp. (or ulang as it is locally known), started at the Binangonan Freshwater Station of SEAFDEC/AQD in the mid-1980’s, research efforts were discontinued soon thereafter because of a) inadequate technical skills; b) problems with larval rearing and the domestication of wild stocks; and among others, c) the Macrobrachium sp. being considered in the Philippines as a low priority species in contrast to commercially important freshwater commodities like tilapia and milkfish. This was two decades ago and in retrospect, had researches continued, the freshwater prawn in the Philippines could have been successfully domesticated and current problems concerning limited aquaculture production of genetically depauperate non-indigenous stocks could have been resolved. With the renewed interest in the culture of alternative species like the freshwater prawn, researchers at the Binangonan Freshwater Station started to conduct some studies on the refinement of breeding, larval rearing and culture of Macrobrachium rosenbergii in late 2003. These studies are briefly described here

Comparing Special Education Teachers’ Personality Profile With Their Choice to Teach

Researchers have yet to examine the association of Holland personality profiles as it relates to special education teachers. In response to this need, we report the personality and vocational profiles (Holland Codes) of 134 special education teachers across a special education training program. The purpose of this paper is to summarize findings from the Self-Directed Search measure commonly used to assess the personality of participants in an occupation and suggest implications for participants’ choice in becoming a special education teacher. Our focus was on personality match with vocational choice to include participants’ demographic (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, and geographical location) profile. Findings from the study reveal that while special educators’ overall personality profile is congruent with the Holland Codes associated with special education teachers, other features may explain participants’ choice to pursue a career as a special education teacher. Implications for teacher preparation programs and K-12 schools training are recommended based on the research findings

Association of IGF1 and KDM5A polymorphisms with performance, fatness and carcass traits in chickens

Two functional and positional candidate genes were selected in a region of chicken chromosome 1 (GGA1), based on their biological roles, and also where several quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been mapped and associated with performance, fatness and carcass traits in chickens. The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene has been associated with several physiological functions related to growth. The lysine (K)-specific demethylase 5A (KDM5A) gene participates in the epigenetic regulation of genes involved with the cell cycle. Our objective was to find associations of selected single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in these genes with performance, fatness and carcass traits in 165 F chickens from a resource population. In the IGF1 gene, 17 SNPs were detected, and in the KDM5A gene, nine SNPs were detected. IGF1 SNP c. 47673G > A was associated with body weight and haematocrit percentage, and also with feed intake and percentages of abdominal fat and gizzard genotype × sex interactions. KDM5A SNP c. 34208C > T genotype × sex interaction affected body weight, feed intake, percentages of abdominal fat (p = 0. 0001), carcass, gizzard and haematocrit. A strong association of the diplotype × sex interaction (p < 0. 0001) with abdominal fat was observed, and also associations with body weight, feed intake, percentages of carcass, drums and thighs, gizzard and haematocrit. Our findings suggest that the KDM5A gene might play an important role in the abdominal fat deposition in chickens. The IGF1 and KDM5A genes are strong candidates to explain the QTL mapped in this region of GGA1

Perspectives of autistic students and their teachers on self-determination and peer support

Autistic students may need individualized supports to meet their academic, social, and self-determination needs in inclusive classrooms. However, few evidence-based interventions have been developed to provide these supports for autistic adolescents, and little is known about the perceptions of autistic youth about these interventions in use in high schools. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of autistic students and their teachers on self-determination and peer support, as well as their thoughts about two evidence-based interventions used in their classroom settings: the Self-Determined Learning Model of Instruction and Peer Supports. An overall theme of empowerment was identified from student and teacher data collected across the interventions, which highlighted the importance of enabling students to access these interventions in inclusive environments. Autistic students experienced growth in understanding their identity and role as students, peers, and learners, and many felt empowered to set and achieve goals important to their future success. Teachers noted increased self-confidence and assertiveness in students pursuing their goals, highlighting the need for inclusive interventions that address positive in-school and post-school outcomes for secondary autistic students

Not as Systematic as Maybe I\u27d Like It to Be : Special Education Administrators\u27 Professional Development Planning for Teachers of Students with ASD

• Federal mandates require special education teachers to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs) to support student learning to the extent practical. There are 28 identified EBPs specifically designed for teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). • Preparing special education teachers to implement EBPs with fidelity remains a challenge. Planning and executing professional development (PD) targeting EBPs is typically a role assumed by special education administrators. • This qualitative phenomenological research study examines special education administrators\u27 capacity to develop and implement effective PD around EBPs identified for students with ASD. • Findings suggest special education administrators are committed to improving classroom-based application of EBPs specific to meeting the unique needs of students with ASD through collaborative efforts. Challenges exist related to the gap between knowledge and practice and the duality of systems in education

The Developmental Dynamics of Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties of Youth of Color: Systemic Oppression, Correlated Constraints, and the Need for Targeted Universalism

In this introduction to the special series, we examine the emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color from a dynamic developmental, ecological systems perspective. Building on the concepts of the child-in-context, correlated constraints, systemic oppression, and the malleability of maladaptive patterns, we argue that current research approaches and intervention frameworks (e.g., Multitiered Systems of Support, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support) are centered on the experiences and circumstances of youth from majority backgrounds. This creates a context in which the emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color reflect a continuum of services casualty in which routine daily supports, interventions, and services are not aligned with their developmental needs and their corresponding pathways to success. There is a need to establish a targeted-universalism approach in which interventions and supports are centered on the daily functioning and adaptation of underrepresented groups. We discuss how a tiered system of adaptive supports may be designed and implemented to address this need