Independent Educational Evaluations as Issues of Dispute in Special Education Due Process Hearings

This study examined the pertinent details and outcomes of special education due process hearings (n = 100) that addressed independent educational evaluations as an issue of dispute in a 14-state sample. Variables related to the frequency of these cases, the characteristics of students involved, the specific types of IEEs requested, and the other related issues and outcomes were coded and analyzed. Psycho-educational evaluations were addressed in the most due process hearings, followed by speech-language evaluations, and neuro-psychological evaluations. Statistically significant associations were identified between states regarding a) the extent to which IEEs are issues of dispute in due process hearings, b) the prevailing parties in these hearings, and c) the types of legal representation used by parents. Recommendations for policy, practice, and additional research related to IEEs and special education due process hearings are discussed

Examining the Preparedness of Educational Diagnosticians in Texas

This study examined the extent to which educational diagnosticians in Texas perceived their certification program prepared them with the professional knowledge recommended by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Advanced Preparation Standards Specialty Set: Special Education Diagnostician Specialist (CEC, 2015). A total of 113 currently practicing educational diagnosticians in Texas responded to a 28-item survey based on the CEC standards for educational diagnosticians. Participants reported being less prepared to meet standards related to collaboration, vocational and assessment measures, behavior assessment measures, and language assessment measures. Diagnosticians working in urban school districts reported lower levels of preparation as compared to those working in suburban and rural school districts on standards related to assessment. Recommendations for educator preparation programs for educational diagnosticians are discussed

Engendering Empathy in Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Background: Recent nursing research suggests that empathy in nursing students actually declines as students progress through their nursing program of study; with the lowest levels of empathy observed in nursing students with the most clinical experience. Objective: This study explored the effect of an elective nursing course about the many dimensions of human suffering on empathy in baccalaureate nursing students. Methods: The pre-test/posttest design was repeated five times over five years. Results: Despite previous evidence that suggests that empathy declines during nursing education, in this study undergraduate nursing students scored higher on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, Nursing Student Version R after completing the course. In addition these positive findings were replicated consistently over a five year period. Collectively students scored about seven points higher after completing the course (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In an era when communication is technologically driven, nursing curricula requirements abound, and nursing students are focused on high stakes testing, the need for nurse educators to focus on engendering empathy may be more important than ever. Excerpts and exercises from the course that may have contributed to the study findings are included

An Analysis of Cattell-Horn-Carroll Cognitive Abilities Relating to Academic Achievement among Students in Grades First through Fifth

Relations between cognitive abilities and areas of achievement were analyzed in a review of archival data study. The participants in this study were students from grades 1 through 5 who were referred for an initial psycho-educational evaluation due to academic concerns by their school staff or by their parents and were identified as students with a Specific Learning Disability. Subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ III COG) and the Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de habilidades cognitivas (Batería III COG) and Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ III ACH) and Batería III Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de aprovechamiento (Batería III ACH) were analyzed for their contribution to basic reading, reading comprehension, math calculation, math reasoning, and written expression ability. The present study examined 684 records of student who met the inclusion criteria. The participants included 386 males (56.4%) and 298 females (43.6%). The ethnic distribution of the sample was: Hispanic (n = 470, 68.7%), African American (n = 200, 29.2%), and White (n = 14, 2.0%). Students included in this study were enrolled in grades 1 (6.3%), 2 (19%), 3 (25.9%), 4 (28.5%), and 5 (20.3%). Students identified as Limited English Proficient accounted for 46.2% of the sample. Multiple regressions were used to examine cognitive and achievement relations. Results indicated that the best predictors for Basic Reading for students assessed in English were Associative Memory (MA), Phonetic Coding 1 (PC), and Perceptual Speed 1 (P) and for students assessed in Spanish were Working Memory (MW), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), and Lexical Knowledge (VL). Results indicated that the best predictors for Reading Comprehension for students assessed in English were Associative Memory (MA), Lexical Knowledge (VL), Phonetic Coding 1 (PC), and Memory Span (MS) and in Spanish were Lexical Knowledge (VL), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), Associative Memory (MA), and Phonetic Coding1 (PC). Results indicated that the best predictors for Math Calculation for students assessed in English when controlling for LEP were Perceptual Speed 1 (P), General Sequential Reasoning (RG), Perceptual Speed 2 (P), Ideational Fluency (FI), Visualization (Vz), and Lexical Knowledge (VL) and in Spanish were Working Memory (MW), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), and Visualization (Vz). Results indicated that the best predictors for Math Reasoning for students assessed in English when controlling for LEP were General Sequential Reasoning (RG) Lexical Knowledge (VL), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), Visualization (Vz), Working Memory (MW), and Phonetic Coding 1 (PC) and in Spanish were Lexical Knowledge (VL), Working Memory (MW), Visual Memory (MV), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), and General Sequential Reasoning (RG). Results indicated that the best predictors for Written Expression for students assessed in English when controlling for LEP were Lexical Knowledge (VL), Perceptual Speed 1 (P), Phonetic Coding 1 (PC), Associative Memory (MA), and General Sequential Reasoning (RG) and in Spanish were Perceptual Speed 1 (P), Phonetic Coding 1 (PC), Associative Memory (MA), and General Sequential Reasoning (RG). Moreover, the predictive worth of cognitive abilities on academic outcomes is evidenced by the significant relations between cognitive variables and academic factors in a sample of students with learning disabilities.Educational Psychology, Department o

United States Geological Survey Reports

From Abstract: "The following report is essentially a description of the mineral deposits that have been found in this region and of the status of mining in 1933.

United States Geological Survey Reports

From introduction: The present report states the results of an exploratory survey of the Kaiyuh Hills during the summer of 1934

United States Geological Survey Reports

From introduction: The present report aims to supply additional information regarding the Tertiary deposits, which are the source of most of the gold placers now being worked in that part of the Eagle-Circle district lying south of the Yukon River. The work was conducted from base camps along the river, but the belt of Tertiary rocks is at places as much as 20 miles from the Yukon, so that it is not easily accessible from the river except in the vicinity of mining camps, where roads or trails have been constructed southward

United States Geological Survey Bulletin 813-C

Introduction: At the end of the field season the writer visited the mining plants in the Fortymile district, and this paper, resulting from these examinations, is intended mainly to sketch the present progress of mining development in the district