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Educator Perceptions of the Disproportionate Experience of African Americans in Special Education

The research question addressed in this capstone is, what are educators’ perceptions of the causes of the disproportionate experience of African Americans in special education? In this study, the author examines educators’ beliefs about two existing racial trends in special education. The first is the over-identification of African American students as candidates in need of special education. The second part of the disproportionate experience is that African American students tend to make less growth than their White peers once receiving services. In this research, the author provides a historical synthesis of the extensive record of disproportionality literature. The capstone includes a qualitative analysis of six interviews of educators across two research sites. Findings suggest that insufficient teacher knowledge, intervention and assessment biases, and cultural discontinuities between home and school environments were reported to have the strongest effect on disproportional outcomes. The author compares and contrasts the perceptions of the teachers and administrators at both school setting and finds that schools serving a higher percentage of African American students more-readily cited systemic factors and intercultural biases when explaining disproportionality. Conversely, schools serving a smaller percentage of African American students were more likely to report that that factors within the school, such as a lack of teachers of color or intervention breakdowns, play a more significant role. Finally, solutions for reducing disproportionality and suggestions for future research are put forth

Integrating HIV Prevention Services into the Clinical Care Setting in Medicaid and Ryan White CARE Act Programs: Legal, Financial, and Organizational Issues

This policy brief examines the structural-level opportunities and challenges associated with the delivery of HIV prevention services in or closely linked to the clinical care setting. It focuses on two of the major public programs for HIV care in the U.S: Medicaid, the nation\u27s major public health program for low-income Americans, and the largest source of public financing for HIV/AIDS care in the U.S.; and the Ryan White CARE Act, the nation\u27s only HIV-specific care and support services grant program which operates as the payer of last resort at the state and local level. Together, these programs provide care and support services to a significant proportion of those at risk for and living with HIV and therefore provide an important focus for assessing current prevention integration practice, identifying strategies to enhance integration, and targeting such efforts

Maximizing Access to Medications through Efficient Use of CARE Act Resources

HRSA\u27s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) contracted with the George Washington University to conduct a series of studies regarding various aspects of HIV medications funding through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, including the Title II-funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program and Title I-funded AIDS Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs. The goal of the studies was to inform HAB regarding (1) opportunities to promote more efficient use of scarce resources for HIV-related medications and (2) policy options that might ensure equitable access to life-saving therapies for low-income people living with HIV (PLWH). The three key issues addressed and the related study questions are shown in Table 1 on page 3. This report summarizes the methods, limitations, major findings, and recommendations of these studies. The contents of this report are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA

Models of OH Maser Variations in U Her

Arecibo spectra of the mainline OH maser emission from U Her over more than a decade show variations of the OH emission over these time scales. These observations are combined with high spatial resolution VLBA maps to investigate the causes of the variations in the velocities of the maser components. Global properties of the dust shell, such as accelerations, variations in the pump and shell-wide magnetic field changes are examined as possibilities, and eliminated. A possible solution to the problem involving plasma turbulence and the local magnetic field is introduced, and the relevant time scales of the turbulence are calculated. The turbulent velocity field yields time scales of the turbulence are calculated. The turbulent velocity field yields time scales that are too long (of order centuries), while the turbulent magnetic field produces variations on appropriate time scales of a few years. A line-of-sight model of the turbulence is developed and investigated. The complete exploration of this solution requires extensive theoretical and observational work. Possible avenues of investigation of the plasma turbulence model are presented.Comment: 23 pages, 17 figures, ApJ: accepted Sept, 199

Can the deployment of community health workers for the delivery of HIV services represent an effective and sustainable response to health workforce shortages? Results of a multicountry study

In countries severely affected by HIV/AIDS, shortages of health workers present a major obstacle to scaling up HIV services. Adopting a task shifting approach for the deployment of community health workers (CHWs) represents one strategy for rapid expansion of the health workforce. This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of CHWs with a focus on identifying the critical elements of an enabling environment that can ensure they provide quality services in a manner that is sustainable. The method of work included a collection of primary data in five countries: Brazil, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, and Uganda. The findings show that delegation of specific tasks to cadres of CHWs with limited training can increase access to HIV services, particularly in rural areas and among underserved communities, and can improve the quality of care for HIV. There is also evidence that CHWs can make a significant contribution to the delivery of a wide range of other health services. The findings also show that certain conditions must be observed if CHWs are to contribute to well-functioning and sustainable service delivery. These conditions involve adequate systems integration with significant attention to: political will and commitment; collaborative planning; definition of scope of practice; selection and educational requirements; registration, licensure and certification; recruitment and deployment; adequate and sustainable remuneration; mentoring and supervision including referral system; career path and continuous education; performance evaluation; supply of equipment and commodities. The study concludes that, where there is the necessary support, the potential contribution of CHWs can be optimized and represents a valuable addition to the urgent expansion of human resources for health, and to universal coverage of HIV services

Comparison of serious inhaler technique errors made by device-naïve patients using three different dry powder inhalers: a randomised, crossover, open-label study

Background: Serious inhaler technique errors can impair drug delivery to the lungs. This randomised, crossover, open-label study evaluated the proportion of patients making predefined serious errors with Pulmojet compared with Diskus and Turbohaler dry powder inhalers. Methods: Patients ≥18 years old with asthma and/or COPD who were current users of an inhaler but naïve to the study devices were assigned to inhaler technique assessment on Pulmojet and either Diskus or Turbohaler in a randomised order. Patients inhaled through empty devices after reading the patient information leaflet. If serious errors potentially affecting dose delivery were recorded, they repeated the inhalations after watching a training video. Inhaler technique was assessed by a trained nurse observer and an electronic inhalation profile recorder. Results: Baseline patient characteristics were similar between randomisation arms for the Pulmojet-Diskus (n = 277) and Pulmojet-Turbohaler (n = 144) comparisons. Non-inferiority in the proportions of patients recording no nurse-observed serious errors was demonstrated for both Pulmojet versus Diskus, and Pulmojet versus Turbohaler; therefore, superiority was tested. Patients were significantly less likely to make ≥1 nurse-observed serious errors using Pulmojet compared with Diskus (odds ratio, 0.31; 95 % CI, 0.19–0.51) or Pulmojet compared with Turbohaler (0.23; 0.12–0.44) after reading the patient information leaflet with additional video instruction, if required. Conclusions These results suggest Pulmojet is easier to learn to use correctly than the Turbohaler or Diskus for current inhaler users switching to a new dry powder inhaler

Protecting biodiversity in British Columbia: Recommendations for developing species at risk legislation

British Columbia has the greatest biological diversity of any province or territory in Canada. Yet increasing numbers of species in British Columbia are threatened with extinction. The current patchwork of provincial laws and regulations has not effectively prevented species declines. Recently, the Provincial Government has committed to enacting an endangered species law. Drawing upon our scientific and legal expertise, we offer recommendations for key features of endangered species legislation that build upon strengths and avoid weaknesses observed elsewhere. We recommend striking an independent Oversight Committee to provide recommendations about listing species, organize Recovery Teams, and monitor the efficacy of actions taken. Recovery Teams would evaluate and prioritize potential actions for individual species or groups of species that face common threats or live in a common area, based on best available evidence (including natural and social science and Indigenous Knowledge). Our recommendations focus on implementing an adaptive approach, with ongoing and transparent monitoring and reporting, to reduce delays between determining when a species is at risk and taking effective actions to save it. We urge lawmakers to include this strong evidentiary basis for species recovery as they tackle the scientific and socioeconomic challenges of building an effective species at risk Act