Paraprofessional Training: Working with Students with Disabilities

The purpose of this literature review is to discuss current research related to paraprofessional training. According to Villa, Thousand, Nevin, and Malgeri (1996), paraprofessionals are an integral part of the inclusion of students with disabilities into the general education setting. The general education setting and curriculum can be defined as the place and content that students without disabilities receive and have access to in schools. Therefore, paraprofessionals require appropriate training and ongoing supports to help facilitate success of students with disabilities who access the general education curriculum (Villa et al., 1996). In order for students with disabilities to reach their greatest potential, school leaders must analyze the literature related to supports of students included in the general education setting to ensure that the supports in place are adequate and appropriate to maximize opportunities for success

Determining Effective Leadership Competencies of School-based Administrators Overseeing Special Education Programs Within Virginia Public Schools

The effective leadership of special education programs is an essential component in providing students with disabilities access to a free and appropriate public education. Special education administrators are responsible for ensuring that special education programs are provided and that special education law is followed in order for students with disabilities to access a free and appropriate public education. Perceptions of competencies needed for the effective leadership of special education programs were similar between the participant groups in a state-wide survey. In addition, training experiences had an impact on the self-reported proficiency levels of competencies rated by school-based special education administrators

A Legal Update on Environmental Justice in Virginia: Where are We Now?

Environmental justice (“EJ”) is rapidly evolving in Virginia while people are still trying to understand what EJ actually means. As a result, regulators are unsure of how to incorporate environmental justice in their decisionmaking process while the regulated are uncertain of how to proceed in the ever-changing political, social, and regulatory landscape. This article gives an overview of EJ’s evolution in Virginia, synthesizing notable environmental justice legal decisions; providing supplementary research on environmental justice studies, workgroups, and reports; and offering several predictions on EJ’s fate in the Commonwealth

The Role of Functional Skills Instruction

Functional skills, according to Cronin (1996), are the tasks that help individuals become successful and independent adults. Vandercook (1991) stated, “a true functional skill is one that is initiated, used, and maintained under typical circumstances” (p. 320). Functional skills are often taught in conjunction with functional academics. Bouck and Joshi (2012) defined functional academics as an approach to teach “students the skills to help them be productive members of society and support post school outcomes” (p. 140). Functional academics may include “core subject content, vocational education, community access, daily living, personal finance, independent living, transportation, social skills and relationships, and selfdetermination” (Bouck & Joshi, 2012, p. 140). This article will discuss functional academics as it relates to successful transitions into adulthood through literacy, social skills, selfdetermination, and community involvement instruction

Altimetry-Based Diagnosis of Deep-Reaching Sub-Mesoscale Ocean Fronts

Recent studies demonstrate that energetic sub-mesoscale fronts (10–50 km width) extend in the ocean interior, driving large vertical velocities and associated fluxes. However, diagnosing the dynamics of these deep-reaching fronts from in situ observations remains challenging because of the lack of information on the 3-D structure of the horizontal velocity. Here, a realistic numerical simulation in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is used to study the dynamics of submesocale fronts in relation to velocity gradients, responsible for the formation of these fronts. Results highlight that the stirring properties of the flow at depth, which are related to the velocity gradients, can be inferred from finite-size Lyapunov exponent (FSLE) at the surface. Satellite altimetry observations of FSLE and velocity gradients are then used in combination with recent in situ observations collected by an elephant seal in the ACC to reconstruct frontal dynamics and their associated vertical velocities down to 500 m. The approach proposed here is well suited for the analysis of sub-mesoscale-resolving datasets and the design of future sub-mesoscale field campaigns

MAO: a Multiple Alignment Ontology for nucleic acid and protein sequences

The application of high-throughput techniques such as genomics, proteomics or transcriptomics means that vast amounts of heterogeneous data are now available in the public databases. Bioinformatics is responding to the challenge with new integrated management systems for data collection, validation and analysis. Multiple alignments of genomic and protein sequences provide an ideal environment for the integration of this mass of information. In the context of the sequence family, structural and functional data can be evaluated and propagated from known to unknown sequences. However, effective integration is being hindered by syntactic and semantic differences between the different data resources and the alignment techniques employed. One solution to this problem is the development of an ontology that systematically defines the terms used in a specific domain. Ontologies are used to share data from different resources, to automatically analyse information and to represent domain knowledge for non-experts. Here, we present MAO, a new ontology for multiple alignments of nucleic and protein sequences. MAO is designed to improve interoperation and data sharing between different alignment protocols for the construction of a high quality, reliable multiple alignment in order to facilitate knowledge extraction and the presentation of the most pertinent information to the biologist

Engagement with care, substance use, and adherence to therapy in HIV/AIDS

Engagement with care for those living with HIV is aimed at establishing a strong relationship between patients and their health care provider and is often associated with greater adherence to therapy and treatment (Flickinger, Saha, Moore, and Beach, 2013). Substance use behaviors are linked with lower rates of engagement with care and medication adherence (Horvath, Carrico, Simoni, Boyer, Amico, and Petroli, 2013). This study is a secondary data analysis using a cross-sectional design from a larger randomized controlled trial (n = 775) that investigated the efficacy of a self-care symptom management manual for participants living with HIV. Participants were recruited from countries of Africa and the US. This study provides evidence that substance use is linked with lower self-reported engagement with care and adherence to therapy. Data on substance use and engagement are presented. Clinical implications of the study address the importance of utilizing health care system and policy factors to improve engagement with care