Inclusion in the Middle School Science Classroom

Chief Justice, Earl Warren, in the Supreme Court decision Brown v. the Board of Education, stated that public education was foundational to good citizenship. Access, therefore, to public education should be upheld by all as a necessary part of development for tomorrow’s citizenry. However, segregation of developmentally challenged students existed well past this famous court decision. This thesis project discusses the impact of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, and subsequent legislation, as it bears on handicapped and disabled children’s access to public education in America. This year-long study examines the LRE (least restrictive educational) placement in the full inclusion classroom. Questions posed include: Is inclusion an effective way of meeting the educational and social needs of students with disabilities? Who are the actual beneficiaries of such a program? Methods of study include a partial review of the academic literature, as well as a case study following the academic and socio-emotional progress of two special education students and their teachers as first-time participants in an inclusion setting. The students in this study participated in a seventh grade life science inclusion class. In addition to interviews with the two students and a review of the cumulative education records, a survey of attitudes toward the inclusion program by all participating students was utilized to demonstrate the benefits of inclusion for all students. The study further describes how the seventh grade life science curriculum lends itself to the practice of inclusion, and the types of modifications made by the participating teachers to the curriculum and materials. Cooperative learning experiences and hands-on activities assisted the students in the case study to function as partners in the classroom. Conclusions drawn from this study support the improvement of student outcomes by inclusion in a general education setting, and of paramount importance, the strong collaboration of the participating teachers in planning and discussion of daily and long-range activities for the class which facilitated joint responsibility for the inclusion program\u27s success. Both academic and social improvements were noted

Novel Common Genetic Susceptibility Loci for Colorectal Cancer

BACKGROUND: Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 42 loci (P < 5 × 10-8) associated with risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Expanded consortium efforts facilitating the discovery of additional susceptibility loci may capture unexplained familial risk. METHODS: We conducted a GWAS in European descent CRC cases and control subjects using a discovery-replication design, followed by examination of novel findings in a multiethnic sample (cumulative n = 163 315). In the discovery stage (36 948 case subjects/30 864 control subjects), we identified genetic variants with a minor allele frequency of 1% or greater associated with risk of CRC using logistic regression followed by a fixed-effects inverse variance weighted meta-analysis. All novel independent variants reaching genome-wide statistical significance (two-sided P < 5 × 10-8) were tested for replication in separate European ancestry samples (12 952 case subjects/48 383 control subjects). Next, we examined the generalizability of discovered variants in East Asians, African Americans, and Hispanics (12 085 case subjects/22 083 control subjects). Finally, we examined the contributions of novel risk variants to familial relative risk and examined the prediction capabilities of a polygenic risk score. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: The discovery GWAS identified 11 variants associated with CRC at P < 5 × 10-8, of which nine (at 4q22.2/5p15.33/5p13.1/6p21.31/6p12.1/10q11.23/12q24.21/16q24.1/20q13.13) independently replicated at a P value of less than .05. Multiethnic follow-up supported the generalizability of discovery findings. These results demonstrated a 14.7% increase in familial relative risk explained by common risk alleles from 10.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.9% to 13.7%; known variants) to 11.9% (95% CI = 9.2% to 15.5%; known and novel variants). A polygenic risk score identified 4.3% of the population at an odds ratio for developing CRC of at least 2.0. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into the architecture of common genetic variation contributing to CRC etiology and improves risk prediction for individualized screenin