A survey of state educational agencies on criteria for providing related services as mandated by Public Law 94-142 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The related services component of P.L. 94-142 has been one of the most difficult features in providing a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for eligible handicapped students and it continues to be a persistent challenge. Related services have been a fertile area of disagreements between school personnel and parents because of the high cost of providing some services, and because of parents\u27 requests for a variety of services, not necessarily within the intent of the law, to be provided at public expense. Issues involving related services have primarily focused on availability, service delivery models ensuring fiscal efficiency, compliance and legality. One area which has yet to be examined is the availability of criteria to guide school personnel in determining whether special education students are eligible for specific related services.;The purpose of this study is to investigate the availability of criteria for providing related services to special education students by surveying all state educational agencies and the District of Columbia. Directors of special education were requested to complete a survey instrument and provide a copy of their state eligibility criteria for related services.;The analysis of survey responses and the examination of selected eligibility criteria resulted in the following findings: (a) only one state has developed eligibility criteria for all related services as defined under P.L. 94-142; available criteria were most prevalent for speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, (b) variations exist among states in the practice of providing related services and (c) available eligibility criteria differ from state to state in terms of specificity. Recommendations for consideration by educational agencies on the issue of eligibility criteria are also provided

Radial Distributions of Coronal Electron Temperatures: specificities of the DYN model

This paper is a follow up of the article where Lemaire and Stegen (2016) introduced their DYN method to calculate coronal temperature profiles from given radial distributions of the coronal and solar wind (SW) electron densities. Several such temperature profiles are calculated and presented corresponding to a set of given empirical density models derived from eclipse observations and in-situ measurements of the electron density and bulk velocity at 1 AU. The DYN temperature profiles obtained for the equatorial and polar regions of the corona challenge the results deduced since 1958 from singular hydrodynamical models of the SW. In these models - where the expansion velocity transits through a singular saddle point - the maximum coronal temperature is predicted to be located at the base of the corona, while in all DYN models the altitude of the maximum temperature is found at significantly higher altitudes in the mid-corona. Furthermore, the maximum of the DYN-estimated temperatures is found at much higher altitudes over the polar regions and coronal holes, than over the equator. However, at low altitudes, in the inner corona, the DYN temperatures are always smaller at high latitudes, than at low equatorial latitudes. This appears well in agreement with existing coronal hole observations. These findings have serious implications on the open questions: what is the actual source of the coronal heating, and where is the maximum energy deposited within the solar corona?Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to the Solar Physics journa

Characteristics and Attitudes of Pre-Service Teachers toward Individuals with Mental Illness

Mental health in children and adults has always been a controversial topic, however, recent mass shootings in schools have heightened the concern of many and raise questions for how to interact with the mentally ill.  Schools, have the capacity to be one of the key stakeholders in delivering services to students with mental health concerns, therefore it is critical to understand the dispositions of teachers toward these students to ensure that they understand the needs of these students. The purpose of this study is to examine specific characteristic of preservice teachers’ attitudes towards individuals with mental illnesses. The study sample consisted of 173 preservice teachers enrolled in a four-year teacher education program at a public research university located in the southeastern United States.  Results indicated that four demographic variables contributed to preservice teacher’s attitudes on the Community Attitudes toward Mental Illness (CAMI) measure and its various subscales: political orientation, knowing someone with a mental illness, and believing ADHD and ASD were mental illnesses.  Implications for future research are discussed. Keywords: Mental health, teacher preparation, emotional disturbance, EB

Individualized Education Programs and Special Education Programming for Students with Disabilities in Urban Schools

This Article examines the individualized education program (IEP) requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and presents a method for improving the education of students with disabilities in urban settings by appropriately developing IEPs. Part I considers the unique problems facing special education in urban school districts. Part II presents an overview of the IDEA and its requirement that school districts provide students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Part III examines the components of an IEP and the process for developing students’ IEPs------the key vehicle for providing a FAPE. Part IV outlines a process for developing educationally meaningful and legally sound IEPs for students with disabilities. Finally, Part V discusses the important issues in professional development for ensuring that urban school district personnel understand their responsibilities in crafting IEPs

The application of a Trous wave filtering and Monte Carlo analysis on SECIS 2001 solar eclipse observations

8000 images of the Solar corona were captured during the June 2001 total Solar eclipse. New software for the alignment of the images and an automated technique for detecting intensity oscillations using multi scale wavelet analysis were developed. Large areas of the images covered by the Moon and the upper corona were scanned for oscillations and the statistical properties of the atmospheric effects were determined. The a Trous wavelet transform was used for noise reduction and Monte Carlo analysis as a significance test of the detections. The effectiveness of those techniques is discussed in detail.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Solar Physics Journal for publication in Topical Issue: "Frontiers in Solar Image Processing

The detection of ultra-relativistic electrons in low Earth orbit

Aims. To better understand the radiation environment in low Earth orbit (LEO), the analysis of in-situ observations of a variety of particles, at different atmospheric heights, and in a wide range of energies, is needed. Methods. We present an analysis of energetic particles, indirectly detected by the Large Yield RAdiometer (LYRA) instrument on board ESA's Project for On-board Autonomy 2 (PROBA2) satellite as background signal. Combining Energetic Particle Telescope (EPT) observations with LYRA data for an overlapping period of time, we identified these particles as electrons with an energy range of 2 to 8 MeV. Results. The observed events are strongly correlated to geo-magnetic activity and appear even during modest disturbances. They are also well confined geographically within the L=4-6 McIlwain zone, which makes it possible to identify their source. Conclusions. Although highly energetic particles are commonly perturbing data acquisition of space instruments, we show in this work that ultra-relativistic electrons with energies in the range of 2-8 MeV are detected only at high latitudes, while not present in the South Atlantic Anomaly region.Comment: Topical Issue: Flares, CMEs and SEPs and their space weather impacts; 20 pages; 7 figures; Presented during 13th European Space Weather Week, 201

Using Smart Phone Technology to Improve Daily Living Skills for Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Background Individuals with intellectual disabilities need continued supports in completing daily living tasks to increase the likelihood of achieving independence. Fortunately, research has shown that assistive technology, and particularly video prompting helps support independent living for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Aims This study investigated the efficacy of a highly customizable task analysis smartphone application in assisting three young adults with intellectual disabilities learn how to cook three different multistep recipes. Materials & Methods Three young adults with intellectual disabilities enrolled in a four-year postsecondary education program (PSE) participated in a multiple probe design across participants to examine the effect of a Task Analysis app on the participants\u27 completion of three cooking tasks. Results In this present study, the use of video prompting to teach a daily living skill resulted in large and meaningful effect size gains of 99%–100% for all three participants, as measured by Tau-U. Discussion Video prompting is an effective instructional strategy which allows the user to self-prompt and manage their ability to successfully complete daily living skills. In this current study, video prompting made a substantial difference in the safety of participants. Conclusion The use of video prompting can decrease the reliance on others (e.g., teachers and caregivers), improve self-confidence of the user, and improve the user\u27s level of autonomy