The Impact of the MTSS Framework on Special Education Referral Rates and Eligibility for Specific Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to examine the effect of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework on special education referral rates and the eligibility of special education services in the category of specific learning disability at two elementary schools. This study also investigates educator perceptions of the impact the MTSS framework has had on special education referral rates and eligibility. Archival quantitative data on the special education referral rates and eligibility rates in the area of specific learning disability from 2009-2010 to the 2017- 2018 school year were collected from the statewide special education database. Qualitative data regarding teacher perceptions were collected using focus groups and interviews of classroom teachers, interventionists, and special education teachers. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, and a priori codes were used in analyzing the qualitative data. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed that special education referral rates and eligibility rates for specific learning disabilities increased at Schools A and B after MTSS implementation in 2009. Themes emerged from the qualitative data to address the research questions. One theme that emerged is educators perceived that special education referral and eligibility rates have decreased as a result of the MTSS framework. In addition, educators believed they have become better classroom teachers as a result of the MTSS framework. Educators also noted frustration with the frequent changes in MTSS that are implemented at the district and state levels. Finally, educators did not understand how the MTSS framework and RTI model work together

Children are Different: The Need For Reform of Virginia\u27s Juvenile Transfer Laws

In Virginia, there are three ways that a juvenile can be sent to the adult criminal justice system: discretionary waiver, certification (direct file), and mandatory waiver through transfer and certification, but they are no ways to be sent back to the juvenile criminal justice system if that would be more appropriate. Once a juvenile enters the adult criminal justice system, they are subject to more significant sentences and collateral consequences. This increased punishment is counterproductive because, as the Supreme Court recognized in Roper, Graham, and Miller, juveniles are less culpable for the crimes they commit and more likely to be rehabilitated when placed in a juvenile justice facility. Therefore, Virginia should reform their juvenile transfer laws in order to effectuate the purposes outlined in Roper, Graham, and Miller. This paper suggests that Virginia can do so by abolishing direct file and mandatory waiver outright, allowing for reverse waivers in all cases, and raising the appropriate age of transfer

An analysis of job placement variables of foreign national Master of Business Administration (MBA) students

Foreign national (international) students studying business at universities in the United States gain a valuable education, but they have a very difficult time finding work in the U.S because of a variety of cultural, communication, and employment visa issues. Campus career centers need to address the unique needs and concerns of their international student population in order to most effectively assist this select group in their job search. The purpose of this study was to examine the job placement variables of international students graduating from MBA programs across the United States in the 2001 class. A thorough review of the literature summarized the adjustment challenges facing international students, career services, and the job search challenges for international MBA students in particular. Data from 2570 international MBA students were examined to see whether there were differences in post-graduation jobs based on the students?? country of origin, years of work experience prior to the MBA program, and undergraduate major. The dependent variables examined were the base salary of the post-MBA job, the amount of signing bonus, the functional area of the student??s employment, the industry of the employer, and the geographic location of the new job. This study found that students from the North American region earned slightly higher salaries than students from Asia, and that European, North American and South American students received slightly higher signing bonuses than Asian students. The international students entered into similar functions and industries regardless of their country of origin. The majority of students, regardless of country of origin, stayed in the U.S. for employment. There was a direct correlation found between the number of years of prior work experience and the base salary of the student. Students with an undergraduate major in technology earned slightly higher salaries and signing bonuses. The results of this study will assist MBA career services professionals in how they counsel their international students in the job search and salary negotiations. The results may also assist MBA admissions professionals in deciding who to admit to their programs, as placement results are important measures of an MBA program??s success

Increasing Participation in the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System Registration Among Western North Carolina Nurse Practitioners

The misuse of prescription drugs for non-medical purposes is a risk to public health and safety. The rates of misuse and diversion of prescription drugs have nearly doubled since the 1990s. This project explored the importance of educating Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in North Carolina (NC) regarding the registration and utilization of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System (NCCSRS). This reporting system was designed to identify and prevent diversion and to reduce morbidity and mortality of unintentional drug overdoses among primary care patients. A website was developed to showcase the multiple benefits and encourage registration and utilization of the NCCSRS among NPs in NC. Postcards were mailed to 495 NPs in 26 counties in Western North Carolina with the intention of increasing registration with the NCCSRS. A pre-registration count of the midlevel practitioners registered with the NCCSRS was obtained prior to the website being posted and then after a three month period a post-registration count was obtained. This scholarly project has the potential to increase the number of Nurse Practitioners practicing in Western North Carolina registered with the North Carolina Controlled Substances Reporting System through online education

Applications Of Wearable Sensors In Delivering Biologically Relevant Signals

With continued advancements in wearable technologies, the applications for their use are growing. Wearable sensors can be found in smart watches, fitness trackers, and even our cellphones. The common applications in everyday life are usually step counting, activity tracking, and heart rate monitoring. However, researchers have developed ways to use these similar sensors for clinically relevant diagnostic measures, as well as, improved athletic training and performance. Two areas of interest for the use of wearable sensors are mental health diagnostics in children and heart rate monitoring during intense physical activity from new locations, which are discussed further in this thesis. About 20% of children will experience an anxiety or depressive disorder. These disorders, if left untreated, can lead to comorbidity, substance abuse, and even suicide. Current methods for diagnosis are time consuming and only offered to those most at risk (i.e., reported or referred by a teacher, doctor, or parent). For the children that do get referred to a specialist, the process is often inaccurate. Researchers began using mood induction task to observe behavioral responses to specific stimuli in hopes to improve the accuracy of diagnostics. However, these methods involve long hours of training and watching videos of the activities. Recently, a few studies have focused on using wearable sensors during mood induction tasks in hopes to pick up on relevant movements to distinguish those with and without an internalizing disorder. The first study presented in this thesis focuses on using wearable inertial measurement units during the ‘Bubbles’ mood induction task. A decision tree was developed to identify children with internalizing disorders, accuracy of this model was 71% based on leave-one-subject-out cross validation. The second study focuses on estimating heart rate using wearable photoplethysmography sensors at multiple body locations. Heart rate is an important vital sign used across a variety of contexts. For example, athletes use heart rate to determine whether they are hitting their desired heart rate zones during training and doctors can use heart rate as an early indicator of disease. With the advancements made in wearables, photoplethysmography can now be used to collect signals from devices anywhere on the body. However, estimating heart rate accurately during periods of intense physical activity remains a challenge due to signal corruption cause by motion artifacts. This study focuses on evaluating algorithms for accurately estimating heart rate from photoplethysmograms and determining the optimal body location for wear. A phase vocoder and Wiener filtering approach was used to estimate heart rate from the forearm, shank, and sacrum. The algorithm estimated heart rate to within 6.2 6.9, and 6.7 beats per minute average absolute error for the forearm, shank, and sacrum, respectively, across a wide variety of physical activities selected to induce varying levels of motion artifact

Perinatal Lung Development: The Lung at Birth

The successful transition from liquid to air breathing at birth is essential in mammalian lung development and the primary biological role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. At this moment, the lung experiences a major environmental change in oxygen tension as the fluid that filled this organ in utero (pO2 ∼26) is rapidly replaced with ambient air during the first few breaths (pO2 ∼150). This change induces oxidant stress in the lung which is balanced by antioxidant genes that are induced in the late gestational fetal lung to protect against injury. These antioxidant genes impact distinct antioxidant molecules, including glutathione, which can regulate the level of redox stress in lung cells. Cells, such as the alveolar macrophage, are central for host defense and surfactant homeostasis at the newly established air-liquid surface. Yet they are prone to dysfunction with excessive oxidant stress and the newborn lung is susceptible to infection. And yet the rise in alveolar oxygen tension can also serve as a physiologic redox signal that initiates expression of genes that regulate postnatal lung development. Taken together, birth can be viewed as a natural experiment with hyperoxia where the birth process itself serves as an integrator for that level of redox stress that limits lung injury while activating genes required for postnatal lung development

The effect on the viscosity, bacterial flora, and quality of the resulting ice cream when the ice cream mixture is re-emulsified, reviscolized, or re-homogenized

Publication authorized May 3, 1925.Digitized 2007 AES.Includes bibliographical references (pages 21-22)

Evaluation of the role of P-glycoprotein in ivermectin uptake by primary cultures of bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells

The P-glycoprotein efflux system located on the apical membrane of brain capillary endothelial cells functions as part of the blood-brain barrier. In this study, primary cultures of bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells (BMECs) were investigated for the presence of a P-glycoprotein system and its contribution in regulating ivermectin distribution across the blood-brain barrier. Results of rhodamine 123 uptake studies with cyclosporin A and verapamil as substrates indicated that a functional efflux system was present on BMECs. Immunoblot analysis with the C219 monoclonal antibody to the product of the multidrug resistant member 1(MDR1) gene also confirmed the expression of MDR1 in the BMECs. Unbound ivermectin was shown to significantly increase the uptake of rhodamine 123 in BMECs, however, the drug only modestly enhanced the transcellular passage of rhodamine. The results of these studies affirmed that unbound ivermectin is an inhibitor of the MDR1 efflux system in BMECs

This is My Mic: Hip Hop and the Media, 1970s-1990s

This study explores how the media, in particular the print media of New York City, portrayed hip hop culture and hip hoppers from the 1970s through the early 1990s. Through examining various newspaper sources it is apparent that the media, since hip hop began to culminate as a culture, has created a misunderstood, simple, and stereotypical image of hip hop. Before graffiti art, emceeing, DJing, and break dancing were fully linked as the pillars of hip hop, the print media of New York City ignored the rise of the culture. When hip hop's pillars finally merged and became one meshed counter culture, the newspaper editors of New York City still chose to ignore ploys by journalists to include hip hop in their headlines. The editors, like many Americans who found themselves outside the cultural boundaries of hip hop thought they understood hip hop and believed the young culture would die out and be replaced by another fad. Little did they know that hip hop culture, in particular the music, would become a major pop culture genre. When hip hop was covered by New York City journalists the image portrayed was rarely, if ever, a wholly positive one despite efforts on the part of hip hoppers to create a socially conscious movement. In the late twentieth century journalists in New York City did not always intentionally create a biased and negative image of hip hop. Rather, their interpretations of the culture often were ill-informed, and at times their articles were coded in language that coincided with racial and class-based stereotypes concerning working-class African Americans. By the twenty-first century, hip hop became the scapegoat for various social problems in American society, including racism and sexism

Did COVID-19 Change Life Insurance Offerings?

The profitability of life insurance offerings is contingent on accurate projections and pricing of mortality risk. The COVID-19 pandemic created significant uncertainty, with dire mortality predictions from early forecasts resulting in widespread government intervention and greater individual precaution that reduced the projected death toll. We analyze how life insurance companies changed pricing and offerings in response to COVID-19 using monthly data on term life insurance policies from Compulife. We estimate event-study models that exploit well-established variation in the COVID-19 mortality rate based on age and underlying health status. Despite the increase in mortality risk and significant uncertainty, we find limited evidence that life insurance companies increased premiums or decreased policy offerings due to COVID-19