Future Goal Aspirations of Students With Extensive Support Needs: Findings From NLTS 2012.

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012) to explore the future goal aspirations of students with extensive support needs who participate in alternate assessments, compared to other students with extensive support needs and to students with other disabilities. We examined students' individualized education program (IEP)/transition planning meeting experiences and postschool goals in relation to their functional, communication, and self-advocacy skills, as well as their school/community support. Students with other disabilities held higher expectations than all students with extensive support needs for future participation in postsecondary education, employment, independent living, and financial independence.

Postschool Goal Expectations for Youth With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Using National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 data, this study explored parent and youth expectations in the areas of postsecondary education, employment, independent living, and financial independence. Compared to youth with other disabilities, youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their parents had much lower expectations for the four postschool goals, and parent expectations were much lower than youth's own expectations. Also, youth's race, along with their daily living skills and functional abilities, were positively associated with parent and youth expectations in several future goal areas.

Exploring Predictors of Bullying and Victimization of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Findings from NLTS 2012.

Research suggests that bullying victimization occurs at higher rates among students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than among their typically-developing peers. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 to explore differences in student and family characteristics between students with ASD and students with all other special education disability categories. The study also examined characteristics serve as predictors of bullying and victimization.

The development and deployment of a ground-based, laser-induced fluorescence instrument for the in situ detection of iodine monoxide radicals.

High abundances of iodine monoxide (IO) are known to exist and to participate in local photochemistry of the marine boundary layer. Of particular interest are the roles IO plays in the formation of new particles in coastal marine environments and in depletion episodes of ozone and mercury in the Arctic polar spring. This paper describes a ground-based instrument that measures IO at mixing ratios less than one part in 10(12).

The pressure drop along rectangular microchannels containing bubbles.

This paper derives the difference in pressure between the beginning and the end of a rectangular microchannel through which a flowing liquid (water, with or without surfactant, and mixtures of water and glycerol) carries bubbles that contact all four walls of the channel. It uses an indirect method to derive the pressure in the channel. The pressure drop depends predominantly on the number of bubbles in the channel at both low and high concentrations of surfactant.

Convective roll dynamics in liquid 4He near the onset of convection.

We present results of experiments on Rayleigh-Bénard convection in liquid 4He at several temperatures. We show visually that with carefully defined boundary conditions the basic convection state consists of parallel rolls which are aligned in one of two directions, the angle thus defined as being temperature dependent and we attempt to explain this behavior. We also show directly the skew-varicose instability acting on the basic state and correlate it with fluctuations in the temperature difference across the fluid layer.

The relationship between instructional and assessment accommodations in an inclusive state accountability system.

We investigated the kinds of instructional and assessment accommodations students with disabilities receive, and the extent to which instructional accommodations match assessment accommodations. Most students who had IEPs in specific content areas received instructional accommodations in those areas, and there were no differences by disability type. We provide data on the specific types of accommodations used.

Food-plant effects on larval performance do not translate into differences in fitness between populations of Panolis flammea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

In the UK, Panolis flammea (Denis & Schiffermüller) is a pest of monocultures of non-native lodgepole pine Pinus contorta Douglas, but not of the indigenous host Scots pine P. sylvestrisL. This difference in population dynamics may be due to the adaptation of P.

Flow pattern dynamics in convecting liquid helium.

We present experimental data which correlate thermal measurements and flow visualization in convecting liquid 4He. For a small range R(C)R1, generating thermal oscillations as in earlier reports.

High school graduation requirements for students with disabilities.

Although increasing the high school graduation rate is now a national goal, requirements for graduation are not set at the national level. And, although the goal is said to include students in special education programs, what high school graduation means for these students is not clear. We collected documentation from state departments of education to examine high school graduation requirements for students in general, and for students with disabilities.

Streamwater nitrate concentrations in six agricultural catchments in Scotland.

The concentrations of nitrate-N (NO3-N) in catchment inputs and outputs have been compared and contrasted between 6 farm catchments in Scotland, 3 in the West and 3 in the North-East. Forms of intensive animal farming ranging between beef and dairy cattle, sheep and poultry give different sources for potential NO3-N leakage from the systems. While stream reaches bordered by intensive cereal production give rise to the largest inputs to surface waters, climatic influences result in the more-efficient use of fertilizer- and farm waste-N in the West, and an enhanced potential for N-loss to waters in the cooler North-East, regardless of the N-inputs being considerably lower in the latter region.

Community integration of young adults with mental retardation: a multivariate analysis of adjustment.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether differences in community adjustment existed for three groups of young adults with mental retardation using data organized on the basis of four empirically validated factors identified in prior research. A descriptive discriminant function analysis was used as a follow-up to a statistically significant multivariate analysis of variance F-ratio. Results obtained from the discriminant analysis indicated that five variables (number of limiting factors, earned income, number of support services, living arrangement, number of daytime activities) contributed substantively to separation of the three group centroids.

Adjustment of young adults with mental retardation in community settings: comparison of parametric and nonparametric statistical techniques.

The impact of four different statistical techniques on the interpretive process using data obtained from young adults with mental retardation in applied settings was evaluated. Our hypothesis was that no difference exists across levels of mental retardation for four dependent variables, jointly or separately, using (a) parametric multivariate analysis of variance, (b) nonparametric multivariate analysis of variance, (c) multiple nonparametric analyses of variance, and (d) multinomial logistic regression. The pattern of significance remained the same across the three classical and quasi-classical designs.

Open enrollment and students with disabilities: issues, concerns, fears, and anticipated benefits.

Open enrollment is a hotly debated form of educational choice. More than 25 states have legislation establishing or expanding public school choice options. At an issues clarification working session, professionals, legislators, policymakers, parents, and students described issues and generated implications for serving students with disabilities.

Relationship between measures of adaptive functioning and community adjustment for adults with mental retardation.

This study investigated the concurrent relations between measures of adaptive/maladaptive behavior and community adjustment in a sample of 239 adults with mild to severe degrees of mental retardation. Using canonical correlation procedures and multidimensional community adjustment measures, the investigators found significant relations between the measures of behavior and several community adjustment dimensions. The results provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of measures of adaptive/maladaptive behavior and suggested that such skills provide an important contribution to community adaptation and to program planning and decision making for individuals with mental retardation.

Empirical analysis of multidimensional measures of community adjustment for young adults with mental retardation.

Confirmatory factor analysis procedures were used to evaluate multidimensional measures of community adjustment in a sample of 239 young adults with mild to severe mental retardation. Alternative measurement models were evaluated in one-half of the sample, with the final model cross-validated in the second half of the sample. The final cross-validated model was also evaluated as a function of level of retardation.

Efficiency considerations in delivering special education services to persons with severe mental retardation.

The basic question addressed in this paper is whether formal benefit-cost and effectiveness-cost analyses might allow us to determine whether the outcomes of particular special education services are being offered in their most efficient manner. In attempting to answer this question, we focused upon measuring as many of the cost and outcomes as possible (in both monetary and other terms) from two specialized schools serving youth with severe mental retardation. We examined a number of alternative assumptions for illustrating some of the problematic issues in the use of such evaluation techniques.