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One important aspect of special education research that makes it complex is the variability of the disability categories being studied. This study used the context of Individualized Education Program (IEP)/transition planning and National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012) student and parent survey items associated with this context to illustrate the challenges of grouping disability categories. We examined how disability groupings are treated similarly with respect to their transition planning experiences across different survey items. Findings illustrate that the 12 transition-related disability categories can be empirically formed into four clusters according to their IEP/transition planning meeting experiences. Results indicate that regardless of the scale used, these groupings are relatively consistent (e.g., autism, multiple disabilities, and orthopedic impairments were always together), but different from groupings based on theory or another set of items (e.g., self-determination). Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 to examine predictors at the individual, family, and school levels associated with parental expectations toward postsecondary education among students with significant support needs, including those with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities. Consistent with previous studies, chi-square tests revealed a positive relation between socioeconomic status such as household income or parental education level and parental expectations. Logistic regression analyses showed that whether parents have a college degree and whether students have participated in college entrance or advanced placement tests are factors that are positively associated with parental expectations toward children's future education.

This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 (NLTS 2012) to explore the individualized education program (IEP)/transition planning participation and role of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, compared to students with other disabilities. We viewed students with the most significant cognitive disabilities as those included in three disability categories--"autism, intellectual disability, and multiple disabilities"--who took an alternate assessment. The study also included an analysis of student's participation in relation to their functional, communication, and self-advocacy skills, and student-teacher relationships. Although students with the most significant cognitive disabilities experienced greater limitations overall, students with other disabilities were experiencing similar challenges. Implications for practice were discussed from the lens of student engagement, self-determination, and student's leadership role.

This Article is the first of a two-part investigation into the Indian law doctrine of reservation diminishment/disestablishment, examining Supreme Court decisions in this area in light of insights gathered from the collected papers of individual Justices archived at the Library of Congress and various university libraries. The Article first addresses Seymour v. Superintendent (1962) and Mattz v. Arnett (1973), observing that these first two diminishment/disestablishment cases are modern applications of basic, longstanding principles of Indian law which are highly protective of Indigenous people’s rights and tribal sovereignty. The Article then examines in detail DeCoteau v. District County Court, the anomalous 1975 decision in which the Supreme Court held that an 1889 land-sale agreement between the United States and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Indians, which Congress ratified in 1891, had abolished the boundaries of the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota and North Dakota, a reservation that had been established as the Indians’ “permanent reservation” home in an 1867 treaty. The Article critiques DeCoteau in view of the historical context of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War, an explosive conflict that resulted in the forced removal of the Dakota people from their reservation and aboriginal homelands in Minnesota and the abrogation of all U.S.-Dakota treaties, including treaty rights that guaranteed annual payments essential for the Indians’ subsistence and survival. The Article brings into view the full scope of the negotiations between the Sisseton-Wahpeton people and U.S. commissioners in 1889, demonstrating that the Dakota people never consented to any reduction or elimination of reservation boundaries when they agreed, under desperate circumstances, to sell to the United States the unallotted lands within the reservation. The Article further surveys additional evidence, unaddressed by the Supreme Court, regarding the 1891 Act’s legislative history, including numerous congressional debates and provisions of reports of the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as evidence from Executive Branch sources, which collectively show that the 1891 Act did not shrink or terminate the reservation. The Article posits that DeCoteau, which scholars recognize as having initiated a “magic language” mode of analysis in the reservation diminishment/disestablishment area, cannot be reconciled with fundamental principles of Indian law. Finally, the Article inspects and discusses documents from the archived papers of the Justices who took part in DeCoteau, unraveling clues that may help account for the Supreme Court’s aberrant decision.

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. Students with ASD were found to have greater difficulties with communication and social skills, as well as less-robust sense of themselves and their abilities than students with all other disabilities. Race, household income, social and communication skills, and self-concept were found to be associated with higher rates of bullying and victimization.

The profession of evaluation continues to grow, generating more demand for evaluation services than can be fulfilled by the supply of well-trained evaluation practitioners. In this brief forum article, we discuss the current state of evaluator education in the United States and the ways in which university-based programs support the development of evaluation practitioners and scholars. We then discuss the opportunities and challenges university-based programs face, focusing on program design, the challenges of being an evaluation-focused faculty member, and the specific needs of evaluation graduate students. We conclude by providing a research agenda for evaluation scholars interested in advancing the knowledge base about university-based evaluator education.

2015 was designated the International Year of Evaluation, suggesting that evaluation has an important role to play in service of positive global ideals. It is vital to recognize the critical role that the education of evaluators plays in these efforts. The current study uses an online search and curricular analysis to provide a snapshot of evaluation education in late 2017 as well as a retrospective analysis of advanced degrees in evaluation offered at universities across time. The results indicate a period of dramatic growth in the number of certificates and master's degrees being offered at universities across the world over the decades, with a minor decrease in doctoral programs in the past 5 years. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Evaluator education programs have developed to help support the growth of professional evaluators and improve evaluation practice. Empirical research has described where and how evaluation is taught at the graduate level of education, but little is known about the undergraduate level. This study empirically explores how, if at all, evaluation is taught at the undergraduate level by systematically analyzing the publicly available curricula of the top 40 public and top 40 private universities in the United States. Findings demonstrate that 470 evaluation-specific and associated courses were offered across public colleges and universities (335 courses offered) and private colleges (135 courses offered). However, among these 470 courses, the extent to which evaluation is taught varies from a specific method of systematic inquiry to a tool used for assessment or judgment, or minor topic within a broader subject. Implications for the field are discussed.

Undergraduate students are a potential pool of future evaluators, but little is known about their level of interest in pursuing a career in program evaluation (PE). This two-stage study collected survey data on 249 undergraduate students' knowledge, interest, and attitudes toward various descriptions of PE. Qualitative analysis indicated participants had an understanding of PE's intent. Correlations suggest that knowledge of PE was related with a perceived match with professional interests (r = 0.41) as well as general attitude toward PE (r = 0.44), and factorial ANOVA indicates that (a) participants from diverse disciplines (e.g., education, psychology, and business) were equally interested in PE and (b) average participant attitudes were more positive than would be expected by chance. Given this study's findings regarding students' knowledge, interest, and attitudes about PE, it is proposed that undergraduate students may be a viable source of future program evaluators. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Evaluation practice has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years. In contrast, the most recent survey data suggest that there has been a sharp decline in the number and strength of preservice evaluation training programs in the United States. In an effort to further understand this curious trend, an alternative methodology was used to examine the current state of university-based evaluation training programs in the United States. An online search and curricular document analysis suggest different trends, including a dramatic increase in the number of evaluation training programs in the United States, specifically within schools of education. The importance of using alternative methodologies for understanding the nature of evaluation training programs is discussed. (Contains 2 tables, 4 figures, and 2 notes.)

A discussion of literature concerning allotment policy that conflicts with information in The General Allotment Act, 1887 is presented. Topics include Indian law, sovereign rights, and specific literature that contradicts the General Allotment Act.

The impact of inflammation of the urinary bladder on the integrity of the permeability barrier was examined by sensitizing guinea pigs with ovalbumin and exposing the bladders later to antigen by installation on the urinary side. Results showed disruption of tight junctions, denuding of patches of epithelium and occasional loss of apical membrane architecture. Leakage of urinary constituents through the damaged epithelium may then worsen the inflammation in the underlying muscle layers.

Researchers have measured the transepithelial electrical resistance and isotopic water and urea fluxes for Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) type I and II cells. Attention was also given to type I cells expressing MUC1, the mucin protein, in their apical membranes. It was found that the apical membrane permeability of type I cells resembles that of other barrier epithelia. Abrupt introduction of water-permeable pores with nystatin into the apical membranes of barrier epithelia gives rise to prompt increases in water permeability.

Estimations of the permeability properties of dissected rabbit bladder epithelium were conducted to determine the role of the apical membrane in the permeation of water, urea, ammonia and protons. Measurements of bladder membrane permeability indicated low permeations of water, urea and ammonia. However, the differences in the intrinsic properties of the apical membranes contributed to the varied measurements of water permeability.

Lavelle, John P., Susan A. Meyers, W. Giovani Ruiz, C. A. Tony Buffington, Mark L. Zeidel, and Gerard Apodaca. Urothelial pathophysiological changes in feline interstitial cystitis: a human model. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 278: F540-F553, 2000.--Unique barrier properties of the urothelial surface membrane permit urine storage. Interstitial cystitis causes disabling dysuria, and frequency. Similarly, feline interstitial cystitis (FIC) occurs in cats. These studies define the permeability and structural properties of normal and FIC urothelium. To determine the effects of bladder filling, groups were studied before and after hydrodistention. Normal urothelium with or without hydrodistention exhibited high transepithelial resistances (TER) and low water and urea permeabilities, resembling other species. Fluorescence confocal microscopy revealed localization of the marker AE-31 to the apical surface of all umbrella cells in normal urothelium, with the tight junction protein ZO-1 localized to tight junctions. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed uniform distribution of luminal cells with characteristic apical membrane and tight junction morphology. Urothelium in FIC animals displayed reduced TER and increased water and urea permeability following hydrodistention. Structural studies in FIC revealed denuded urothelium, with appearance of AE-31 in underlying epithelial cells. The results demonstrate severe epithelial damage and dysfunction in FIC and suggest novel approaches toward examining the etiology and therapy of IC. epithelial permeability; urinary bladder; pathophysiology; ultrastructure