Search

Recent developments in literary and life writing scholarship have interrogated the division and hierarchy between subject and object or human and non-human. This material turn interests me as it su...

Publication bias occurs when studies with statistically significant results and large effects are more likely to be published than similarly rigorous studies with null and mixed findings. Results-blind peer review requires peer reviewers to consider only the “Introduction” and “Method” sections of submitted manuscripts prior to making editorial recommendations. This process ensures recommendations for publication focus on methodological rigor and not the direction, significance, or magnitude of the reported effects. The current investigation experimentally tested whether reviewers’ editorial recommendations and perceptions of manuscript importance, quality, and rigor varied as a function of type of review (i.e., results-blind or results-included) among 44 reviewers. Results indicated reviewer recommendations did not vary as a function of review type. However, reviewers found results-blind manuscripts less rigorous than results-included and reported less confidence in their recommendations on result-blinded manuscripts. Descriptive findings of results-blind reviewing were mixed with some support for the method, but a lack of confidence in its overall effectiveness. We discuss findings in relation to the conceptual benefits of results-blind reviewing and the increased focus on open and transparent science within special education and preview the papers included in the special section.

Evocative objects, suggests Sherry Turkle (2007), demonstrate the inseparability of thought and emotion in our relationships to certain objects. This is even more the case with objects that have become things, untethered from and exceeding their everyday use. There is a comforting solidity about things that offers a contrast to the shifting consciousness of the writer. But then things, too, begin to morph and shift: childhood objects opening an infinity of stories, the cracked teacup conjuring another time and place, people now dead. Life writing from and through things both dramatises and contests dualities such as self and other, order and chaos, exposure and concealment. This essay follows things and draws on thing theory and contemporary material culture studies to explore the way evocative objects become contradictory partners in life writing.

Behavior intervention plans (BIPs) based on a functional behavior assessment are supported by a large body of research showing their potential for positively impacting student behavior; however, research also indicates that many classroom teams struggle to implement BIPs with fidelity. We conducted a statewide survey of over 600 teachers to examine teacher-reported experiences with BIP implementation, including 13 implementation barriers previously identified in the literature. Selecting from the list provided, teachers reported the most prominent barrier to be “the cause of student problem behavior cannot be addressed through a BIP.” In written comments, teachers stated that many behavior problems were at least partially caused by factors beyond teacher control, such as a difficult home life, and perceived BIPs as less effective in these cases. Teachers from urban schools and schools with higher percentages of minority students reported encountering this barrier significantly more frequently. In general, teachers from schools (a) in urban settings, (b) with higher percentages of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and (c) with higher percentages of minority students reported significantly greater challenges to BIP implementation as well as lower fidelity and effectiveness of BIPs. Other prominent barriers identified by teachers included inconsistent implementation of BIPs across staff, inadequate resources to implement BIPs, and ineffective BIPs. Implications for improving implementation of BIPs in schools are discussed.

Many paraeducators have no formal education beyond high school and are provided with minimal training once on the job. Furthermore, as more schools turn to inclusionary practices, the impetus for highly qualified paraeducators becomes more important. However, little research has examined efficient ways to train paraeducators who work in inclusive classrooms. Through an adapted alternating treatments design (AATD), the general and comparative effects of two prominent training approaches were assessed: didactic instruction and performance feedback. Analysis of these approaches on paraeducators’ use of positive behavior support strategies in inclusive settings revealed that with an equal amount of training time for each approach, performance feedback consistently produced stronger immediate and maintained effects than didactic instruction.

This paper explores the process and outcome of a collaborative life writing project about the death of a parent. Aiming to discover whether collaborative creative nonfiction writing can broaden the...

This short chapter examines the process by which the French West African identity card was established in the colony of Senegal. Introduced in October 1949 to enable the identity of itinerant individuals to be checked, the federal identity card was a response to the broader project of universal documentary identification of Africans in the context of the end of the regime de l'indigenat and the extension of imperial citizenship. This chapter shows that the rise of the identity card in Senegal was the product of a collective affair. Not only was the card the instrument of a new mode of imperial control and a bureaucratic tool granted to empower rights holders, it was also an object of political demand and a mode of experiencing the social, political, and intimate worlds.

This article introduces a special series of registered reports in Remedial and Special Education. Registered reports are an innovative approach to publishing that aim to increase the credibility of research. Registered reports are provisionally accepted for publication before a study is conducted, based on the importance of the research questions and the rigor of the proposed methods. If provisionally accepted, the journal agrees to publish the study if researchers adhere to accepted plans and report the study appropriately, regardless of study findings. In this article, we describe how registered reports work, review their benefits (e.g., combatting questionable research practices and publication bias, allowing expert reviewers to provide constructive feedback before a study is conducted) and limitations (e.g., requires additional time and effort, cannot be applied to all studies), review the application of registered reports in education and special education, and make recommendations for implementing registered reports in special education.

Follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3), a glycoprotein that inhibits transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) ligands such as activin, is expressed highly in the placenta and other vascular tissues. In addition, FSTL3 is strongly induced in pre-eclamptic placenta. To test the hypothesis that FSTL3 function is required for capillary bed structure and function we studied the placenta in FSTL3 gene deleted mice (FSTL3 KO). We have previously shown that FSTL3 deletion produces striking defects in the placenta when compared to WT. Placental size increases significantly in comparison to WT, at 16.5 and 18.5 dpc, with concurrent reduction in placental efficiency at 18.5 dpc. Histological analyses reveal structural differences in placental junctional zones in FSTL3 KO placenta compared to WT. Morphometric analyses show that the labyrinth area compared to the placenta area is significantly reduced in FSTL3 KO mice. We also found that activin-responsive FSTL3-synexpression genes are upregulated in FSTL3 KO placenta. Of these, EPHB4 protein is induced in the placenta along with its ligand EphrinB2. Here we show that FSTL3 deletion leads to endothelial cell expansion but reduction in blood vessel density along with increased extracellular matrix deposition. Further investigation of the placental phenotype revealed differential expression patterns of desmin and cytokeratin protein, reduced von Willebrand factor (VWF) and increased CD31 and VEGFR2 labelling within FSTL3 KO mice placental labyrinths. To identify mechanisms that might lead to the altered placental development in FSTL3 KO mice qPCR analyses were performed. Our results identified differences in the expression of crucial transcripts, such as Cdh5, Pgf, Fra1and Cited1, that are associated with the regulation of vascular biology. Additionally, we find increased Histone3 and SMAD2 phosphorylation in FSTL3 KO placenta indicating increased proliferation and activin signalling, respectively. These findings suggest that the balance between cellular proliferation and differentiation might be altered in the absence of FSTL3. Thus, we conclude that FSTL3 function, at least partly through the inhibition of activin action, is necessary for normal placental circulation and development.

Bowel obstruction in pregnancy is a high risk situation for both the mother and baby. We present a case of a 30-week-pregnant woman who presented with abdominal pain and vomiting and was diagnosed with adhesive small bowel obstruction (SBO). Oral contrast media was successfully used as a treatment. The patient was discharged home and 10 weeks later delivered a healthy baby girl. We were unable to find any cases in the literature describing oral contrast media to treat adhesive SBO in pregnancy. From our experience and research, we consider oral contrast media as a method of treating adhesive SBO in pregnancy under the proviso that there are no signs that indicate urgent surgical intervention.

‘Tesserae’ enacts its own content, being a lyric essay about memory, brokenness and how lyric essays can both tell a partial story and open up questions about this story. The mosaic is metaphor and...

Adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) struggle to gain access to sexual knowledge and experiences. Sexual knowledge increases opportunities for intimacy and positive sexual identities as well as decreases the risk of victimization. This review evaluated the extant literature on sexual education programs for adults with ID. Six studies met inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that sexual education programs can be effective in increasing sexual knowledge, decision-making capabilities, and interpersonal skills for adults with ID. Despite positive results, this synthesis revealed the need for further methodological rigor in this area to identify and/or develop specific instructional curriculum to meet the diverse needs and preferences of adults with ID. Researchers discuss findings and implications for practice at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

As electronic publishing offers more opportunities for short form publication and the affordable reproduction of images alongside text, contemporary essayists are increasingly incorporating images ...

Given the importance of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for improving outcomes for students with disabilities, it is key that preservice special education teachers have the opportunity to implement EBPs with high levels of fidelity during their teacher preparation program. For this reason, the authors conducted a systematic review of the literature to answer the question: Does providing performance feedback improve preservice special education teachers’ fidelity of implementation of EBPs and outcomes for students with disabilities? Five studies were found which met inclusion criteria. These studies demonstrated a clear functional relationship between performance feedback and preservice teachers’ increased fidelity to the EBP(s). Across studies, there were mixed effects in student outcomes when preservice teachers increased their fidelity to EBPs. Limitations of the current analysis and the included studies are discussed along with future implications for researchers and practitioners.

Evidence-based practices for children with disabilities have empirical support for their effectiveness; however, the demographics of participants making up the evidence base are generally unknown, leaving generalizability of the evidence unclear. This study presents a systematic literature review of participant racial and socioeconomic demographics in one area of special education research, parent-implemented interventions for reducing problem behavior in children with autism, to examine demographic reporting practices, participant characteristics, and their similarity to the general population. Participant race, income, education level, and marital status were aggregated across 23 studies and compared with population-level demographics using chi-square analyses. Results indicated (a) these demographics were infrequently reported; (b) participants with reported demographics were overwhelmingly from White, well-educated, two-parent families; and (c) participants were significantly different from the U.S. population on every tested demographic. Implications of findings and recommendations for reporting participant demographics and increasing diversity in special education research are discussed.

This paper arises from a collaborative practice-led research project between an essayist and a poet/prose poet that theorises the lyric essay as mosaic-like in terms of its form and patterning. The project involves on-site creative practice in four cities and examines five primary themes – time, hands, identity, brokenness and risk. Raymond Edouard Isidore’s highly suggestive pique assiette mosaics are our initial point of departure for this paper, representing as they do the joining and juxtapositioning of material that would otherwise be dispersed and fragmented. We read Isidore’s work as an analogue for the fragmentation and juxtapositioning of the texts of lyric essays which, in turn, enables us to consider the lyric essay’s positioning between narrative explicitness and poetic compression, and the relationship between time and space within such essays. We make use of Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the chronotope to tease out ideas of literary time and space, and also employ Erwin Straus’s idea ...

This chapter provides the closer link between critical disability studies (CDS) and feminist maternal studies, particularly around discussions of mothering children with disabilities, and the potential for carer advocacy which works to support the agency and self-determination of disabled people. It examines temporality and the complex interaction of care and time, both in terms of 'real' time spent caring and the imagined temporal future. Feminist critiques of the patriarchal institution of motherhood continue to be a key focus of motherhood studies; there is also a growing interest in maternal subjectivities, and a move towards naming the field maternal studies rather than motherhood studies. In maternal studies literature, disability is often an 'add-on' category or mentioned in discussions on intersectionality – the significant differences in day to day life that mothers of disabled children experience are rarely highlighted. It is in the CDS field that have found developing scholarly discussions around mothering disabled children that speak to our concerns.

Interventions designed to decrease problem behavior for students with ASD are critical and may be differentially important for students from minority groups as those students tend to be assigned more negative outcomes related to problem behavior (e.g., suspensions). School-based interventions intended to decrease problem behavior for individuals with ASD were reviewed; 46 articles including 84 single case designs and 87 participants were analyzed regarding participant demographics, settings and implementers, intervention components, and study characteristics. We assessed outcomes for 55 demonstration designs with adequate rigor. Most research was conducted with students in segregated settings and, although race and ethnicity were rarely reported, proportions were different from other reviews in that children from some minority groups were overrepresented.

Expressive language is an important skill to develop in children with intellectual disabilities. It not only aids in decreasing the likelihood of challenging behaviors from occurring but also aids in increasing the individuals independence and assistance in them becoming successful members of society. No previous studies have examined the effectiveness of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions at increasing expressive language measured with mean length of utterances (MLU) in children with intellectual disabilities. The present study used an alternating treatment comparison design to evaluate the effectiveness of three communication interventions: (a) verbal imitation prompting, (b) American Sign Language prompting, and (c) simultaneous verbal imitation prompting and key word sign prompting on MLU in a 9-year-old child with intellectual disability. The study was conducted in the child’s classroom, and her teacher implemented the interventions. Results indicated simultaneous verbal and key word sign prompting were associated with the greatest MLU, although all three communication interventions appeared to increase MLU when compared with unprompted MLU. Implications for practice and future research in the area of simultaneous communication are discussed.

The requirement for separate creative and exegetical components by universities offering creative doctoral programmes is a largely accepted model in Australia. The Research Question Model adopted by Curtin University in Western Australia is an example of this. The parallel, ‘independent’ articulation of creative and academic responses is explored in this article by a supervisor and three PhD candidates all writing in the genre of creative non-fiction. We suggest that the boundaries between the scholarly and creative in creative non-fiction works are far from clear and that this reflects both contemporary non-fiction publishing and new movements in scholarly writing. We propose that Barthes’s ‘ambiguous genre’, the essay, may be one useful way of conceptualising the non-fiction creative doctorate.

The lyric essay is a protean form that allows writers to evoke and explore aspects of personal memory and individual subjective experience with great immediacy, while also addressing more general and abstract ideas. The use of the term ‘lyric essay’ has been questioned but still successfully serves the purpose of suggesting the kind of work that proceeds not as a conventional essay does – through logical argument – but rather through the juxtaposition of sometimes contradictory tropes, often presented as fragmentary, suggestive and even ‘poetic’. Such essays render an impression of the happenstance and provisionality of lived experience. They raise questions about the coherence (or otherwise) of the multiple perspectives informing an individual’s subjectivity. The authors’ practice-led Mosaics project examines the lyric essay’s multiplicity of viewpoints, fragmentation and faceted nature through investigating the mosaic-like nature of its form and content, along with the extent to which such mosaic-like patterning may make the lyric essay especially well suited to the rendering of particularised subjective experience. In doing so the project references the example of Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí in his work on the Palau Guell and Parc Guell (with Joseph Jujol), where he incorporated fragmented and broken tile and stone pieces into his mosaics. Such mosaics, in creating extensive and ever-evolving patterns, may be seen as closely analogous to the lyric essay’s own expressive patternings and techniques.

Physical health may be an important variable that influences students’ behavioral and academic performance in school settings. Poor health status is hypothesized to negatively influence student performance even in the presence of evidence-based practices. In this study, teachers reported their perceptions of students’ health status as well as their perceptions of the relation of health status to classroom performance and programming considerations for a sample ( N = 217) of elementary and middle school students identified as exhibiting problem behaviors. Results indicated inconsistencies between teachers’ perceptions of student health and school programming considerations. Limitations are presented along with implications for future research and practice.

Previous studies of response classes in individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) and problem behavior have shown that mild problem behavior, precursor behavior, and mands or requests can occur as functionally equivalent to severe problem behavior in some individuals. Furthermore, participants in some studies chose to use functionally equivalent alternatives over severe problem behavior to produce the maintaining reinforcer. The present study added to this literature by having parents reinforce spontaneous requests functionally equivalent to problem behavior in their children with autism at home. First, parent-implemented functional analyses identified conditions associated with increased problem behavior and requests in two children with autism. Then, parents provided the maintaining reinforcer contingent on problem behavior alone or both problem behavior and requests in a withdrawal design. The treatment analysis indicated that the same reinforcer maintained child requests and problem behavior. In addition, when parents reinforced both requests and problem behavior, child participants demonstrated a preference for requests, thereby decreasing problem behavior. Implications of this relation for function-based treatment of problem behavior in children with autism are discussed.

Based on the position that ePortfolios are a mode of innovative practice that benefits pedagogical thinking and action, this chapter investigates educators’ roles as facilitators in the process of ePortfolio development. It is based on the authors’ experience with final-year writing students, whose simultaneous ePortfolio development, industry placement, career-focussed workshops and online blogs provided unique opportunities for students and staff to explore students’ imminent transition into the workforce. This project saw students negotiate their identities within what became a blended learning community of practice. As members of this community the authors found themselves as facilitators and guides rather than teachers. Reflections, blog posts and ePortfolios formed a dataset from which this setting could be analysed from pedagogical and scholarly perspectives. Within the chapter, findings from the project are presented, and its characteristics that led to a mediated environment in which students developed self and career identities through their ePortfolio thinking are investigated. Key findings were twofold. First, the ability to “experience” multiple workplaces through their online interactions with peers led students to develop a broader preview of their future selves and to develop their ePortfolios in line with these possibilities. Second, the group process and modelling of community of practice behaviours fostered complex reflective thinking skills in individual students.

Follistatin-like 3 (FSTL3) is a secreted glycoprotein that forms inactive complexes with and acts as an endogenous inhibitor of TGFβ ligands such as activin, myostatin and GDF11. FSTL3 gene deleted mice (FSTL3 KO) are viable, fertile and show a constellation of metabolic abnormalities, including those involving glucose and lipid homoeostasis, suggesting a role for FSTL3 and TGFβ ligand signaling in these systems. To identify additional roles of FSTL3 and the ligands it inhibits we have used a synexpression analysis strategy. By mining microarray RNA expression data we have identified a group of 9 genes, the expression of which closely follow that of FSTL3 in both mouse and human tissues. After classifying the tissues studied according to physiological systems we found that within each system the expression of a majority, but not all, of the genes are strongly correlated with FSTL3 expression. Further, the best correlation of expression was seen in the cardiovascular system. Importantly, the promoter regions of a number of these synexpression genes have putative SMAD binding elements and in cultured embryonic fibroblasts the expression of a subset of these genes are induced in the absence of FSTL3 or in WT cells upon activin treatment. Taken together, we have identified a group of activin responsive genes the expression of which is closely related to and regulated by FSTL3. These findings link FSTL3 and TGFβ ligand signaling and a novel subset of the synexpression group of genes to organ/tissue-specific regulatory pathways.

This study examined the association of three teacher-specific factors on their level of treatment implementation of an evidence-based classroom management strategy. The three factors were (a) the teacher–coach alliance, (b) teacher ratings of the intervention’s social validity, and (c) teacher burnout. Results indicated that both teacher–coach alliance and social validity were uniquely associated with treatment implementation. In addition, a model with all predictors revealed that the teacher–coach alliance had the largest relation with treatment implementation. It was also found that the reported level of teacher burnout moderated the relation between teacher–coach alliance and procedural fidelity. Specifically, teacher burnout was found to have a negative relation to treatment implementation at low levels of teacher–coach alliance but no relation to treatment implementation at high levels of teacher–coach alliance. These findings suggest that the teacher–coach relationship may not only play a direct role in enhanced treatment implementation for school-based programs but also may mitigate the effects of teacher burnout.

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are often placed into self-contained settings to provide more focused academic and behavioral supports. Little is known, however, about differences in the instructional contexts of self-contained and general education classrooms. Using direct observation and self-report measures, the present study investigated disparities in the practices used to support the academic and social achievement of students with and at risk for developing EBD across settings. Results indicated that teachers in self-contained settings were able to provide a greater amount of instruction in small-group settings. However, there were no differences found in the use of effective instructional strategies or practices. Findings are discussed within the context of the academic and behavioral needs of students within the sample.

In 1991, the Peacock Hill Working Group provided the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) a roadmap for improving the quality of services provided to students with EBD. The working group considered issues at every level of the educational system, from the classroom to federal policy. Although many strides have been made in the past 20 years regarding the education and treatment of students with EBD, the gap has persisted between empirically validated practices and the classroom routines of teachers serving students from this population. In the authors’ view, the field of EBD would benefit greatly from conceptual and empirical developments to improve the mechanisms required to bring science to the classroom. Using the theoretical underpinnings of implementation science, the authors describe a transactional model for integrating research, policy, and practice to close the research-to-practice gap. Recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and practitioners are provided.