This review examines ethnicity reporting in three autism-related journals (
Autism, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities,
and
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
) over a ...6-year period. A comprehensive multistep search of articles is used to identify ethnicity as a demographic variable in these three journals. Articles that identified research participants’ ethnicity were further analyzed to determine the impact of ethnicity as a demographic variable on findings of each study. The results indicate that ethnicity has not been adequately reported in these three autism related journals even though previous recommendations have been made to improve inadequacies of descriptive information of research participants in autism research (Kistner and Robbins in J Autism Dev Disord 16:77–82,
1986
). Implications for the field of autism spectrum disorders are discussed in addition to further recommendations for future research.
This meta-analysis examined the ecological and population validity of intervention research for students with low mathematics achievement (SWLMA). Forty-four studies published between 2005 and 2019 ...that met the inclusionary criterion were included in this analysis. Our findings suggest, to improve the external validity and generalizability of research, more detailed descriptions of participants and the socio-cultural contexts of the intervention studies are warranted.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs at high rates among student veterans and is known to negatively impact educational functioning; however, the unique effects of PTSD are less clear, given ...that PTSD is highly comorbid with many other conditions that could potentially affect educational functioning. The present study had two objectives: (a) to determine the impact of PTSD symptom severity on educational functioning after accounting for demographic variables, traumatic brain injury, and commonly co-occurring mental health conditions; and (b) to identify which symptom clusters of PTSD have the greatest impact on educational functioning. Educational functioning and other commonly occurring mental health conditions were assessed cross-sectionally among 90 student veterans. Traumatic brain injury and major depressive disorder (MDD) were initially associated with impaired educational functioning; however, after adding PTSD into the final model, only PTSD (β = .44, p < .001) and MDD (β = .31, p = .001) remained associated with educational impairment. Follow-up analyses indicated that the reexperiencing symptom cluster was most strongly associated with impaired educational functioning (β = .28, p = .031). Overall, these results suggest that PTSD symptoms-especially reexperiencing symptoms-may be a driving force behind impaired educational impairment, even after accounting for other commonly co-occurring mental health conditions.
This study identified predictors of employment for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data from 4,923 individuals with TBI were extracted from the Rehabilitation Services Administration’s ...Case Service Report (RSA-911) database. A multiple logistic regression model using demographics, disability-related variables, vocational rehabilitation (VR) service variables, and their interactions correctly classified 69.5% of the cases as successfully employed or not successfully employed. The model explained approximately 27.1% of the variance in employment outcomes. Results indicated that level of education, race/ethnicity, age at application, preemployment status, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), comorbid depression, and case expenditure were significantly associated with employment outcomes (all p ≤ .05). VR variables that showed the most significant positive effect on employment outcomes were on-the-job support, job placement, and on-the-job training. Race/ethnicity moderated the effect of college training, supported employment, transportation, and extended evaluation or work trial assessment services on employment outcomes. The findings have implications for promoting the use of those VR services that are strongly related to employment outcomes for persons with TBI. They also point to the need for rehabilitation personnel to address some of the demographic and disability-related barriers to successful employment.
With the increasing availability of technology and the emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, there is an urgent need to understand the impact of technology-mediated ...mathematics (TMM) interventions on student mathematics outcomes. The purpose of this study was to review studies on TMM interventions that target the mathematical outcomes of K–12 students with or at risk for mathematics learning disabilities (MLDs). A review of the literature revealed 19 studies (9 single-case and 10 group/quasi experimental designs) published between 2000 and 2016. Results suggest that TMM interventions had mainly positive results on the mathematics outcomes of students with or at risk for MLD. This study also examined the extent to which principles of explicit instruction were integrated in TMM interventions. While many of the interventions provided frequent practice opportunities with academic feedback, few complemented such practice opportunities with overt demonstrations and explanations of mathematical content. Implications for designing TMM interventions are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine factor structures of a modified form of Gibson and Dembo’s Teacher Efficacy Scale with a combined total of 123 African American and European American ...preservice teachers at a historically Black university, test for differences between participants on teacher efficacy, and examine relationships among participant characteristics. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation yielded three factors—ability, effort, and environment— with alpha coefficients of .80, .77, .70, and .76 for the total scale. African American participants scored statistically significantly higher than European American participants on the environment factor (t = 2.3,p = .02), but not for ability (t = 1.59,p = .11) or effort (t = –.86,p = .39). Recommendations for further research were also made.
We used widely available videoconferencing equipment to support teachers to conduct preference assessments for three students with autism and developmental disabilities. Supervisors located at a ...university used videoconferencing equipment to collect data on students’ choice of items, the fidelity of teacher implementation of the assessment protocol, and to provide feedback to the teachers. Preference assessment results suggested a number of potentially reinforcing items for each student. In a second phase of the study, the students were given a routine classroom task to complete (i.e., clean up). The students could choose to complete the clean up task and gain access to a neutral item or one of the highly preferred items identified in the prior preference assessment. All students predominantly chose to complete the task in order to access a preferred item identified in the preference assessment. The results of this classroom intervention validated the results of the preference assessments. The findings of this study provide preliminary support for the use of videoconferencing equipment when supporting teaching personnel during common educational assessments.
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