TRAINING TEACHERS TO USE EVIDENCE‐BASED PRACTICES FOR AUTISM: EXAMINING PROCEDURAL IMPLEMENTATION FIDELITY

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which public school teachers implemented evidence‐based interventions for students with autism in the way these practices were designed. Evidence‐based practices for students with autism are rarely incorporated into community settings, and little is known about the quality of implementation. An indicator of intervention quality is procedural implementation fidelity (the degree to which a treatment is implemented as prescribed). Procedural fidelity likely affects student outcomes. This project examined procedural implementation fidelity of three evidence‐based practices used in a randomized trial of a comprehensive program for students with autism in partnership with a large, urban school district. Results indicate that teachers in public school special education classrooms can learn to implement evidence‐based strategies; however, they require extensive training, coaching, and time to reach and maintain moderate procedural implementation fidelity. Procedural fidelity over time and across intervention strategies is examined.     

Casual Academic Staff in an Australian University: Marginalised and excluded

Abstract

The transition from a planned centralist economy to a market economy over the last decade of the 20th century has presented Russian universities with many profound challenges. These challenges require universities to review and consider their organisational culture and deserve careful study. This paper describes the changes that have taken place at Tomsk Polytechnic University ‐ one of oldest, largest and leading Russian universities.     

The Consolidation of Two Campus Interlibrary Loan Units Into One: A Partnership Between Law and Main Campus

Until July 2009 Valparaiso University had two campus interlibrary loan units, one serving the main campus and the other serving the law school. In the wake of a projected 15–20% campuswide budget cut, the two campus libraries investigated ways to work together to reduce costs. The libraries came together with Online Computer Library Center and Atlas Systems, Inc., to consolidate the two separate units and ILLiad databases into one. This article discusses the reasons for merging two interlibrary loan units and the steps undertaken to combine two ILLiad systems.     

Assessing Learning Behaviors in Early Childhood Special Education Classrooms

Research Findings: This study reports on the dimensionality and validation of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS) for use in a sample of preschool children in early childhood special education classrooms. The PLBS is a teacher-report instrument that characterizes children’s approaches to learning. The sample included 600 preschool-age students in 97 classrooms. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses uncovered 2 reliable and valid dimensions: Competence Motivation and Learning Strategy. Scale scores were produced using item response theory and Bayesian scoring methods. Competence Motivation and Learning Strategy scores were moderately related to children’s performance on language and literacy measures. Practice or Policy: The potential use of this tool in early childhood special education classrooms is explored.     

Strike-induced chemosensory searching in Old World vipers and New World pit vipers

It is known that striking rodent prey induces a sustained, high rate of tongue flicking in rattlesnakes. The present study shows this phenomenon (called strike-induced chemosensory searching, SICS) to occur in species of rattlesnakes not previously investigated and in two species ofAgkistrodon. SICS occurs in Old World vipers (Eristocophis, Vipera, Bitis), including species which normally hold their prey after striking. A hypothesis is offered which (1) accounts for the occurrence of SICS in these latter species and (2) suggests that SICS in some viperids may have arisen through paedomorphic evolution. More generally, it is concluded that SICS is probably a homologous trait in vipers and pit vipers and that the trait may have first appeared in elapid ancestors of the viperidae.