Understanding least restrictive environment—A key to avoiding parent-school conflict

The concept of least restrictive environment is at the core of federal and state laws governing special education. Unfortunately, the concept is vague and difficult to operationalize. Thus, it is not unusual for parents of educationally handicapped students and school districts to find themselves in conflict over what environment or program is least restrictive for the student. Such conflicts often escalate into acrimonious legal and emotional battles. Understanding the salient characteristics of the least restrictive environment for individual students can preclude or minimize unnecessary conflicts that have little chance of generating creative solutions. This article identifies many of these characteristics and details what administrators can do to assure that placement decisions conform to the requirements of least restrictive environment.     

The Perception of Social Conventionality by Children and Adults

Numerous studies have found that by late childhood individuals recognize conventional norms as social contrivances that are arbitrary, relative, and changeable. However, this conclusion conflicts with other evidence that children and adults "reify" social formations by apprehending them as something other than social products. For example, it is difficult to reconcile the phenomenon of ethnocentrism with the image of people who perceive their social worlds as arbitrary and relative. Most of the studies have questioned respondents about comparatively "transparent" rules, that is, those whose arbitrary human origins are evident. Moreover, the customary questions used to measure perceived conventionality are often simplistic indicators of a complex phenomenon. The result is an exaggerated portrayal of children's and adults' awareness of the conventionality of the social world.     

Some Practical Considerations When Converting a Linearly Administered Test to an Adaptive Format

"We seek the truth and will endure the consequences." Charles Seymour President of Yale (1937–1950)     

Mechanization of library procedures in the medium-sized medical library. 8. Computer applications in hospital departmental libraries

To test the hypothesis that a standard library system could be designed for hospital departmental libraries, a system was developed and partially tested for four departmental libraries in the Washington University School of Medicine and Associated Hospitals. The system from determination of needs through design and evaluation, is described. The system was limited by specific constraints to control of the monograph collection. Products of control include catalog cards, accessions list, new book list, location list, fund list, missing book list, and discard book list. Sample data form and pages from a procedure manual are given, and conversion from a manual to an automated system is outlined.The question of standardization of library records and procedures is discussed, with indications of the way in which modular design, as utilized in this system, could contribute to greater flexibility in design of future systems.Reference is made to anticipating needs for organizing departmental libraries in developing regional medical library programs and to exploring the role of the departmental library in a medical library network.