Education for Persons with Handicaps in Japan,the USA and Sweden

Abstract

This paper deals with educational provision for persons with handicaps and the trend toward educational integration. The cases of Japan, the USA and Sweden are considered and compared. While the development of treatment for persons with handicaps is not very different among these three countries, there are obvious differences in the implementation and acceptance of integration among them. Sweden seems to have adapted best to the philosophy of normalization and the process of integration, while in Japan, and to a lesser extent the USA, the debate and conflict that arose with their introduction and development was much more intense and remains heated even today.     

Circulating resistin protein and mRNA concentrations and clinical severity of coronary artery disease

Introduction

Previous studies have implicated a strong link between circulating plasma resistin and coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) resistin mRNA and its plasma protein concentrations between the patients with CAD of different clinical severity.

Material and methods

This study included 33 healthy subjects as the control group (CG) and 77 patients requiring coronary angiography. Of the latter 30 was CAD negative whereas 47 were CAD positive [18 with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 29 with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)]. Circulating resistin was measured by ELISA; PBMC resistin mRNA was determined by real-time PCR.

Results

Resistin protein was significantly higher in the ACS group compared to the CG (P = 0.001) and the CAD negative group (P = 0.018). Resistin mRNA expression did not vary across the study groups, despite the positive correlation seen with plasma resistin (ρ = 0.305, P = 0.008). In patients, plasma resistin and PBMC resistin mRNA negatively correlated with HDL-C (ρ = -0.404, P < 0.001 and ρ = -0.257, P = 0.032, respectively). Furthermore, the highest plasma resistin tertile showed the lowest HDL-C (P = 0.006). Plasma resistin was positively associated with serum creatinine (ρ = 0.353, P = 0.002).

Conclusion

Significant increase of plasma resistin in patients with ACS compared to CG and CAD negative patients was observed. Despite no change in PBMC resistin mRNA in different disease conditions a positive association between resistin mRNA and resistin plasma protein was evident. Both plasma resistin and PBMC resistin mRNA were negatively associated with plasma HDL-C, and plasma resistin positively with serum creatinine.Key words: resistin, human; gene expression; coronary artery disease; acute coronary syndrome     

The Attitudes of Israeli Adolescents Toward Handicapped People

The attitudes of adolescents toward handicapped people were investigated with the long‐term goal of maximizing the effective mainstreaming of handicapped teeangers. Analysis of the attitudes of 262 Israeli high school students showed a generalized accepting tendency. Significant differences emerged, not with regard to the type of handicap as had been expected, but for three content areas defined as limitations of the handicapped, feelings of reservation and shame, and the rights of the handicapped. There were significant differences between the sexes in general acceptance and in two of these content areas. Implications of the results in terms of intervention programming are discussed.     

Assessing efficiency in the Spanish public universities through comparative non-radial and radial data envelopment analysis

In this study we have used data from Spanish public universities to assess their efficiency in a longitudinal framework between 2008/9–2014/15. To carry out the analysis, two windows data envelopment analysis and intertemporal, non-radial and radial analysis methodologies were compared. The main results show a significant deterioration in university efficiency from the 2012/13 academic year for the three proposed frontiers, with both methodologies. Some factors may explain these results, such as the ageing of teaching force and its low replacement rate of 10%, and the lack of incentives for young researchers who wish to pursue a research career, influenced by the presence of endogamy, in hiring or promotion. Finally, the resources necessary for the good governance of the Spanish public university with the consequent accountability of these, in terms of teaching, research and its transfer to society, could become a strategic issue that should be taken into account by all the actors involved.

     

The development and current status of special education in Nicaragua

Ph.D. A researcher and Director of Studies at Stockholm University's Institute of International Education. He has conducted national studies of special needs education in Nicaragua and the United Republic of Tanzania, as well as written a number of articles and books on such topics as special needs education, educational evaluation and the restructuring of schooling in Sweden. His most recent publication isSpecial needs education in Nicaragua: a study of the prevalence of students with disabilities in primary schools and the factors affecting their successful participation (1994).     

Evaluating the Locational Attributes of Education Management Organizations (EMOs)

This study uses logistic and multinomial logistic regression models to analyze neighborhood factors affecting EMO(Education Management Organization)-operated schools’ locational attributes (using census tracts) in 41 states for the 2014–2015 school year. Our research combines market-based school reform, institutional theory, and resource dependency to explore one important issue regarding EMO location: What are the factors associated with the presence of varied types and sizes of EMOs in neighborhoods? To our knowledge, this is the first multistate study of neighborhood characteristics associated with the location of EMO-operated schools. The results show that the locational patterns of EMO-operated schools are sensitive to high minority areas, as expected, but also to socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhood. Our findings also suggest that larger EMOs tend to gravitate to areas where they can mobilize resources. For those concerned about spatial efficiency-equity trade-offs in EMO location policies, our results suggest a need for close monitoring of the distributive patterns of EMO expansion across neighborhoods, racial/ethnic and income groups, and the net effect of EMO location on neighborhood attributes.     

Experienced Early Childhood Teachers as Graduate Students: A Process of Change

This paper explores perceptions of professional identity among experienced early childhood educators (ECEs) who are novice students in a new master’s degree program in ECE. We sought to examine the changes experienced by these educators. The study used qualitative content analysis, which included an open-ended questionnaire that was administered twice to the participants: at the beginning of their first year of study and at the end of the second year. The findings indicate a change in the participants’ perceptions of their multi-dimensional professional identity. They began to examine the early childhood educational system with a critical point of view based on their academic and pedagogical conceptual vision, and became aware of the contingent political consequences. We believe this study will enable us to advance the ECE system and promote academic research conducted by professionals.     

12 Equity,adequacy and educational need: the courts and urban school finance

Nearly two decades following the landmark Rodriguez decision in 1973, plaintiffs arguing on behalf of poor urban school districts have found an opening for financial redress. The supreme courts in several states, including New Jersey, Texas and Kentucky, have ruled in the last couple of years that all students are entitled to a ‘minimally adequate’ education. In Abbott v. Burke, in particular, the New Jersey court made reference to the special needs of inner‐city students. In this chapter the authors trace the history of court cases related to urban school finance and analyse both the legal and conceptual basis for recent decisions that may benefit large‐city districts.     

Illinois Project for Democratic Accountability

Education is experiencing a case of misplaced accountability, where an exclusive reliance on high stakes tests overlooks the more subtle judgments of teachers and professional educators and, because of its simplicity, passes as democratic. This article investigates the theoretical underpinnings of current accountability initiatives and draws upon extensive teacher interviews to reveal the practical aspects of accountability pressures in schools today. We provide a discussion of local teacher knowledge that exposes teachers' commitments to a deeper sense of successful education that is eclipsed by testing and that offers a richer resource for improving classrooms and educational outcomes. We provide a discussion of educational foundations and policy that rethinks democratic goals and encourages educationists to shift the current debate in order to make accountability truly democratic. This article suggests that the contemporary climate of accountability may be misplaced in its intentions.