Involuntary Youth Transport (IYT) to Treatment Programs: Best Practices, Research, Ethics, and Future Directions

Involuntary youth transport (IYT) is a controversial practice used to admit adolescents into residential care. Critics point out that IYT is in need of regulation and is best used as a last resort. This article examines the risks and benefits of IYT, especially the longterm effects on the client, in order to ensure that all facets of a client’s treatment are trauma-informed and guided by research-based practices and ethical principles. Practices that re-traumatize youth need to be replaced with informed practices that facilitate positive outcomes. This article utilizes an ethical decision-making framework developed for behavioral health professionals to assess and improve the ethical use of IYT. Based on this ethical framework, a more effective and collaborative model is presented that results in less restrictive approaches, greater levels of willingness by the adolescent to enter treatment, and trauma-informed management of difficult emotional or physical behaviors. This model also guides professionals and caregivers on how to proceed when IYT services are deemed necessary. The article presents past research and addresses ethical guidelines and best practices for IYT. Steps for practitioners and future directions are discussed.

A study of parents reading aloud habits with research on reading aloud applied to research-based practices for promoting students’ intrinsic motivation to read

Read-alouds play an important role in young children’s literacy development. This study investigates how, and to what extent, Swedish parents of children aged 1–16 engage in reading aloud. Previous research on reading aloud is also applied to research-based practices for promoting students’ intrinsic motivation to read and discussed in the present study. The results show that 9 out of 10 parents read aloud to children aged 0-4 years while only 4 of 10 read aloud to children aged 10-12 years. Several content areas that overlap were found where research on children's own reading can be easily transferred to the area of reading aloud.

MADE 2 FADE: A Practical Strategy for Empowering Independence for Students With Disabilities

Independence is a critical skill in preparing students with disabilities for success after high school. Secondary special education teachers equip their students toward task independence across skill domains (e.g., employment, independent living), yet there is little guidance regarding a simple and systematic way to do so. MADE 2 FADE (M2F) is a mnemonic developed to support special education teachers in data-driven decisions and implementation of research-based practices. This framework is designed to help teachers as they encourage their students with disabilities toward greater self-efficacy and skill mastery.

Small Steps: The Inclusion of Young Children With Disabilities in Australia, Greece, and Malaysia

Although international research has accumulated significant evidence on inclusive practices and their benefits for children, how this translates into early childhood settings is often unsatisfactory within and across countries. Against the background of general acceptance of the principles incorporated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities, we examine how 3 countries who are signatories to this convention, Australia, Greece, and Malaysia, are making progress towards inclusion in early childhood. Using an implementation science framework, the key components of enabling contexts, research-based practices, and effective implementation supports are explored. In this framework, each of these components is essential for achieving the desired outcomes of inclusion. The country profiles of Australia, Greece, and Malaysia are examined (including similarities and differences in legislation, policies, early childhood services, and practices) in an effort to support understanding of factors facilitating and challenging early childhood inclusion.

A Content Analysis of Selected State Plans for Gifted and Talented Education

Programs for gifted and talented education should be guided by research-based practices, but states’ policies vary in their recommendations for programming, and in how they hold local education agencies accountable for implementing those recommendations. State plans for gifted and talented education rely on the voluntary compliance of districts to implement policies meeting students’ advanced academic needs and providing opportunities for talent development. State plans for gifted education may outline expectations, but leave much about the implementation up to districts. Even within a state, gifted education services vary widely across districts and individual schools. This research identified 11 state plans for gifted education that included guidance on identification, curriculum, service options, professional development, and program evaluation. Through thematic analysis, eight primary themes and three secondary themes were identified, which demonstrate the necessity of ongoing program evaluation balancing the need for standardization with the need to adapt policies to fit local contexts.

Explicit Instruction in Mathematics: Considerations for Virtual Learning

A large number of students with and without disabilities—including students at-risk—are currently learning online through synchronous and/or asynchronous instruction. As such, it is important for educators to be equipped with evidence-based practices—or at the minimum research-based practices—that can be adapted or modified to teach students online, including the area of mathematics. This article discusses how educators can adapt and implement explicit instruction—an evidence-based practice for teaching students with disabilities in mathematics—to educate students with disabilities and those struggling or at-risk in mathematics within an online environment. In addition, this article presents resources for free and paid technology as well as additional considerations when implementing explicit instruction in an online environment.

Making Meaning of the World

The purpose of this chapter is to provide teachers with a guide on how to use novel studies to promote social and emotional learning. Using research-based practices, the teachers outline multiple approaches to the novel Invisible Man ranging from teacher-led discussions to student generated research. The approaches include relevant discussion topics pertaining to social climate and to students' personal identities. Additionally, the teachers provide scaffolded approaches and suggested methods for fostering a culturally responsive classroom through the use of the novel. The overall purpose of the unit is to challenge students to understand those that are both alike and unlike them and to understand how this may affect their life experiences, increasing their social awareness. Though the teachers used Invisible Man as their anchor text, they advise that any complex text that provides students with a new outlook or understanding of the world in which they live will also work effectively.

Conceptualizing Characteristics of Professional Learning in an Online Environment

This chapter describes the intersection between documented research-based practices for effective professional learning and Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's conceptual framework for effective online learning and engagement, known as the community of inquiry (CoI). A social constructivist perspective is used to align the features of effective professional learning (e.g., duration, collaborative participation, active learning, coherence, and content focus) with the three CoI presences (e.g., teaching, social, and cognitive presences). Practical examples of online tools, for both synchronous and asynchronous online professional learning offerings, are discussed and implications for practice and research are presented.

Effectiveness of agricultural extension’s farmer field schools (FFS) in Pakistan: the case of citrus growers of Punjab province

ABSTRACT: Citrus is one of the major exported fruits of Pakistan. Especially Kinnow cultivar is famous across the globe because of its aroma and taste. The overall production of citrus is reported as half of the potential because of the non-adoption of research-based practices and lack of agricultural extension services and training of the citrus growers. In the last few years, the department of agricultural extension has started training programs called Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for citrus growers in the major citrus growing zone of the Punjab province, i.e., Sargodha region. This research was conducted in the Sargodha district to evaluate the knowledge and skills gained by the farmers from the FFS. The interview schedule was designed for the purpose of data collection. The data was collected from 120 farmers randomly selected from 15 FFS in the study area. All the respondents were participants of the FFS. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The Results of the study showed that 40% of the farmers learned about citrus verities, one-third of respondents learned about the management of new plants/orchards, 28% of the respondents got knowledge about the cultivation of fruits, and one-fourth of respondents acquired knowledge and skills about layout and management of citrus orchards. These findings conclude that training course has a positive influence on farmers’ farm management skills; hence emphasize on its persistence and further improvement by the concerned authorities.