New directions in assessment for students with disabilities

Three influences in American education during the past decade -- increased parental involvement, an emphasis on accountability and student outcomes, and the refinement of assessment technologies -- are reflected in the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [31]. Relevant assessment provisions contained in IDEA 97 are reviewed, including requirements for (a) parental participation in the review and planning of student evaluations and eligibility decisions; (b) the participation of students with disabilities in statewide assessments; (c) the use of assessments that have treatment utility; and (d) data-based evaluation of student progress. Assessment characteristics and methods that are consistent with IDEA 97 requirements are described. Examples include problem-solving assessment; functional behavioral assessment; and direct assessment approaches such as naturalistic observation, analogue assessment, and self-monitoring.     

New directions in child care

SUMMARY. This article examines through examples of child care services the gaps between research findings, child care policies and good practice. Links are made between research studies and Parliamentary enquiries, and the White Paper on Child Care law, concerning Children's Homes, fostering, education and health in care and leaving care The writer proposes that agencies should consider setting up internal means of keeping up to date with and disseminating research into policy and practice, and monitoring performance in relation to research findings, guidelines, legal requirements and inspectorial findings, Linked with internal training and staff development the article concludes that quality services might thus he more readily achieved than at present This article is based on a presentation to the joint Association of Metropolitan Authorities/Association of County Councils/National Children's bureau Child Care Conference on 26 January 1988     

New directions in special education research

The article examines current and emerging trends in special education research. The role of scientific inquiry in shaping educational services for children with disabilities is emphasized, with a dual focus on (a) topic areas that are most fertile for future inquiry and (b) the scientific methods that researchers will use to address those topics.     

New directions in formalization and historical analysis

Theory and Society -     

Behavioral economics and the economics of Keynes

The aim of this paper is two-fold: it first evaluates some of the psychological insights offered by Keynes in his economic theories, and secondly it weighs up these insights in the light of recent research in behavioral and experimental economics. We found that many of the psychological ideas set forth by Keynes in his economic works, especially in The General Theory, have a defensible behavioral foundation and fit broadly the actual behavior of economic agents in the real world as suggested by recent empirical evidence. As a consequence, we argue that Keynesian economics can benefit from this interaction, especially for issues related to judgment under uncertainty and building solid microfoundations for macroeconomics.     

Swinger economics

Swinging is a sexual behaviour of increasing relevance but substantially ignored in theoretical economic investigation. This paper has two major goals. The first is to describe what swinging is, discuss its economic relevance and single out the main characteristics of swinger behaviour. To this end, the Italian situation has been considered as a type of case study. The second goal is to use standard and less-standard tools from economic theory to propose some preliminary assessments of the causes and consequences of swinger couples’ behaviour. In this respect, some contributions on two-sided markets, hedonic adaptation approaches and equilibrium matching models have proved particularly useful.     

Communitarian economics

This paper discusses the role of Communitarian ideas in addressing the central questions of economic policy. Economic policy is never value neutral. One of the classic definitions of economics is “the science of allocating scarce resources to achieve specific ends.” In their eagerness to preserve their scientific status, economists tend to downplay the “ends” part of the definition or simply assume that one can take them for granted as being limited to growing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But in today's political climate of opinion, the question of society's common goals is a matter of passionate intensity.     

Building resiliency: Constructive directions for homeless education

How can schools provide targeted and comprehensive services which promote long-term success for homeless children and youth? This essay reviews the studies of resilient children and youth who thrive in spite of challenging circumstances and develop into healthy adults. Their collective stories provide a constructive framework for building more effective and supportive educational programs. Strategies to enhance individual, family, school and community protective factors are highlighted

I dwell in Possibility A fairer House than Prose More numerous of Windows Superior for Doors. Emily Dickinson (1862)     

Racialized im/migration and autonomy of migration perspectives: New directions and opportunities

Given the surge of nativist politics in the United States today, scholars are increasingly recognizing the importance of the intersections of race and im/migration. Moving beyond the colorblind assimilation and neo‐assimilation theories that dominated the social sciences, critical sociologists have opened up new lines of inquiry that highlight the underlying racialized power and inequalities that structure im/migration incorporation. This article provides an overview of the growing body of literature on racialized im/migration and explores the importance of understanding the racial order through relational racialization and racialized illegality. The article then introduces newly developed autonomy of migration (AoM) theories and their contributions to the materialist study of im/migration and racialized subordination. The article concludes by suggesting that future research attempt to bridge racialized im/migration and autonomy of migration perspectives.     

Behavioral economics: implications for economic theory and policy

The concerns of behavioral economics are considered in the context of the decentralized, private ownership market economy. Modes of adaptive economizing behavior are outlined and their implications for augmenting the classical paradigm outlined. The role of viability mechanisms that indirectly and adaptively coordinate producers and consumers out of equilibrium is emphasized. The destabilizing nature of the creative intelligence and adaptive economizing transforms the world. The example of internal combustion, its effect on agriculture and transportation and the corollary use of resources provides a timely example.     

The deceptively simple economics

conclusion My approach for the first time connects profit maximization to work force composition given full information. Physical productivity, which dominates so much popular dis-cussion of this issue, matters, but demand-side factors are also important. Defining a firm’s optimal work force composition is nonsensical until at least the product’s char-acteristics, the extent to which different markets value them, and the extent to which groups inherently differ in their capacity to provide them are precisely defined.