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Examined are classroom teachers' perceptions and use of instructional adaptations in general education classes. General educators were found to be positive about the desirability/effectiveness and reasonability/feasibility of making instructional adaptations for students with disabilities. However, research also revealed that when these students are included in general education classrooms, their teachers are unlikely to alter their traditional whole-group instructional strategies in favor of specific individualized adaptations. In interpreting this inconsistency, we found that the literature identified lack of teacher training and limited school support as barriers to classroom teachers' being able to accommodate the individual needs of students in inclusive settings. Implications for practice and for future research are discussed.

There is limited, mainly low-quality evidence, supporting the associations between hospital characteristics and healthcare performance. Further characteristic-specific systematic reviews are indicated.

IT chargeback is generally regarded as a necessary evil in which central IT costs are, as accurately as possible, divided among the business units that benefit from them. In this study of IT chargeback practices at ten large U.S. firms, we found that IT chargeback had the potential to be a valuable management tool. We observed three approaches to chargeback that differed according to their objectives, their policies regarding sourcing and level of accountability, and their administrative processes. While all three approaches led to cost reduction efforts by chargeback statement recipients, they had different impacts on business unit attitudes toward the IT unit. In particular, we found that chargeback could facilitate useful discussions between the IT unit and business units about business priorities and the value of IT services. In most cases, however, chargeback, while encouraging business unit managers to manage the demand for IT services, left them questioning whether the IT unit was effectively managing the supply of those services. Based on these findings we offer recommendations as to how firms can design chargeback systems that will generate positive attitudes and economic returns. Pages

An integrative curriculum strategy emphasizing science process skills and hands‐on activities expanded the time allocated for in‐depth science instruction by replacing a district‐adopted basal reading program with science‐content reading designed to facilitate applied comprehension skills. This study investigated the combined effect of these curricular components (i.e., in‐depth science, science‐content‐based reading) upon student achievement, attitudes, and self‐confidence in both science and reading over the school year. In doing so, teachers in three fourth‐grade classrooms each incorporated applied reading (and language arts) objectives into science reading activities as part of a daily, expanded, in‐depth science teaching block that encompassed the total instructional time originally allocated to reading and science. Using multivariate covariance analysis, results showed that the students in the experimental group, compared to demographically similar controls, not only displayed significantly greater standardized test achievement as measured by the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills reading subtest and the Metropolitan Achievement Test science subtest, but also displayed a more positive attitude toward science and reading and greater self‐confidence in learning science. Implications of the strategy for future curriculum research in science education are discussed.

Summarized are research findings and policy implications obtained over a 5 year period (51 teachers, 1200 students) from the implementation of an in-depth expanded applications of science (IDEAS) model with average, above average, and at-risk students in grades 2-5. The IDEAS model replaced the time allocated for traditional reading/language arts instruction with a daily 2 hour time-block dedicated solely to in-depth science concept instruction which encompassed reading comprehension and language arts skills (e.g. concept-focused teaching, hands-on activities, utilization of science process skills, reading of science print materials, concept map construction, journal writing). The multi-year results revealed a consistent pattern of the model's effectiveness in improving both the science understanding (effects on the Metropolitan Achievement Test-Science ranged from 0.93 to 1.6 grade equivalents) and reading achievement (effects on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills-Reading and the Stanford Achievement Tests-Reading ranged from 0.3 to 0.5 grade equivalents). Participating students also consistently displayed significantly more positive attitudes and self-confidence toward both science and reading. Interpreting the findings, the IDEAS model was considered to provide clear evidence for the importance of focusing the teaching-learning process on the conceptual structure of the curricular knowledge to be learned in a fashion consistent with research and policy issues raised by the recent TIMSS study. Also discussed was the role of the IDEAS model as a means for linking theoretical perspectives from instructional design and cognitive science to science educational reform.