OR DECADES, the supply of qualified special educators has been critically low. In 1983, the shortage of special educators was highlighted in A Nation at Risk. It is still with us 25 years later and shows no signs of disappearing, and in the coming decades it could well worsen. Although the production of teachers in special education increased during the 1990s, the most recently available data indicate that just .86 teachers were prepared for each available position in special education, while more than twice as many teachers were produced for each available position in elementary educa-A Field at Risk: THE TEACHER SHORTAGE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION A shortage of special education teachers existed in 1983, and the problem persists today. The authors emphasize that there is a pressing need not only to recruit and retain qualified special education teachers but also to diversify the special education teaching force.

We investigated teacher versus student seat selection in the context of group and individual seating arrangements. Disruptive behavior during group seating occurred at twice the rate when students chose their seats than when the teacher chose. During individual seating, disruptive behavior occurred more than three times as often when the students chose their seats. The results are discussed in relation to choice and the matching law.

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The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate measurements of body-fat percentage (BF%) in 4 body-mass-index- (BMI) -based equations and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Ten male and 10 female adults with DS volunteered for this study. Four regression equations for estimating BF% based on BMI previously developed by Deurenberg et al. (DE(BMI-BF%)), Gallagher et al. (GA(BMI-BF%)), Womersley & Durnin (WO(BMI-BF%)), and Jackson et al. (JA(BMI-BF%)) were compared with DXA. There was no significant difference (p = .659) in mean BF% values between JA(BMI-BF%) (BF% = 40.80% ± 6.3%) and DXA (39.90% ± 11.1%), while DE(BMI-BF%) (34.40% ± 9.0%), WO(BMI-BF%) (35.10% ± 9.4%), and GA(BMI-BF%) (35.10% ± 9.4%) were significantly (p < .001) lower. The limits of agreement (1.96 SD of the constant error) varied from 9.80% to 16.20%. Therefore, BMI-based BF% equations should not be used in individuals with DS.

This study examined the effects of text messaging class arrival to an academic counselor on the attendance and punctuality of 4 college student athletes. Each participant had a history of class tardiness and was considered to be at risk for academic failure. Class attendance and punctuality improved for all participants.

This chapter will describe how multiple tiers of increasingly intensive interventions function as early intervening services and how technology can aid in the implementation of multi-tiered interventions. Children who display consistent inappropriate behavior or academic performance, below their peers or benchmark while receiving primary supports, need a secondary intervention that is more focused and intense to reduce problem behavior and remediate the academic deficit and increase appropriate behavior and learning.

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Teacher praise is one of the most important elements of teaching and learning. Behavioral consultation with and without performance has been shown to be an effective method for increasing instructional praise. The authors used an ABCBC design to investigate the effects of an interdependent group oriented contingency (GC) and the GC plus performance feedback (GC+) on the rate of praise per student of six pre-service teacher group leaders during an eight week summer camp for children with disabilities. The results showed that the GC was partially or totally effective in increasing praise for three of the participants over baseline levels and the GC+ was effective in increasing praise of all six participants. The results are discussed within the context of literature on behavioral consultation.