The shortage of autism specialists and lack of culturally sensitive autism assessment tools are helping to perpetuate racial and ethnic disparities in autism identification and treatment. Using DisCrit as a framework, this quantitative study examined the utility of one autism assessment tool, the Social Responsiveness Scale, second edition (SRS-2)…

This study investigated the determination eligibility practices for Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) within Mississippi school districts, framed by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA) and Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) guidelines. A survey of 139 educational professionals in Mississippi offered insights into…

The number of students struggling with chronic absenteeism, while on the rise prior to COVID-19, appears to have increased dramatically since the onset of the pandemic. This dissertation explores the challenges faced in a suburban middle school in Western New York throughout and following the COVID-19 shutdown. Data from the district's student…

For plant identification in school biology, many digital and analogue identification methods have been developed to make this demanding and little motivating process more student-orientated. In this experimental field study, we examine two empirically developed tools: the digital identification app "ID-Logics' and the paper-based key,…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields face persistent disparities in racial, ethnic and gender representation; these disparities are even more pronounced in computer science (CS) fields where women of color comprise 1 percent or less of all employees. These inequalities, and their causes, are complex, systemic, and result…

Providing foundational academic support to Indiana's culturally and linguistically diverse students is a cornerstone of the state's educational goals. Over 139,000 Indiana students speak a language other than English at home, and there are over 295 different languages represented in Indiana schools. Of these, over 83,000 students have been…

Background: Trauma exposure is common in children and adolescents. Parents and other key adults, such as teachers, are necessary to facilitate help-seeking behavior, which involves recognizing trauma and adverse reactions and awareness of accessing treatments. Where screening measures in schools are used to detect post-traumatic stress disorder…

Background: Students with marginalized identities can experience identity threats in higher education. Instructors can help improve student outcomes by using identity safety cues (ISCs), which signal to marginalized groups that their identities are valued. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether including ISCs in course syllabi…

Relating learned information to similar yet new scenarios, transfer of learning, is a key characteristic of expert reasoning in many fields including medicine. Psychological research indicates that transfer of learning is enhanced via active retrieval strategies. For diagnostic reasoning, this finding suggests that actively retrieving diagnostic…

The provision of applied behavior analytic (ABA) services is a highly efficacious intervention approach most often used to improve the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)/Autistics. Given the advancement of the field, more nuanced skill sets of behavior analysts, such as compassionate care skills, are emerging as the focus of…

Allergic reactions to allergenic foods can pose a lethal threat to children with food allergies. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using behavioral skills training (BST) plus in situ training (IST) to teach safety responses to children. However, there has not been an evaluation of using BST to teach food safety to children…

COVID-19 changed university life worldwide as campuses closed or offered restricted inperson teaching. Whilst early evidence suggests that educational experiences were satisfactory, concerns were raised about the impact of COVID-19 on social and psychological elements of university including student loneliness. We conducted a UK-wide…

School and medical settings often use different identification criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disability affecting social-communication, behavioral patterns, and sensory experiences. Further, individual states may use varied definitions for special education eligibility. On January 1, 2019, the State of Oregon…

This study focused on the experiences of three Asian undergraduate students at a private urban institution in the United States. The findings indicate that the participants' racial, cultural and linguistic identities are dynamic and complex, echoing features indicated by the concept of superdiversity. Yet, under the influences of the rising…

Little information regarding the psychometric properties of the most commonly used autism identification measures used in school settings with traditionally racially and ethnically minoritized (REM) groups is available. This analysis of autism identification measures is particularly important due to the demographic increase in the United States…