The Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities in Christian Schools

The adoption of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act, now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), have had a major impact on the delivery of services for children with special needs.

In light of the legal issues surrounding the delivery of special education to children who attend Christian schools, the remainder of this article is divided into two parts. The first section opens with an overview of relevant litigation pertinent to special education before reviewing Sections 504 and the IDEA, along with its regulations, as they apply to religious schools. The second part offers practical suggestions for educators in Christian elementary and secondary schools as they work to serve children with special needs.     

Swimming serenely in a sea of words: Sexism,communication, and precarious couples

When critical, verbally disinhibited women pair with verbally inhibited men, relationship quality suffers, rendering the relationship precarious. The interpersonal and personal antecedents of this precarious couple effect were examined. It was found that the precarious couple effect was partially mediated by unhealthy communication patterns, specifically, the absence of mutual constructive criticism and the presence of a woman‐demand/man‐withdraw pattern. It is proposed further that such unhealthy communication patterns emerge because inhibited men who endorse traditional conceptions of sex roles are dissatisfied with relatively disinhibited women who are also critical, setting in motion a chain of unhealthy communication patterns. Results were generally consistent with this prediction. Implications for understanding the role of sexism and personality mismatch in relationships are discussed.     

Matrix correlation

A correlational measure for ann byp matrixX and ann byq matrixY assesses their relation without specifying either as a fixed target. This paper discusses a number of useful measures of correlation, with emphasis on measures which are invariant with respect to rotations or changes in singular values of either matrix. The maximization of matrix correlation with respect to transformationsXL andYM is discussed where one or both transformations are constrained to be orthogonal. Special attention is focussed on transformations which causeXL andYM to ben bys, wheres may be any number between 1 and min (p, q). An efficient algorithm is described for maximizing the correlation betweenXL andYM where analytic solutions do not exist. A factor analytic example is presented illustrating the advantages of various coefficients and of varying the number of columns of the transformed matrices.This research was supported by grant APA 0320 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. The authors wish to acknowledge valuable discussion of this problem with Jan de Leeuw, University of Leiden.     

The effect of number of categories in rating scales on precision of estimation of scale values

The precision of scale value estimates using maximum likelihood estimation is examined for varying numbers of categories, varying discriminal dispersions and with and without category boundary estimation. It is concluded that this type of estimation is somewhat unsatisfactory if boundaries are estimated unless these are of specific interest. If they are not estimated, it is concluded that using seven or more categories provides very nearly as much precision of estimate as a corresponding continuous judgment task.This research was supported by National Research Council of Canada Grant A0320 to the author.     

Monotone spline transformations for dimension reduction

Consider a set of data consisting of measurements ofn objects with respect top variables displayed in ann ×p matrix. A monotone transformation of the values in each column, represented as a linear combination of integrated basis splines, is assumed determined by a linear combination of a new set of values characterizing each row object. Two different models are used: one, an Eckart-Young decomposition model, and the other, a multivariate normal model. Examples for artificial and real data are presented. The results indicate that both methods are helpful in choosing dimensionality and that the Eckart-Young model is also helpful in displaying the relationships among the objects and the variables. Also, results suggest that the resulting transformations are themselves illuminating.     

Analysis of pairwise preference data using integrated B-splines

Pairwise preference data are represented as a monotone integral transformation of difference on the underlying stimulus-object or utility scale. The class of monotone transformations considered is that in which the kernel of the integral is a linear combination of B-splines. Two types of data are analyzed: binary and continuous. The parameters of the transformation and the underlying scale values or utilities are estimated by maximum likelihood with inequality constraints on the transformation parameters. Various hypothesis tests and interval estimates are developed. Examples of artificial and real data are presented.This investigation was supported in part by a research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canada.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A JOB ANALYSIS-BASED PROCEDURE FOR WEIGHTING AND COMBINING CONTENT RELATED TESTS INTO A SINGLE TEST BATTERY SCORE

By definition, content-related approaches to test validation do not rely on criterion data. As a consequence, regression and other statistical procedures for weighting and generating a composite score from a test battery are not applicable when a content-related validation strategy is used. This paper presents a procedure for determining the component weights for a test battery that has been developed on the basis of a content-related validity strategy. The Relative Content Contribution (RCC) weighting procedure is a logical extension of the conceptual basis underlying the rational developmental process used to demonstrate the validity of content-related tests. Results from field implementations of the procedure in the development of two promotional test batteries (fire and police) and an entry-level test battery (police) in two large metropolitan cities are presented to illustrate the procedure.     

Supervision groups for health advisers working with patients with HIV disease

This paper describes a case supervision group with health advisors working in a clinic specializing in the treatment of patients with HIV Infection. Themes discussed in the group are presented with an evaluation of the group intervention, some consideration of group process and the health advisers views on their work. This is discussed in relation to present research into occupational stress in this field.