No abstract

Minimum competency testing is currently a reality in American education; the practice presents a number of problems for regular class and handicapped students. In this research, the mathematics performance of learning disabled (LD) students and their nondisabled peers on the Florida State Student Assessment Test-II (SSAT-II) was evaluated, and employers' opinions about the importance of mathematical skills assessed on the SSAT-II were analyzed. It was reasoned that information such as this would provide valuable benchmarks for use in planning, organizing, and implementing educational programs for high school students. Skill performance and mastery scores were tabulated and compared for adolescents classified as learning disabled and their regular class peers; the relative importance of various skills to employers was also tabulated and compared. Strengths and weaknesses in basic math competencies were identified and relations among these skill performances and employer opinions were identified. In general, LD students performed better on skills requiring literal use of numbers and worse on skills requiring application of mathematical knowledge. Employers' ratings of the extent to which various skills were required in the world of work supported the importance of competence in these basic skills.

Summary To better understand outcomes in postpartum patients who receive peripartum anaesthetic interventions, we aimed to assess quality of recovery metrics following childbirth in a UK‐based multicentre cohort study. This study was performed during a 2‐week period in October 2021 to assess in‐ and outpatient post‐delivery recovery at 1 and 30 days postpartum. The following outcomes were reported: obstetric quality of recovery 10‐item measure (ObsQoR‐10); EuroQoL (EQ‐5D‐5L) survey; global health visual analogue scale; postpartum pain scores at rest and movement; length of hospital stay; readmission rates; and self‐reported complications. In total, 1638 patients were recruited and responses analysed from 1631 (99.6%) and 1282 patients (80%) at one and 30 days postpartum, respectively. Median (IQR [range]) length of stay postpartum was 39.3 (28.5–61.0 [17.7–513.4]), 40.3 (28.5–59.1 [17.8–220.9]), and 35.9 (27.1–54.1 [17.9–188.4]) h following caesarean, instrumental and vaginal deliveries, respectively. Median (IQR [range]) ObsQoR‐10 score was 75 ([62–86] 4–100) on day 1, with the lowest ObsQoR‐10 scores (worst recovery) reported by patients undergoing caesarean delivery. Of the 1282 patients, complications within the first 30 days postpartum were reported by 252 (19.7%) of all patients. Readmission to hospital within 30 days of discharge occurred in 69 patients (5.4%), with 49 (3%) for maternal reasons. These data can be used to inform patients regarding expected recovery trajectories; facilitate optimal discharge planning; and identify populations that may benefit most from targeted interventions to improve postpartum recovery experience.

The authors provide results of a study analyzing special educator's beliefs regarding special and general educators' skills in implementing legal mandates described in Public Law 105-17, the individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '97). The authors compare how preservice and practicing special educators approach legal mandates, and what special educators perceive to be the influence of their preservice preparation andlor continuing professional development opportunities on satisfying legal requirements. The groups shared similar, negative perceptions regarding their general education counterparts' skills to adapt general education curricula and to accommodate student needs for statewide assessments. The groups differed in their responses to a number of items regarding student suspensions and the appropriateness of general education preparation programs to meet the needs of students with disabilities. There appears to be a continued division between general and special educators. Preservice and inservice programs should be designed to integrate general and special educators in order to unify the service delivery systems.