Objectives An important principle in the provision of special education and related services in the United States (U.S.) is ‘least restrictive environment’ (LRE), which states the ideal classroom placement for students with disabilities is with their peers without disabilities. The extant research literature focuses nearly all of its attention on the effects of LRE on classroom learning outcomes. This study differed, however, as it focused on the relationship of LRE to graduation and post-high school outcomes of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who constitute the fastest growing group of U.S. students receiving special education services. Methods Data for U.S. high school students with ASD were analyzed with multilevel logistic regression. Results Students who spent 80% or more of instructional days in classrooms among their peers without disabilities were more likely to graduate from high school and attend college after exiting high school than those who spent less time in those classrooms. Conclusions Schools can find more ways to provide the needed services to students with ASD in classrooms with their peers without disabilities in order to improve graduation and post-school outcomes.

ABSTRACT The economic downturn induced by the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted countries in the Global South, particularly those on the neoliberal periphery, plunging many into a deep crisis. A substantial dimension of this ongoing crisis is rooted in the neoliberal reforms adopted by these countries. Ironically, with support from the International Monetary Fund and other actors, the crisis has facilitated the reimplementation of such reforms under the guise that ‘there is no alternative’. Using Sri Lanka’s public university system as a case study, this conceptual paper examines how crisis-driven neoliberal reforms enable policymakers to further encroach upon ‘public goods’ amid rising neoliberal consciousness among the general public. Drawing on Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial theory, the paper argues that the crisis has created a new Third Space of enunciation, enabling Global North education providers to penetrate the country’s higher education landscape. It shows how the aspirations of postcolonial student-consumers for Anglo-American qualifications facilitate this infiltration, challenging the foundational mission of the public university system as a space for free education and civic engagement. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgency of reimagining a nationalist agenda for public education to resist the expanding influence of Anglo-American educational ‘superiority’ in crisis-ridden, neoliberal Sri Lanka.

ABSTRACT Objective The provision of culturally competent and safe practice is widely regarded as a minimum threshold expectation for psychologists in Australia. To support the growth of a culturally responsive workforce, Higher Education Providers have faced increasing imperatives to embed opportunities for students to cultivate cultural competence from the earliest stages of undergraduate psychology education, through to postgraduate training pathways. However, few studies to date have considered whether factors associated with the development of cultural competence for psychology students differ across the developmental trajectory. Methods Undergraduate (N = 196; 127 women; Mage = 19.9) and postgraduate (N = 30; 26 women; Mage = 27.9) psychology students completed an online questionnaire examining whether a series of individual and trainable cultural factors were differentially associated with cultural competence. Results Among undergraduate psychology students, ethnicity, ethnic belonging, ethnocultural empathy and multicultural self-efficacy were positively associated with cultural competence. Interactions between ethnicity and both ethnic belonging and multicultural self-efficacy were also identified. Multicultural self-efficacy was a stand-alone predictor of cultural competence for postgraduate psychology students. Conclusions These findings suggest that in striving to cultivate a culturally responsive psychology workforce, professional psychology educators would benefit from focusing on ways to enhance multicultural self-efficacy among future psychologists.

The objective of this study was to explore attitudes and beliefs of school-based health center (SBHC) staff about overdose prevention education and medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in SBHCs. We interviewed 13 SBHC staff using a semi-structured interview guide covering the following: youth substance use training, beliefs in and attitudes about overdose prevention, providing MOUD, and interactions with students' families. A hybrid deductive and inductive approach was used to conduct thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: (1) limited experience in providing care or education on opioids and overdose, (2) barriers to implementation of education and MOUD including school administration and operational concerns, (3) overdose prevention and treatment is consistent with existing practices, and (4) confidentiality as a facilitator and barrier of overdose prevention education and MOUD provision. SBHCs are uniquely positioned to provide overdose prevention education and MOUD. Developing, testing, and implementing both interventions should be made in collaboration with youth and SBHC staff.

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education has gained global attention; however, its application in Botswana’s Educational Training Providers (ETPs) remains underexplored. This study investigates the effects of AI, particularly ChatGPT, on student learning and instructional practices. A PRISMA-guided systematic literature review was employed, using Boolean operators to retrieve 53 articles from Google Scholar, from which a sample of 9 highly relevant studies was selected for detailed analysis. Findings reveal that AI enhances personalised learning, improves instructional efficiency, supports research skills, and increases student engagement. However, challenges such as academic integrity risks, cognitive dependency, data privacy concerns, and infrastructural limitations persist. The study concludes that AI presents both opportunities and risks for Botswana’s higher education sector. It recommends the development of ethical frameworks, investment in digital infrastructure, and capacity building to ensure effective and responsible AI integration aligned with evolving educational demands.

Provision of adequate sex education for youth in the US has declined over several decades. Further, Black girls in US schools, in particular, are more likely to be provided poorer quality instruction compared to their peers. The purpose of this study was to describe unmet sex education needs among 453 young adult Black women (YABW) ages 18-22 years across the US. Data were collected in an online study from November to December 2023. Participants provided open-ended responses to a prompt asking what they wished they learned in sex education that they were not taught. Themes were developed using reflexive thematic analysis. Eleven themes were identified including reflections on sex education quality, mechanics of having sex, anatomy and physiology, sexually transmitted infections, emotions about sex, contraception, relationships, concerns about safety, pregnancy, personal health and accessing care, and sexuality and gender identity. Results suggest that sex education in school settings inadequately educates YABW on foundational, relevant, and practical sexual and reproductive health topics. Our findings highlight the need for more practical, women-focused information that meets the needs of YABW sexual and reproductive health concerns. More work across state legislatures is needed to ensure implementation of comprehensive sex education in schools.

A significant number of residents of these regions follow a traditional way of life, which implies constant migration. In such conditions, ensuring children’s right to education and access to compulsory general education inevitably conflicts with the traditional educational practices of preparing children for traditional ways of economic activity and everyday life, which involve the direct transfer of knowledge and learning from fathers to sons and from mothers to daughters. In different Russian regions, this problem is addressed in different ways, which defines the purpose of this study: to analyze the existing regional approaches aimed at resolving this conflict. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the main organizing forms of the provision of general education for children whose families follow a traditional nomadic way of life are boarding school education and the creation of nomadic schools. The existing forms of ensuring the right to general education for children in the regions under consideration represent a certain compromise, since either the quality of education suffers, or the direct transfer of cultural and economic experience from one generation to another is hampered. In addition, the existing limitations of the education system do not always allow for the study of native language and culture within the framework of formal education. The article is addressed to specialists in the ethnography of the peoples of the Far North, Siberia, and the Far East, and to representatives of education authorities.

Background: Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality among women in Nigeria, despite the availability of effective screening. While broader studies in Nigeria have identified general barriers and facilitators, there is limited evidence on actual screening uptake, level of awareness, and the unique socio-cultural and religious factors influencing these behaviours within church communities. Aim: This study assessed the knowledge and uptake of cervical cancer screening and identified influencing factors among women attending selected churches in Umuahia South LGA, Abia State, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was employed. A sample of 289 women aged 18-49 years was selected from five churches using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Analysis involved descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) and inferential statistics (Chi-square tests) using SPSS version 25. Results: Majority were within the age range of 30-34 years, had secondary education (43.6%) and were married (69.9%). While 68.5% had heard of screening, comprehensive knowledge was poor: only 50.5% knew it could be asymptomatic, and 59.5% identified HPV as the cause. Overall, 56.7% had fair knowledge. Screening uptake was critically low at 29.8%. The predominant barriers were lack of detailed knowledge (21.5%), fear of diagnosis/procedure (30.5%), and high cost (11.3%). Key facilitators were a doctor’s recommendation (19.5%), free/low-cost tests (17.6%), and church-based strategies like on-site testing (14.3%) and pastoral encouragement (11.4%). Screening uptake showed no significant association with socio-demographics or knowledge level (p>0.05) but was absolutely dependent on basic awareness (χ²=56.27, p<0.001). Conclusion and Recommendation: A wide awareness-action gap exists, driven by persistent fears, cost, and insufficient knowledge, not by socio-demographics. The church is a dominant information source and a highly acceptable platform for intervention. Concerted efforts integrating targeted church-based education, affordable services, and healthcare provider advocacy are urgently recommended to transform awareness into life-saving screening behaviour.

This study aims to examine how strategic financial management is implemented in Islamic early childhood education and how it contributes to facility development and student enrollment growth. Grounded in a qualitative descriptive case study approach, this research has been performed at an Islamic Integrated Early Childhood Education institution (PAUD Islam Terpadu Cendekia) in Indonesia. Data for this study were derived from in-depth interviews of key institutional actors (the principal or head teacher, treasurer, representatives from the foundation, and teachers), direct observations, and analysis of financial documents of the institution. The study found the following: Financial management allows for coordinated annual planning, with project priorities on facilities determined by functions rather than aesthetics, followed by adaptive strategies to external funding uncertainties, such as delays in government assistance. When the budget is allocated, first comes teacher welfare, followed by learning-sustaining facilities and child safety, while aesthetics come last. The improvements of these facilities do not directly increase enrollment but rather work on parental trust and word-of-mouth recommendations about the institution from their previous experiences and those of others, bypassing marketing activities. This raises further challenges to the traditional assumptions in education finance which have explicitly theorized a direct link from funding to enrollment. Instead, this research shows that funding works through the intervening variable of parental trust on enrollment. In conclusion, strategic and relational financial management is extremely important in sustaining institutional quality and credibility among Islamic early childhood education providers. From here, the research contributes to the educational management science by proposing a refined conceptual model associating strategic planning, facility development, parental trust, and enrollment growth toward faith-based early childhood contexts.

Menstrual cycle irregularities are a prevalent reproductive health issue among adolescent girls, often linked to dietary imbalances that contribute to hormonal disruption and nutrient deficiencies. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between dietary patterns and menstrual cycles among female students at Ambassador High School. A cross-sectional design was employed with stratified random sampling, involving 30 female students. Data were collected using structured questionnaires covering dietary patterns (frequency, food types, nutritional intake, and eating habits) and menstrual cycle characteristics (regularity, duration, and complaints). The Chi-Square test was used to assess associations between variables at a significance level of p < 0.05. Results indicated that 56.7% of respondents had unbalanced diets characterized by high fast-food consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake, and frequent meal skipping. Menstrual cycle irregularities were reported in 60% of respondents. Statistical analysis revealed a Chi-Square value of 4.420 with a p-value of 0.035, confirming a significant relationship between diet and menstrual cycle. Cross-tabulation showed that 76.5% of students with unbalanced diets experienced irregular cycles compared to 38.5% with balanced diets. These findings highlight the importance of nutrition education and healthy food provision in schools to support adolescent reproductive health.

Why does AI overlook other health professionals? Healthcare is a team endeavor. Nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language pathologists all contribute to the care needs of patients, which can be incorporated into AI tools to improve health. For the past 4000 years, healthcare has been inherently interdisciplinary. An ancient Sanskrit text (1) discussed the keys to health and mentioned a four-legged stool: doctors, patients, treatments, and nurses. More recently, the World Health Organization has said that training health providers in interprofessional education is critical. While healthcare is inherently interdisciplinary, recent history has focused research and innovation mostly on physicians and their contributions to health and wellness. Physicians are critical to patient health, but physicians are not the only health professionals who impact patient outcomes.

ACSM Educational Opportunities, Meetings, and Providers

This study explores how local-level infrastructures can better support lifelong development for vulnerable adults by analysing 29 Dutch organisations across three regions. Using a card-sorting method grounded in capability and social skills ecosystem frameworks, the research identifies key systemic weaknesses, particularly in governance, funding, political will, partnerships and monitoring. At the organisational level, outreach and guidance are also perceived as insufficient. Yet differences between work integration, education and welfare organisations reveal opportunities for mutual learning: work-oriented actors excel in flexibility and funding stability; education providers in tailored learning; and welfare groups in trust-building and outreach. Interviewees propose seven key actions to strengthen infrastructures: (1) formalising inclusive governance, (2) aligning lifelong learning with wider political priorities, (3) transitioning to sustainable, regionally pooled funding, (4) embedding learner-centred monitoring systems, (5) building trust-based partnerships, (6) enhancing guidance through dedicated coaches and (7) co-designing proactive outreach. The research also tests an evaluative framework for assessing learning systems, thereby yielding actionable insights. Ultimately, the study underscores that empowering vulnerable adults through learning requires more than educational provision alone; it demands cohesive, place-based ecosystems that integrate social, economic and pedagogical support. Coordinated local action is key to getting it right, together.

Abstract Scholars rightly argue that partiality towards one’s children hinders justice and that some expressions of partiality constitute illegitimate conferrals of advantage. Some have extended this critique to elite educational experiences as a form of unjust advantage conferral. In this paper, I argue that for Black parents, the pursuit of elite educational experiences for their children may function as legitimate partiality and advantage conferral. I motivate my argument in the corrective capability of elite education, both its ability to redress past exclusion and its potential to protect Black people from some societal disadvantage, as well as the operationalization of Blackness that suggests that educational advantage conferral might promote racial advancement. Ultimately, I argue, the provision of elite education for Black families remediates past injustices while mitigating present disparities in ways that redistribute opportunity towards educational justice.

The growing involvement of private agents in the provision and management of public education has reshaped the role of the State and sparked intense debates about its effects on the guarantee of the right to education. This article aims to analyze, through a bibliographic review, the impacts of the privatization of public schools on educational equity in Brazil. From a critical perspective, it discusses how policies of outsourcing, public-private partnerships, and corporate management models influence access, retention, and the quality of education offered to disadvantaged populations. Based on authors such as Ball, Laval, and Saviani, the study shows that market-oriented logic tends to deepen inequalities, fragment educational systems, and weaken the public character of schools. Methodologically, this qualitative bibliographic research analyzes legal documents and recent academic literature. It concludes that privatization undermines the constitutional principle of education as a social right, requiring public policies that strengthen public, free, and socially committed education.

This study investigates how community-based apprenticeship functions as a pedagogical mechanism for developing learners’ uncertainty preparedness and examines its scalability within non-formal education systems in emerging contexts. Adopting a qualitative case study design, this research analyses a community-based apprenticeship program implemented through the collaboration between PKBM Alam Jingga and Rumah Magang Hebat in Indonesia. Data were drawn from a corpus of program documents, including implementation reports, learning modules, and prior empirical studies, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify core learning mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that uncertainty preparedness is developed through three interrelated mechanisms: (1) situated experiential learning within authentic work environments under practitioner mentorship, (2) active engagement in dynamic community-based economic and social practices, and (3) iterative reflective processes that enable learners to interpret and adapt to unpredictable situations. These mechanisms collectively foster adaptive capacity, decision-making competence, social communication, and critical thinking as integrated dimensions of preparedness. The study offers a context-sensitive and resource-efficient model that can be adopted by non-formal education providers, particularly in regions with limited access to formal vocational training, by leveraging local community ecosystems as learning environments. This research advances the conceptualization of apprenticeship by repositioning it from a formal vocational pathway to a flexible, community-embedded pedagogical model, and by operationalizing uncertainty preparedness as a measurable outcome of experiential learning processes. By bridging experiential learning theory with community-based education practices, this study provides an empirically grounded and scalable framework for designing apprenticeship models that respond to the challenges of uncertainty in contemporary education, particularly in developing country contexts.

Bengkulu Province recorded alarming rates of child marriage under the age of 19. Data from the Regional Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Bengkulu Province in 2024 showed 625 cases of child marriage under the age of 19. Seluma Regency recorded 158 cases, followed by North Bengkulu with 104 cases, Kepahiang with 79 cases, and Bengkulu City with 72 cases. These figures indicate that child marriage remains a serious problem in various regions in Bengkulu (Ministry of Religious Affairs of Bengkulu Province, 2024). The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the role of health workers and the provision of reproductive health education and early marriage in the Selebar District, Bengkulu City, in 2025. The study used a cross-sectional design, with data collected by distributing questionnaires to 99 married couples registered at the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) in Selebar District, Bengkulu City, using a simple random sampling technique. Univariate analysis results indicate that the majority of respondents (65.7%) in the Selebar District Work Area, Bengkulu City, in 2025, have a positive role for health workers. Nearly half (51.5%) of respondents (51.5%) reported adequate reproductive health education, and almost all (80.8%) respondents (80.8%) did not engage in early marriage. Bivariate analysis results revealed a significant relationship between the role of health workers (p-value = 0.000) and reproductive health education (p-value = 0.001) and early marriage in the Selebar District Work Area, Bengkulu City, in 2025.Health workers should enhance their role in preventing early marriage through sustainable, structured, and easily understood reproductive health education.

Professional support is an important strategy to improve the retention of rural doctors. However, it is poorly defined and understood within the context of rural medicine making it challenging to design and implement. This research aimed to explore what professional support entails and how it works and in what context, to improve whole of rural medical workforce retention. An online expression of interest was circulated to 143 organisations/key informants potentially involved in professional support activities to which 87 replied. Thirty-three of the longest running and comprehensive professional support activities spread across different medical specialties and career stages, locations and target cohorts were selected. Respondents participated in up to two 1-h semi-structured interviews. Realist evaluation involved drawing out patterns about how professional support worked in what context to drive retention of rural doctors, to develop theory. The theory was developed, refined and confirmed with insights from an internal reference and external project advisory group. A whole of medical workforce conceptualisation of professional support was defined identifying that in the context of rural medicine, three categories of professional support could drive longer term retention of rural doctors in rural work. These were lifelong career support, sustainable practise support and healthcare and social support. Together, these categories are likely to co-stimulate generative mechanisms (rural doctors' sense of comfort, confidence, competence, belonging and bonding) to promote shorter term outcomes of feeling valued and connected on the path to longer term retention. Professional support interventions could be scaled up or down over time and should be responsive to the breadth and complexity of work of rural doctors, their level of isolation/autonomy and their socio-cultural stresses. The findings articulate the concept of professional support across the rural medical workforce. The results suggest that professional support could be bundled and scaled up or down to address the holistic needs of individual doctors to generate better retention. The theory clarifies a range of professional support activity which could be coordinated through health services, education providers, government and wider agencies to more systematically ensure rural medicine is sustainable.

ABSTRACTBackgroundResearch suggests that healthcare professionals find it more difficult to correctly diagnose dermatological conditions in the nonwhite patient demographic. People of colour experience higher rates of delayed and misdiagnosis, contributing to an increased mortality risk and increased health inequalities that remain widespread throughout the health care setting. This study aimed to investigate podiatry student's ability, confidence, approaches and perceptions in diagnosing dermatology pathologies in different skin tones.MethodsA mixed methods explanatory sequential design was undertaken with pre‐registration podiatry students from universities across South‐central England. Participants completed a validated pictorial multiple‐choice questionnaire comprising six images of either eczema or psoriasis in three different skin tone categories: light, medium or dark. Results were used to inform focus groups and a process of thematic analysis explored participants perceptions surrounding their diagnostic approaches and underpinning confidence.ResultsThe medium skin tone (Fitzpatrick groups III/IV) was associated with the most correct responses for psoriasis (69%) followed by light skin tone (Fitzpatrick groups I/II) with 48%. Psoriasis in darker skin tones (Fitzpatrick groups V/VI) received the least correct responses (3%). In eczema, results were more evenly spread with darker skin tones (Fitzpatrick groups V/VI), receiving a slightly higher percentage of correct diagnoses (39%). Qualitative analysis revealed two emergent themes: (i) reports on confidence and apprehension and (ii) limitations in education provision: each with a series of sub‐themes. Participants reported barriers to their diagnostic ability included an underrepresentation of dark skin tones in medical images and inadequate exposure to pathology on patients with dark skin tones.ConclusionsThere was a notable lack of confidence in participants’ ability to correctly diagnose dermatological pathology, particularly in dark skin tones. This study addresses the research gap in podiatric health inequalities and pinpoints the associated educational shortcomings from the podiatry education perspective.

Expectant parents report negative experiences of receiving prenatal screening outcomes that indicate a higher-than-expected risk of a genetic condition or anomaly-an unexpected result. Despite clinicians' key role in delivering prenatal screening results, there is limited research on their perspectives regarding their own experiences, knowledge and access to resources and referral information. This study aimed to explore clinicians' experiences discussing and delivering genetic screening results and their access to resources. The present study addresses this gap through a mixed-methods study comprising a cross-sectional survey (n = 51) and qualitative interviews with a subset of respondents (n = 12) to explore their experiences in depth. Quantitative analyses provided descriptive statistics and tested the association of support resources with clinicians' confidence and perceived challenges. Only 55% of clinicians were confident explaining screening and 59% when delivering unexpected results. Only 41% reported they had adequate resources for delivering unexpected results, and 53% had not directed patients to any support services for prenatal screening decision-making in the last 12 months. Resource access was significantly associated with increased confidence (p = 0.029) and decreased perceived challenge (p = 0.013). Qualitative data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. Findings show that clinicians are concerned about their knowledge limitations in the context of evolving testing modalities, challenged by fragmented care and communication, and commonly conflate unexpected results with bad news. Structural and ideological challenges contextualise clinicians' lack of confidence in delivering unexpected results. Clinicians' difficulties and varied approaches to accessing resources and referring patients highlight a need for the provision of education and standardised pathways to improve the experience for expectant parents.