An Analysis of Accommodations Issues from the Standards and Assessments Peer Review. Technical Report 51.
A report commissioned by the Accommodations Monitoring Study Group of the Assessing Special Education Students State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards. It is the second in a three-part series providing information to states about the monitoring of accommodations to address the question of how states meet the NCLB requirement to routinely monitor the extent to which test accommodations are consistent with those provided during instruction, specifically for students with IEPs. This technical report provides a comprehensive analysis of the peer review guidance information and the methodology used in the research, as well as summarizing themes found across multiple peer reviews of state assessment systems. The first report in the series is Hints and Tips for Addressing Accommodations Issues for Peer Review.
Informing School Rehabilitation Professionals
The importance of appropriate use of test accommodations has drawn researchers to look closely for empirical evidence that supports the appropriateness and effectiveness of current accommodation practices over the last three decades. To inform teacher candidates enrolled in special education courses as well as school rehabilitation professionals who may or may not be new to the field, this chapter synthesizes research findings on the effectiveness of major accommodation categories and discusses how to make valid decisions for students with diverse special learning needs.
Influence of starch addition on properties of urea formaldehyde/starch copolymer blends for application as a binder in the coating industry
Urea formaldehyde resin was reactively blended with various concentrations (10 to 70%) of cassava starch in order to develop a paint binder for emulsion paint formulation. Some physical properties and formaldehyde emission of the blended resin were investigated. Viscosity initially decreased before a gradual increase was noted with increase in starch concentration. Refractive index and elongation at break increased initially but gradually decreased with cassava starch content in the blend. Gel time, density, melting point, moisture uptake and formaldehyde emission decreased with increase in starch inclusion. The interaction between the two different polymers shows that 50% starch was the optimal loading inclusion. This new system has advantages of low brittleness, low formaldehyde emission and water reduction characteristics. Therefore the polymer blend can be recommended as binder for coating industry. 
 
   
 
 Key words: Urea formaldehyde, starch, copolymer, binder.