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The Dawn of Environmental Human Rights in New York
No full textOn Election Day in 2021, New York\u27s voters added Section 19 to the state\u27s constitutional Bill of Rights. They reaffirmed a human birthright to clean air, clean water and a healthful environment. New York\u27s constitutional Bill of Rights now guarantees the liberty that “each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.
New York\u27s Legislature had previously concurred, recognizing that these rights are “elemental.” At the New York State Bar Association\u27s Environment and Energy Law Section\u27s annual meeting on Jan. 25, 2022, I was privileged to deliver a lecture entitled “A New Era in Environmental Jurisprudence,” about what this Bill of Rights\u27 guarantee provides. Little did I know then that Judge John J. Ark, of the Supreme Court in Monroe County, would later cite this lecture in the first judicial decisions applying New York\u27s newly minted Bill of Rights\u27 assurance of a personal freedom. This article reflects on legal issues that are likely to emerge in ongoing adjudication about New York\u27s environmental right
Attaining the Right to Environment Through Environmental Impact Assessment
Get PDFThe thesis discusses the interconnection between the right to environment and environmental impact assessment (EIA), elaborating their depth and collective potential to effectively address most – if not all – of the complex and interconnected environmental challenges.
Firstly, the thesis explores the evolution of the environmental laws from the year 1900 and provides a unifying synthesis of the diverse environmental components, obligations, rights, and principles within international, regional, and national environmental laws. Secondly, it identifies the right to environment as a unifying and holistic right that integrates these environmental concepts and encapsulates comprehensive environmental protection. Thirdly, it provides a comparison of substantive and procedural components of EIA in the European Union, the United States, and Pakistan, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the EIA legal frameworks within each jurisdiction. Furthermore, it signifies EIA as a unique and comprehensive environmental tool that incorporates all the environmental concepts. Lastly, it presents EIA as the most significant – and perhaps the only – administrative and systematic remedy for protecting, enforcing, and attaining the right to environment
Should Environmental Protection Be Through Anthropocentric Rights?
Get PDFEnvironmental constitutional rights are increasingly used as a strategy to protect the environment, with more than seventy countries acknowledging environmental rights in their constitutions. However, constitutions are inherently anthropocentric, making environmental rights created therein of- ten inseparable from human rights. This paper will examine how environ- mental constitutional rights are insufficient due to the anthropocentric nature of constitutions and argue for the need for a more biocentric approach
An Evaluation of a Teaching Interaction Procedure Implemented in a Recess Setting
Get PDFThe teaching interaction procedure (TIP) is a strategy that has been demonstrated as effective in promoting social skill acquisition in school settings for young students with social communication deficits (Leaf et al., 2009; Leaf et al., 2010). However, a frequently cited criticism of social skills training is the lack of generalizability of target skills to novel contexts (Bellini et al., 2007). The purpose of the study was to evaluate a TIP-based social skills intervention conducted on the playground, intended to promote generalizability through training in naturalistic settings and to evaluate generalizability of skill acquisition to the classroom. Eight students 5-8 years old with an educational classification of autism or developmental delay participated in the study. The primary dependent variable was skill acquisition in the playground setting, and a secondary measure was generalized skill acquisition to the classroom setting. Target skills included appropriate body language, participation, and responding to initiations. A multi-probe design embedded within a multiple baseline design across target skills with concurrent replication across participants was used to evaluate the primary and secondary measures. Overall, results suggest that increases in skill acquisition were observed during implementation of the TIP across most participants and skills in both training and generalization phases. However, substantial variability was noted across participants related to maintaining skill acquisition during maintenance and follow-up phases in both the training and generalization settings. Limitations of these results are discussed as well as implications for school practitioners
The Effect of Token Economies on Student Behavior in the Preschool Classroom: A Meta-Analysis
Get PDFThere has been a recent push in the literature to identify and use more evidence-based practices for positive behavioral supports for challenging student behaviors in the classroom environment. Further, interest in targeting early education environments such as preschool has been growing given the persistence of behavioral difficulties in the absence of early and effective intervention (Campbell & Ewing, 1990; Kazdin, 1987; Powell et al., 2006; Stormont, 2002). Two previous meta-analyses (Maggin et al., 2011; Soares et al., 2016) provided some initial support for effectiveness of token economies with challenging student behavior; however, the inclusion of the preschool setting was limited and both studies used older versions of design standards to evaluate the quality of studies in the literature. The present study served to extend those meta-analyses by targeting preschool classrooms. Further, the current study included the most recent What Works Clearinghouse Design Standards to evaluate whether token economies meet criteria as an evidence-based practice. Ten studies were included in the final analyses. Two sets of effect sizes were calculated: Baseline-Corrected Tau and Hedge’s g. An omnibus effect size showed an overall large effect; however, similar to previous meta-analyses, several methodological concerns were identified. Moderator analyses for several variables were conducted; however, no moderator analyses were significant. Limitations and future directions were discussed
Social-Emotional Interventions for Young Children in Rural Areas: A Single-Case Design Meta-Analysis
Get PDFFor young children with early social-emotional difficulties, early intervention is imperative. A number of interventions are available for young children to promote social-emotional competencies. Yet, little is known regarding the impact of early childhood interventions among rural children. Rural communities have several barriers which impede access to early intervention, and rural children often are at increased risk for social-emotional difficulties. Thus, the purpose of this article is to conduct a meta-analysis of single case design studies of social-emotional interventions that have been implemented within rural settings with young children, in an effort to determine the effects and types of early interventions specific to young children in rural areas. A total of 7 studies with 26 participants and 53 effects comprised the final sample. Findings indicated that all interventions, representing three different component types (i.e., teacher/parent behavior management training, social-emotional competency training, parent involvement/enhancement), produced positive social-emotional outcomes (i.e., improved prosocial behavior and decreased disruptive behavior). Moderating variables (e.g., child characteristics, intervention implementer) that may impact intervention effectiveness were also studied and one variable was significant; specifically, studies published in journals had more impact on outcomes than those which were not published. Implications for future research and policy are provided
Building Foundations for Friendship: Preventing Bullying Behavior in Preschool
Get PDFEarly childhood is an essential time for social-emotional learning and the development of appropriate peer interactions. Preschool children also begin to use more physical and verbal forms of aggression and bullying within their relationships with peers. The Building Foundations for Friendship (BFF) curriculum was designed to teach preschool-aged children appropriate social skills to prevent bullying. The topics discussed in this curriculum include developing friendship skills, identifying various peer interactions, and learning how to appropriately respond to a peer’s aggressive behavior. It was hypothesized that preschool students’ social skills and social behavior would improve after implementation of the BFF curriculum. The participants in this study included 79 preschool students between the ages of 3 and 6. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in social skills and a decrease in problem behavior following intervention. There was not a statistically significant decrease in relational or overt aggression. Implications of the results and future directions are discussed
Impact of Kindergarten Transition Practices in Promoting Positive Behavioral School Readiness Skills
Get PDFSuccessfully adjusting to the behavioral demands of kindergarten is a pivotal, yet challenging, developmental milestone for students, making it imperative that schools have a comprehensive menu of universal transition practices and targeted transition interventions available. This systematic review was conducted to synthesize and evaluate the existing research on the outcomes associated with universal transition practices and targeted transition interventions aimed at improving social-emotional behavioral skills important to the transition to kindergarten. 17 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. Results from this review highlight the utility of targeting self-regulation skills in students transitioning to kindergarten through multi-component interventions that incorporate caregiver involvement. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for practice are discussed
Preparing Practitioners to Work With Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families: Professional Competencies that Result in Positive Outcomes
Get PDFInfants and toddlers who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) are unique in their physical and individual abilities and resources. Their diversity extends beyond hearing levels and involves physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and communicative attributes. Families with newly identified children have a wide range of backgrounds and experiences that influence how they respond to learning that their child is DHH and what they need from professionals in the first few days and months after their baby has been identified. While knowledge and skills generic to the field of early childhood special education provide a foundation for working with these children and their families, there are specialized areas of expertise that are beyond the scope of practice of generically prepared practitioners that are critical to the successful outcomes of infants and toddlers who are DHH. This article will address the areas of professional competencies that are meant to result in positive outcomes for young children who are DHH and their families and how this specialized expertise can be acquired
Educational Strategies for Deaf Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Get PDFIn this paper we highlight some of the difficulties that deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are likely to exhibit in the classroom, such as echolalia and insistence on sameness, deficits in perspective-taking and theory of mind, difficulty producing and comprehending facial expressions and pronouns, articulation difficulties, and challenges with social interaction. For each challenging area we propose educational strategies that teachers may find useful, including video modeling, visual schedules, Social Stories, Power Cards, and peer support groups. We encourage educators to be flexible and creative in their use of multiple teaching strategies with these children, so that we can meet our ultimate goal of serving students’ diverse educational needs more effectively