Microfilm and Microfacsimile Publications

published or submitted for publicatio

Program Accountability in Teacher Education: A Study of the Perceptions of University and State Government Leaders in the State of Washington

This dissertation explored the perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs in the State of Washington across three different stakeholder groups: university deans and/or program directors, legislators, and executive staff members (Governor). This qualitative study involved three (3) rounds of interviews. First, individual open-ended interviews were conducted with 30 individuals (10 Washington state legislators, 5 executive staff members, and 15 university deans/program directors). Second, individual follow-up interviews were conducted with 5 participants from the first round of interviews. Third, a focus group comprised of the same 5 participants from the follow-up interviews were asked for even deeper specifications and insights from the individual interviews. This provided a method of triangulation for validating data obtained from the individual interviews with different stakeholders. It is hoped that this dissertation provided previously unavailable data and new insights about stakeholders\u27 perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs. It provided data of value to both current and future leaders in teacher education programs as well as state government as they attempt to enact accountability policies and programs. It provided valuable information about the perspectives of those individuals directly responsible for developing and implementing the programs within and outside teacher education institutions. This study also provided other stakeholder groups, such as accrediting agencies and educational governing boards, the opportunity to examine the perceptions of Washington state university and government leaders. Hopefully, this dissertation opened the door to recommendations leading to policy improvement and program enhancement. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLINK ETD Center, www.etd.ohiolink.edu

Program Accountability in Teacher Education: A Study of the Perceptions of University and State Government Leaders in the State of Washington

This dissertation explored the perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs in the State of Washington across three different stakeholder groups: university deans and/or program directors, legislators, and executive staff members (Governor). This qualitative study involved three (3) rounds of interviews. First, individual open-ended interviews were conducted with 30 individuals (10 Washington state legislators, 5 executive staff members, and 15 university deans/program directors). Second, individual follow-up interviews were conducted with 5 participants from the first round of interviews. Third, a focus group comprised of the same 5 participants from the follow-up interviews were asked for even deeper specifications and insights from the individual interviews. This provided a method of triangulation for validating data obtained from the individual interviews with different stakeholders. It is hoped that this dissertation provided previously unavailable data and new insights about stakeholders\u27 perceptions of accountability in teacher education programs. It provided data of value to both current and future leaders in teacher education programs as well as state government as they attempt to enact accountability policies and programs. It provided valuable information about the perspectives of those individuals directly responsible for developing and implementing the programs within and outside teacher education institutions. This study also provided other stakeholder groups, such as accrediting agencies and educational governing boards, the opportunity to examine the perceptions of Washington state university and government leaders. Hopefully, this dissertation opened the door to recommendations leading to policy improvement and program enhancement. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLINK ETD Center, www.etd.ohiolink.edu

Photocopies from Abroad, Directory of Photocopying and Microcopying Services (Book Review)

published or submitted for publicatio

A Discussion Of The Mental Health Of Public School Teachers

It has been suggested that public school teachers are exposed to highly stressful situations which are related to psychological and psychiatric problems. Unfortunately, there is no quantitative data suggesting which factors contribute to improving the mental health of American teachers, nor have there been any prior studies that have directly compared the factors associated with mental health disturbances between teachers and workers in other occupations in the United States. In light of this, I felt it crucial to find the factors associated with psychological/psychiatric problems in public school teachers in the United States using an appropriate reference professional group

Evaluation of the immune response to RTS,S/AS01 and RTS,S/AS02 adjuvanted vaccines : randomized, double-blind study in malaria-naïve adults

This phase II, randomized, double-blind study evaluated the immunogenicity of RTS, S vaccines containing Adjuvant System AS 01 or AS 02 as compared with non-adjuvanted RTS, S in healthy, malaria-naive adults (NCT00443131). Thirty-six subjects were randomized (1:1:1) to receive RTS, S/AS 01, RTS, S/AS 02, or RTS, S/saline at months 0, 1, and 2. Antibody responses to Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite (CS) and hepatitis B surface (HBs) antigens were assessed and cell-mediated immune responses evaluated by flow cytometry using intracellular cytokine staining on peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Anti-CS antibody avidity was also characterized. Safety and reactogenicity after each vaccine dose were monitored. One month after the third vaccine dose, RTS, S/AS 01 (160.3 EU/mL [95%CI: 114.1-225.4]) and RTS, S/AS 02 (77.4 EU/mL (95%CI: 47.3-126.7)) recipients had significantly higher anti-CS antibody geometric mean titers (GMTs) than recipients of RTS, S/saline (12.2 EU/mL (95%CI: 4.8-30.7); P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0011, respectively). The anti-CS antibody GMT was significantly higher with RTS, S/AS 01 than with RTS, S/AS 02 (P = 0.0135). Anti-CS antibody avidity was in the same range in all groups. CS- and HBs-specific CD4(+) T cell responses were greater for both RTS, S/AS groups than for the RTS, S/saline group. Reactogenicity was in general higher for RTS, S/AS compared with RTS, S/saline. Most grade 3 solicited adverse events (AEs) were of short duration and grade 3 solicited general AEs were infrequent in the 3 groups. No serious adverse events were reported. In conclusion, in comparison with non-adjuvanted RTS, S, both RTS, S/AS vaccines exhibited better CS-specific immune responses. The anti-CS antibody response was significantly higher with RTS, S/AS 01 than with RTS, S/AS 02. The adjuvanted vaccines had acceptable safety profiles

Crystal Symmetry Lowering in Chiral Multiferroic Ba3_3TaFe3_3Si2_2O14_{14} observed by X-Ray Magnetic Scattering

Chiral multiferroic langasites have attracted attention due to their doubly-chiral magnetic ground state within an enantiomorphic crystal. We report on a detailed resonant soft X-ray diffraction study of the multiferroic Ba$_3$TaFe$_3$Si$_2$O$_{14}$ at the Fe $L_{2,3}$ and oxygen $K$ edges. Below $T_N$ ($\approx27K$) we observe the satellite reflections $(0,0,\tau)$, $(0,0,2\tau)$, $(0,0,3\tau)$ and $(0,0,1-3\tau)$ where $\tau \approx 0.140 \pm 0.001$. The dependence of the scattering intensity on X-ray polarization and azimuthal angle indicate that the odd harmonics are dominated by the out-of-plane ($\mathbf{\hat{c}}$-axis) magnetic dipole while the $(0,0,2\tau)$ originates from the electron density distortions accompanying magnetic order. We observe dissimilar energy dependences of the diffraction intensity of the purely magnetic odd-harmonic satellites at the Fe $L_3$ edge. Utilizing first-principles calculations, we show that this is a consequence of the loss of threefold crystal symmetry in the multiferroic phase