\u3ci\u3eTea, Tao, & Andrew Botts\u3c/i\u3e

Andrew Botts pushed the books off his desk in a fit of pique

Educator Perceptions of Instructional Leadership in the School Improvement Process

The purpose of this case study was to conduct an investigation of educator perceptions of instructional leadership in the school improvement process. Interviews were conducted with educators and an administrator in a small, rural high school in Middle Tennessee. In 2010, the high school was labeled as a low performing school by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE). In 2014, Commissioner Kevin Huffman announced the school was on the TDOE Reward School Cusp List for being in the top 10% of schools based on one-year progress data from the Tennessee Value-added Assessment System (TVAAS) school composites. Participants of this case study shared experiences and opinions of the instructional leadership utilized by the school principal. As indicated in the findings of this study, instructional leadership practices are crucial in the school improvement process. The key themes related to indicators of sound instructional leadership practices were: maintaining a culture of continuous school improvement, having every faculty member participate in the development and implementation of the school improvement plan, knowing how to use data to make crucial decisions, developing leadership capacity in the school, and being an engaged leader during the school improvement process. Developing a qualitative understanding of the perceptions of effective instructional leadership will enhance greater understanding of leadership practices in the school improvement process

The Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Appeal of Pediatric Echocardiography Protocol Training for First Year Pediatric Cardiology Fellows

Echocardiography training for pediatric cardiology fellows is complex and academic hospitals strive to provide high-quality training using limited resources. The purpose of this embedded single case study design was to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal of a newly developed 10-day echocardiography protocol learning module for first year pediatric cardiology fellows. Using blended learning methods that included didactic lectures, online learning activities, and interactive games, the learning module was the first step in the process of training pediatric cardiology fellows to perform echocardiograms independently with limited supervision during their first year of fellowship. At the end of the 10-day module, the cardiology fellows successfully learned the pediatric echocardiography protocol and were able to begin applying their new knowledge in the echocardiography laboratory. Results from the qualitative evaluation confirmed that the learning module was effective, efficient, and appealing

An Army of One... With Dependents: A History of the Army Family

Family members have accompanied the army for the entire 227-year history of the organization. This thesis outlines the formation of the army family and its continuation through times of peace and war. It establishes the army family as a community based on the existence of three elements: geographic location, social interaction, and common ties. The results of the research for this paper establish a common experience among the members of the army family that exists throughout history and is a vital part of the success and continuation of the community

Educator Perceptions of Instructional Leadership in the School Improvement Process

The purpose of this case study was to conduct an investigation of educator perceptions of instructional leadership in the school improvement process. Interviews were conducted with educators and an administrator in a small, rural high school in Middle Tennessee. In 2010, the high school was labeled as a low performing school by the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE). In 2014, Commissioner Kevin Huffman announced the school was on the TDOE Reward School Cusp List for being in the top 10% of schools based on one-year progress data from the Tennessee Value-added Assessment System (TVAAS) school composites. Participants of this case study shared experiences and opinions of the instructional leadership utilized by the school principal. As indicated in the findings of this study, instructional leadership practices are crucial in the school improvement process. The key themes related to indicators of sound instructional leadership practices were: maintaining a culture of continuous school improvement, having every faculty member participate in the development and implementation of the school improvement plan, knowing how to use data to make crucial decisions, developing leadership capacity in the school, and being an engaged leader during the school improvement process. Developing a qualitative understanding of the perceptions of effective instructional leadership will enhance greater understanding of leadership practices in the school improvement process

Factors Affecting Transmission Mode Evolution In Symbioses

Symbiosis, where organisms of different species live closely together, is ubiquitous in our world. It is thought that all multicellular organisms engage in symbiosis, in relationships where the symbiont\u27s effect on the host ranges from beneficial (mutualism) to neutral (commensalism) to harmful (parasitism), and can even switch between mutualism and parasitism, depending on environmental conditions (conditional mutualism). Symbiosis can also have a large, though generally beneficial, impact on the symbiont\u27s fitness, and can further affect third parties who interact with the host or symbiont. The manner in which symbionts are transmitted between hosts can affect not only the distribution of symbionts (and hosts) but also selection on the costs and benefits of the interaction. For example, symbionts are that are transmitted from parent to offspring (vertical transmission) are predicted to evolve to benefit their hosts, while symbionts that are transmittted between unrelated individuals (horizontal transmission) are predicted to evolve intermediate virulence that maximizes their ability to infect new hosts. Understanding transmission evolution is thus important to predicting the ultimate fate of symbioses. I investigate three aspects of transmission evolution. First, since transmission evolution is known to depend on whether it is under host or symbiont control, I used phylogenetic methods to estimate control of transmission in the symbiosis between cool-season grasses (subfamily Pooideae) and their fungal endophytes (genus Epichloe). I found a signal of joint control of transmission, suggesting that the interaction of host and symbiont traits may determine the transmission mode. Second, while a great deal of theory exists about transmission evolution under different types of control in parasitic and mutualistic symbioses, less is known about transmission evolution in conditional mutualisms. These symbioses pose a problem for hosts, who benefit from acquiring the symbiont only in environments where it is beneficial. I modeled transmission evolution in a context-dependent interaction where symbiont quality varied in space and found that the aspect of host fitness the symbiont affects determines host transmission evolution. When the symbiont affects lifespan, but not fecundity, hosts are able to use horizontal transmission to contain the symbiont to the location where it is beneficial. Because environments can vary in time as well as space, I lastly modeled transmission evolution in a conditional mutualism in a spatially and temporally variable environment. In this case, I found that environmental synchronicity could allow hosts to evolve vertical transmission at high newborn host dispersal rates, where ordinarily parent and offspring environments would be too uncorrelated to allow for vertical transmission as a method of symbiont containment. I also found an emergent trade-off in hosts between horizontal and vertical transmission, suggesting that physiological constraints are not required to produce apparent constrains on the total amount of transmission

Predictors of Body Dissatisfaction in Trans Men and Women

Body dissatisfaction has been found to affect individuals regardless of gender or sexual identity. However, research on body dissatisfaction among transgender men and women is lacking despite findings that these individuals experience body dissatisfaction to a greater extent than cisgender men and women. This study used hierarchical regression to explore whether factors associated with Objectification Theory, ones experience of gender related violence, whether one has undergone medical transition, and the extent to one identifies with stereotypical feminine or masculine norms predicted body dissatisfaction in a sample of 140 transgender men and 94 transgender women women. Results suggest that factors related to Objectification Theory, particularly internalization of the thin ideal, internalization of the muscular ideal, and perceived media pressure predict body dissatisfaction in transgender men and women. Moreover, among transgender women, having experienced gender related violence predicted greater body dissatisfaction, whereas having undergone some form of medical transition predicted lower levels of body dissatisfaction. Clinical and research implications and limitations of the findings are discussed

Evaluating Potential Plant Hormone Cross Talk between Auxin and Ethylene in Arabidopsis

Auxin is the primary hormone responsible for plant growth and development. Regulation of auxin-response genes occurs through transcriptional activators (auxin response factors called ARFs) which bind to auxin response elements (AuxREs). Some auxin-responsive genes encode aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase (ACS) enzymes which regulate the production of the plant hormone ethylene. The major research objective was to evaluate transcriptional cross talk between auxin and ethylene. Both AuxREs and ethylene response elements were found in several ACS and ARF genes, suggesting cross talk between the two hormones at the transcriptional level. Analysis of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants deficient in ARF7 and containing a reporter gene for the ACS5 expression were used to evaluate cross talk supports ARF7 regulation of ACS5 expression after auxin treatment in dark-grown seedlings and during flower development in light-grown seedlings, but do not show a strong association with gravitropism and wounding responses