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Role Of Non-Coding Rna Nc4 In Mll And Cyp33 Mediated Regulation Of Hoxc8, Jessica Arvindbhai Solanki

Dissertations

MLL or Mixed Lineage Leukemia gene is clinically known for its involvement in genetic translocation with more than 70 different partners identified each giving rise to a highly leukemogenic fusion protein. With a poor prognosis of MLL related leukemia, an investigation into its role during hematopoiesis has been a very active field of research. In order to design strategies to combat the MLL leukemia, it becomes essential to delineate the molecular mechanisms behind the function of MLL wild type protein. Wild type MLL is a transcriptional maintenance protein from the Trithorax Group (TrxG) that resides in complex with other chromatin …

Mechanism For Pre-B Cell Loss In Mutant Ali/Ali Rabbits, Gregory Robert Robbins

Dissertations

Pre-B cell receptor (pre-BCR) signaling is a critical checkpoint in B cell development in which B-lineage cells expressing functional μ-chains undergo selective expansion. My dissertation work used a rabbit model system to study how VH structure affects the early stages of B cell development in the bone marrow (BM). Developing B cells in mutant ali/ali rabbits predominantly utilize VH4 during VDJ gene rearrangement. However, most of the VH4-utilizing B cells encounter a severe block early in B cell development. In contrast, wildtype rabbit B cells predominantly rearrange VH1, a gene >90% identical to VH4, and develop normally. We hypothesized that …

Familial Influences On The Coping Strategies Of African American Youth From Foster Care Families And Biological Families, Cynthya Campbell

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to examine the impact of three parental factors: caregiver socialization of coping, caregiver modeling of coping and caregiver/child relationship (i.e. parent support) on coping strategies of African American youth in foster care and those who reside with at least on biological parent. Approximately, 110 African American children and adolescents and their caregivers reported on coping strategies used to manage stressors and stress-evoking events. Controlling for SES, child age and child gender, regression analyses were conducted to determine whether youth residing in foster care reported less attachment and less caregiver socialization of coping as …

From Classroom To Workplace: Becoming A Social Worker, Sarah Louise Hessenauer

Dissertations

This exploratory qualitative study examines the key educational experiences that graduated bachelor level social workers identified as being most helpful to them in their current social work careers. Twenty traditional aged social workers who graduated from CSWE accredited, bachelor level, social work programs in the last 4 to 24 months and who had been working in a social work agency for a minimum of three months were asked to voluntarily participate in the study. The social workers participated in one-on-one interviews in which they were asked to describe their educational experiences and their beliefs about how those experiences supported them …

Autonomy Through Social Skill Development: A Camp Intervention For Young People With Spina Bifida, Lauren Nicole Zurenda

Dissertations

Spina bifida is a complex condition that presents multiple physical and psychosocial challenges to autonomy development. Pediatric psychology may play a role in promoting autonomy development in this population through the implementation of empirically-supported, developmentally-appropriate, and syndrome-specific interventions. The current study was one attempt to meet the need for such interventions.

This study represents one step in a line of intervention research designed to promote autonomy gains among young people with spina bifida. Its purpose was to evaluate a manual-based curriculum as a part of a one-week long overnight camp exclusively for young people with spina bifida. It was hypothesized …

Molecular Expression Of Neuroprotective And Neurodestructive Signaling Systems Following Axotomy-Induced Target Disconnection: Relevance To Als, Melissa Marie Haulcomb

Dissertations

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is the most common adult motoneuron (MN) degenerative disease. Discovery of a portion of familial cases with a mutation in the gene superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) gene led to the development of a transgenic mouse model. Pre-symptomatic SOD1 mice show no symptoms well into adulthood, however once symptom onset has occurred they display pathological hallmarks of ALS. The initial pathological event is loss of neuromuscular junctions in the lower limbs and therefore the die-back theory of ALS, suggests disconnection from the target musculature leads to MN degeneration. Our lab utilizes a peripheral nerve injury model to …

Considering Care: Infant Teachers, Reflective Function And The Care Environment In Child Care Centers, Cynthia C. Jurie

Dissertations

The present study sought to explore infant teachers' understanding of the mental states of the infants in their care in child care centers. The goal of the study was to examine whether reflective function could be assessed through semi-structured interviews with infant teachers and whether the care environment of the center was

influential in supporting reflective capacity. To assess the care environment provided by the child care center, director interviews, teacher and director questionnaires and subscales of the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, Revised (Harms, Cryer &

Clifford, 2003) were used. Participants in this study were 25 infant teachers and 24 …

The Impact Of Using Formative Assessment Attributes In Daily Instruction On Student Affect, Joshua William Ruland

Dissertations

The main focus of the research was to determine if the systematic use of formative assessment attributes had an impact on two affective variables--Academic Efficacy and Eagerness to Learn. Both the control and experimental students' affect was measured using a pre and post test administration of the Student Affect Inventory created by Popham and Stiggins (2008) in conjunction with the CCSSO. The post administration results of the experimental and control group were compared to determine if the systematic use of formative assessment attributes had a statistically significant impact on student affect. In addition, the pre and post test data of …

What Books Don't Tell You: Teacher-Eye-View Of Universal Design For Learning And The Implementation Process, Marylou Hatley

Dissertations

This study examines teacher perceptions of universal design for learning (UDL) and the systemic changes that might occur during implementation. The study compares differences in teacher perceptions based upon implementation year. Classroom observations, interviews, and survey of teachers and administrators from one Midwestern school district provide data for this study. Results of this study show that overall teachers feel positive about implementing UDL. Teachers experience both successes and obstacles during the implementation of UDL. Teachers have differing views of what UDL is supposed to look like in the classroom and many teachers are unsure of how to apply UDL into …

Student Organizational Skills And Motivation: What's The Connection?, Vesna Cejovic

Dissertations

Many studies have pointed out the academic advantages of teaching students to be more organized. While there is a great deal of information with regard to organizational skills of students, and an immense amount of inquiry into the phenomenon of motivation in nearly every field of study, there have been incredibly few studies that have combined the two issues in an effort to examine the potential relationship between organizational skills and self-motivation and how that relationship might help to increase the importance of making organizational skills an indispensable element of elementary school curricula. This mixed-methods, pretest/posttest case study examined a …

Post-Correctional Education Interventions: A Phenomenological Case Study Of Empowerment Education Curriculum For Formerly Incarcerated African American Males, Rolanda Jean West

Dissertations

This phenomenological case study describes how a Post-Correctional Education Intervention (PCEI) was developed for a local community-based organization that had recently constructed a transition house for formerly incarcerated adults who converted to Islam while incarcerated. The PCEI was an eight-week course curriculum with 60 hours of direct instruction that included social justice, health and wellness and critical thinking teaching modules and affective teaching and learning methodologies. This research contains experiential data used to assess how a PCEI affected the identity and self-concept of the participants of a reentry program designed to create an atmosphere of empowerment.

The Impact Of Title I Program Funding Through A Comparison Of Schoolwide Assistance And Targeted Assistance On Fifth Grade Reading Achievement Scores In Illinois: Implications For Leadership In Public Education, Michael E. Robey

Dissertations

The ability to read with proficiency and comprehension is one of the basic goals of our educational system. Adequacy of funding these goals, particularly for lower income students, continues to be a challenge. Despite the efforts of a variety of educational reforms many students, particularly the economically disadvantaged, continue to struggle with basic reading skills.

The intent of this study is to help school leaders in identifying whether schoolwide or targeted assistance programs funded through Title I schools are associated with higher reading achievement. The study measured reading achievement for fifth grade students in Illinois using data from the Illinois …

Illinois Administrator's Perception Of The Existence And Implementation Of School Policies And Practices In Teacher Classroom Supervision In Schools Having Kindergarten To Fifth Grade, Maria Martinez-Valiukenas

Dissertations

Negligence in the school setting is one legal issue that exists and, if case law is any reflection, is a pervasive problem in the educational system. Although negligence affects students, parents, teachers, and staff, the issue has the most impact on administrators' legal responsibility role.

Using a quantitative approach, the researcher surveyed Illinois principals working in Illinois public schools in schools having Kindergarten to Fifth grades. This study was designed to examine Illinois administrators' perception of the existence and implementation of school policies and practices with regard to teacher classroom supervision in elementary public schools having Kindergarten through Fifth grade. …

The 1995 Chicago School Reform Amendatory Act And The Cps Ceo: A Historical Examination Of The Adminstration Of Ceos Paul Vallas And Arne Duncan, Leviis Haney

Dissertations

This study provides a historical analysis of the 1995 Chicago School Reform Act, as well as an analysis of the tenures of Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officers Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan. It provides an analysis of words and actions of the two CEOs through the interpretive framework of Thomas Serviovanni's Five Sources of Authority. The sources of authority are bureaucratic, psychological, technical-rational, professional and moral. Each source of authority represents certain assumptions that are dominant if the particular source is primarily utilized.

This dissertation will answer six questions through the lens of Sergiovanni's Five Sources of Authority: What …

A Case Study: Understanding The Bridges Program Through The Lens Of Stakeholders, Marion Elizabeth Platt

Dissertations

This study is intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of a school based mental health program, Bridges, from the perspective of stakeholders; those invested in the continuation of the program. Bridges was developed in 2005 in response to a growing need to provide transitioning services for adolescents returning to a public high school subsequent to a psychiatric hospitalization or prolonged absence. The program was designed for a very specific population in a specific high school on the North Shore of Chicago. Because of the uniqueness of the population and programming, qualitative case study analysis was employed to …

High School Transfer Student Transitions And Changes: Risk, Success, Failure, And The Vital Role Of The Counseling Curriculum, Benjamin M. Grais

Dissertations

Transfer students move schools for reasons other than promotion. They typically change residence and can change country, cultures and/or languages of instruction. These students have twice the risk of failure or not graduating and total 15-18% of the United States high school population. Effective means of improving success rates are needed. Achieving this goal requires first understanding the problem(s). Perhaps transfer students themselves can help us in our search. What can we learn from talking with transfer students?

For this mixed method study, the investigator interviewed ten diverse but carefully selected transfer students. The data revealed that transfer students describe …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Of Teacher Professional Development, Teacher Job Satisfaction, And Teacher Working Conditions, Thomas Meagher

Dissertations

Demands to changes of instruction for mathematics classrooms are presented in

standards promoted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Illinois State

Board of Education and other government reports creates a demand for teacher

professional development to support teachers to adapt to these changes of instruction.

The overall purpose of this study investigated characteristics of effective professional

development and how those characteristics are associated with teacher job satisfaction

and teacher working conditions. With the completion of this dissertation, this study adds

to the literature relevant to teacher professional development by demonstrating an

association between teacher professional development and teacher …

Perceptions Of Mentor Teachers In A Professional Development School, Gertrude Nalumansi

Dissertations

The professional development school (PDS) is an innovative teacher education

program, designed to foster simultaneous teacher and student development in K-12 schools and teacher training institutions. Built as a partnership between professional education institutions and K-12 schools, the program aims at preparing new teachers, promoting the professional development of practicing teachers, and improving student performance through the application of inquiry-based practices. This study examined the perceptions of mentor teachers in an urban elementary professional development school regarding mentoring strategies used to enhance teacher development, benefits to mentor

teachers in a PDS, and support and guidance strategies used by the partnering …

Effectiveness Of An Inquiry Based Professional Development Program, Lynne Beyah El-Amin Muhammad

Dissertations

Pre-service and in-service teacher education programs are designed to disseminate large quantities of knowledge in a short period of time (Deng, 2004). However, they have been found to be ineffective with implementing teacher change (Deng, 2004). To increase the level of effective implementation, as measured by the ability of teachers to utilize what they have learned, designers of pre-service and in-service programs for teachers should include cognitively engaging activities (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999). This study explored the relationship between student achievement and the level of teacher participation while attending an inquiry-based professional development program. Six teachers at a private school …

Doing History In The Adirondacks: Interpreting The Park, The People, And The Landscape, Maria F. Reynolds

Dissertations

Occupying a large portion of Northern New York State, the Adirondack Park includes six million acres of public and private land that compromise over 85 % of all wilderness lands east of the Mississippi. Unique in many ways, the Adirondack Park remains a model for sustainable living and wilderness land management. This dissertation explores the way history is used to both complicate and enrich the relationship between humans and nature in the Adirondack Park. By analyzing historic preservation, cultural landscape management, material culture, and museums this project examines the way that Park history has been told through exhibits, public programs, …

Implementation Of Document Based Question Essays In Regular Education History Classes, Christine R. Berrong

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate what strategies high school teachers are using to teach Document Based Question essays (DBQs) in non-Advanced Placement (AP) history classes. DBQs are essays in which students are given a question and a set of primary and secondary source documents that they must use to support an argument in answering the question. They must write a well-developed five-paragraph essay that includes a thesis statement in the introduction and must analyze the documents, not simply mention them in the essay. In the researcher's experience, many students in non-AP history classes have difficulty with this …

Abstention To Consumption: The Development Of American Vegetarianism, 1817-1917, Adam Daniel Shprintzen

Dissertations

The history of vegetarianism in the United States has long been shrouded in myth, assumption and obfuscation. Vegetarianism as a vital ideological and political movement has often been presented--even by its proponents--as a product of twentieth century modernism, reflecting a rise in ethical consumer awareness. The historical record of the nineteenth century, however, tells a very different story. The notion that dietary choices could be connected with larger social and political goals was formulated during, and changed dramatically in the nineteenth century. This dissertation charts the rise and evolution of vegetarianism in the United States from 1817 until 1917.

This …

The Impact Of Treating Major Depression During Pregnancy On The Postpartum Phase, Jamie Kent

Dissertations

Major depression during pregnancy is a risk factor for postpartum depression (PPD). Medically acceptable treatments for depression during pregnancy and postpartum are limited and many women are turning to complementary and alternative treatments. The current project examined whether treatment of major depression during pregnancy reduced the risk for PPD and explored predictors of PPD in this high-risk sample. One hundred twenty women were clinically assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD17), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) at ten weeks, six months, and nine months postpartum following random assignment to one …

A Developmental Model Predicting Adjustment In Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role Of Executive Functions, Social Impairment, And Friendship Quality, Rebecca Wasserman Lieb

Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are pervasive developmental disorders characterized by several core deficits including social skills impairments and difficulty processing social information. Little is known about the role of contributing factors adjustment in this population. The first aim of this study was to evaluate two meditational models of youth with ASD in which social impairment and friendship quality mediated the relation between various domains of executive functions (EF) and adjustment, as well as a full developmental model in which EF contributed to compromised social skills which influenced friendship quality leading to increased adjustment difficulties in this population. The second aim …

Professional And Personal Lives Of Psychologists: Spillover, Family Functioning, And Life Satsiafction, Pedja Stevanovic

Dissertations

Two-wave, longitudinal data from a national, web-based survey of doctoral psychologists was used to examine work life, spillover, family, and personal lives. A measure of spillover, Stressors and Enhancers for Psychologists, was also evaluated. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated two negatively correlated dimensions of work spillover: positive spillover termed family enhancers and negative spillover termed family stressors. This measure was significantly related to a widely used, more general measure of positive and negative spillover and demonstrated high temporal stability. Respondents reported a significantly higher incidence of family enhancers than family stressors at both data collection points. Consistent with previous research, the …

Black Club Women's Purposes For Establishing Kindergartens In The Progressive Era, 1890-1910, Jean Marie Robbins

Dissertations

Little literature exists that examines black people's efforts to educate their young children during the Progressive Era. It was the period in which early childhood education in the form of kindergarten began to flourish in the United States and around the world. Even in the abundance of literature about kindergarten's successes and its potential to transform impoverished families, the overwhelmingly poor black population remained invisible to the great majority of researchers writing about the progress of that movement.

Yet primary historical documents, such as the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACW) records, manuscripts, and Progressive Era newspapers, reveal that …

Exploring Justice For Crime Victims: Characteristics And Contexts Of Crime Victims' Experiences With The Criminal Justice System, Phillip James Stevenson

Dissertations

During the last three decades, crime victims have increasingly been recognized by the criminal justice system as more than just witnesses for the prosecution. For example, in all 50 states crime victims are afforded specific statutory rights ranging from being treated with dignity and respect to having the opportunity to participate in the justice process, the latter most commonly seen during the sentencing phase where victims address the court and their offenders and describes how the crime has impacted their lives. Additionally, an increase in the number and type of programs based on the philosophy of restorative justice in recent …

Education, Fascism, And The Catholic Church In Franco's Spain, Joan Domke

Dissertations

Societies in transition are vulnerable to strong forces for political change. When Franco's fascist government defeated the socialist party that had taken control from 1931 to 1936, it aligned itself with Spain's Catholic Church. For most of Spain's history, the established Church culture had been inseparable from Spanish identity and Catholicism was taught in all schools, private and public. Therefore, under the guise of religion, the government used the educational system as a means of socialization, connecting nationalism and religion to promote their fascist agenda. The purpose of this historiographic study is to examine the relationships among the school, government, …

Moving To The Level Of Representation To Explain Variations In Family Child Care Provider Sensitivity And The Effectiveness Of Child-Related Training, Diana Davidson Schaack

Dissertations

Many young children in the United States spend a substantial amount of time in the care of family child care providers. Previous research has found that when providers are sensitive and responsive to children's needs, children are more likely to develop secure attachment relationships with their providers, which, in turn, have been linked to many developmental benefits for young children. Unfortunately, it appears that many children do not experience the levels of caregiving sensitivity that are necessary to develop secure attachment relationships with their providers and that increased child-related training is not always effective at improving provider caregiving behaviors.

Attachment …

Leadership Practices Of Science Department Chairs In Secondary Public Schools, Kathryn Marie Baal

Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the transformational leadership practices of science department chairs as perceived by both science department chairs and their principals as measured quantitatively by the third edition of the Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI) (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). In addition to transformational leadership, three other paradigms of leadership were essential to this study: transactional leadership, teacher leadership, and distributed leadership. Science department chairs are recognized as formal teacher leaders, primarily because their situational position makes them formal leaders; in addition science department chairs teach, to some degree, hence they are acknowledged as teacher leaders. The study further …