Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership (California State University, Fresno and University of California, Davis). / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web. (Restricted to UC campuses).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-68). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-297).

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Kutztown State College. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2787. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-35).

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Background: Elevated blood glucose in patients undergoing cardiac surgery pose increased risks of sternal incision infections, kidney disease, irregular heartbeats, extended hospital stays, and death. Elevated blood glucose also increases the costs of healthcare from prolonged lengths of stay and increased complications. The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) #4 performance measure is used to evaluate achievement of a target blood glucose control < 200 milligram/deciliter (mg/dl) post cardiac surgery on postoperative days 1 and 2. In the institution where this study was carried out, blood sugar control in the cardiac surgery patient has presented a challenge. Purpose: The purpose of this practice inquiry was to identify patient characteristics and outcomes in cardiac surgery patients who met the SCIP #4 performance measure versus those patients who did not. Methods: A retrospective nested case-control design was used. Risk factors for postoperative hyperglycemia and in-hospital outcomes were compared between cardiac surgery patients who were SCIP #4 met defined as 6AM BG ≤ 200 mg/dl on postoperative days 1 and 2 and those that were SCIP #4 not met, defined as 6AM BG > 200 mg/dl on postoperative days 1 or 2. Results: Results from this study showed that preoperative hemoglobin AIC and history of diabetes were two major contributors for SCIP #4 not-met status. There was a trend towards a longer length of stay in the SCIP #4 not met group as compared to the met group (9.01 ± 7.33 versus 7.30 ± 4.93 days, respectively; p = . 096). Mortality was 3 times more prevalent in the SCIP #4 not met than the met group (6.2% versus 2.1%, respectively); however, this different did not reach statistical significance (p = .129). Renal failure was four-fold more frequent in patients who were SCIP #4 not-met than who were SCIP #4 met (13.6% vs. 4.1%, respectively; p = 0.003). Conclusions: Results from this study showed that SCIP #4 not met is associated with development of postoperative renal failure in the hospital and a trend towards longer length of stay. History of diabetes and preoperative hemoglobin AIC level should be taken into consideration when evaluating strategies for managing hyperglycemia. Future research is needed to study the relationship between SCIP #4 met status and long-term outcomes. The use of preoperative hemoglobin A1C to identify patients at high risk for uncontrolled postoperative glucose and plan effective glucose control should be studied. Such study may include implementing intravenous insulin on all patients with diabetes and elevated hemoglobin A1C levels and comparing the short and long term outcomes.

No description available.

This is a case study of school improvement factors at a Southwestern Middle School where the researcher examined the demographics of the Southwest Unified School District and Southwest Middle School, the school's academic performance history, school leadership, teachers and the school improvement process it was mandated to follow for five years. Also, there included a discussion of the reasons Southwest Middle School moved into school improvement, the number of years it remained in school improvement, the leadership during these years, and the mandates imposed on the school from the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation and the Arizona Department of Education state mandates. The mandates were determined by the school's level of improvement. In this case study Southwest Middle School had been at a serious level of improvement for the previous five years 2008 - 2013. Therefore, a visit from a team of Arizona Department of Education school improvement experts called the Solutions Team was initiated. This initiated visit was to be an evidenced based inquiry that generated four school improvement recommendations to be followed as a framework for continuous school improvement. Also, the researcher examined the documentation generated through the Solutions Team visit and the impact it made on the Southwest Middle School improvement process. Quantitative outcomes in the area of student achievement are presented in this case study that shown continuous decreases in the standardized test results generated from the State mandated test known as the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS Test) results until the school remained open till spring, 2013. Interviews with personnel involved in the school improvement efforts showed differing perceptions of success in efforts before the school closure. There was some evidence that test scores had begun to improve at Southwest Middle School but, it was too little, too late and the school closed in Spring, 2013. Unfortunately, in spite of increased efforts, it was too little, too late, and the improvement was minimal, forcing the Southwest Unified School District to close Southwest Middle School in spring, 2013. Following were identified factors that facilitated or hindered the implementation of plans aimed at school improvement.

No description available.

Project Management is the primary key to successful software development. In 1995 Caper Jones stated that the failure or cancellation rate of large software systems was over 20% in his article on patterns of large software systems. More than two thirds of the projects fail due to improper management of skills, activities, and personnel. One main reason is that software is not a tangible entity and is hard to visualize and hence to monitor. A manager has to be skilled in different CASE tools and technologies to track and manage a software development process successfully. The volume of results produced by these CASE tools is so huge that a high level manager cannot look into all the details. He has to get a high level picture of the project, to know where the project is heading, and if needed, then look into the finer level details by drilling down to locate and correct problems. The objective of this thesis is to build an Advanced Charting System (ACS), which would act as a companion to PAMPA 2 (Project Attribute Monitoring and Prediction Associate) and help a manager visualize the state of a software project over a standard World Wide Web browser. The PAMPA 2 ACS will be responsible for visualizing and tracking of resources, tasks, schedules and milestones of a software project described in the plan. PAMPA 2 ACS will have the ability to depict the status of the project through a variety of graphs and charts. PAMPA 2 ACS implements a novel charting technique called as DOT Chart to track the processes and activities of a software project. PAMPA 2 ACS provides a multilevel view of the project status. PAMPA 2 ACS will be able to track any arbitrary plan starting from a collapsed / concise view of a whole project. This can be further drilled down to the lowest level of detail. The status can be viewed at the project version level, plan and workbreakdown levels, process, sub process, and activity level. Among all the process models, the DOT charts can be applied effectively to spiral process model where each spiral represents a project version.