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The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of Texas principals as to the degree to which their local school districts are meeting their ongoing professional development need. The study was conducted to analyze and describe the survey and interview responses of Texas principals as to their perceptions of the degree to which their local school districts provide learning experiences aligned with their needs. Texas principals’ perceptions regarding the characteristics of important and meaningful professional learning experiences were explored. The study included an analysis of the extent to which Texas principals perceive that the learning opportunities they are provided adequately meet those needs. Additionally, various factors influencing principals and their perceptions were examined. These factors included type of school, school setting, school system size, characteristics of students, and characteristics of the principals. The perceptions of school district staff development administrators were analyzed regarding topic importance, topic provision by the local district, and the usefulness of those topics. Finally, the perceptions of the principals and the staff development administrators were compared. Thirteen school districts participated in this study. Of the 273 principals surveyed, 155 completed the survey, yielding a return rate of 56.8%. One campus principal from each of the 13 districts was interviewed. Additionally, 13 district staff development administrators were surveyed and interviewed. Data analysis produced several findings. First, as a whole, principals rated the importance of each of the 22 proposed professional development topics at or above the important level. However, the degree to which local school districts provided training on those topics varied according to the size of the district and the setting of the campus. Second, the relationship between the professional development provided and the quality, or usefulness, of that school district’s training was considered strong for several of the 22 topics. Finally, principals and staff development administrators agreed on several characteristics of successful professional development efforts. This study’s findings offer implications for campus principals and school districts striving to meet the individual, campus, and district needs for professional development.

This thesis first builds a framework to impose professional liability on Chinese auditors for misstatements and then tests the framework by field work. Auditor liability has been a recurring puzzle. This thesis intends to analyze the complex legal relationships among the players in typical auditing litigations, dissect the arguments from both the auditors and plaintiffs, and develop doctrines and check points that could help the litigation parties to evaluate the merits of their claims, to predict the litigation outcomes, and to mitigate litigation risks in the Chinese setting. The author adopts a utilitarianism perspective and utilizes the theory of “contract and status”. The main methodologies employed include: case report analysis, legal reasoning, interviews, and questionnaire survey. Comparison across jurisdictions and interdisciplinary perspectives have been utilized all through the thesis. In the first part, the author draws a portrait of the Chinese auditing profession, and then moves to synthesize the previous literature on audit liability from both accounting and legal perspectives. After this, a significant part of the thesis is devoted to analyzing the typical UK reported cases since the late 19th century including the Caparo case, Bannerman case and others to discover the UK laws regulating auditor liability. In the following chapter, the recent trends of legislation in the UK and the company law harmonization practice of the EU are reviewed. Then, based on a survey on current Chinese law and an analysis on the feasibility of transplanting the UK and EU practice into China, the author develops a proposed framework integrating doctrines and practical checking points about eligible plaintiffs, duty of care, wrongdoings, standards of care, and damage calculation and allocation in typical litigations. In the second part, the proposed framework is dissected into questions, which are examined through 38 interviews with auditors, regulators, financial statements preparers, and lawyers, and 470 survey questionnaires completed by auditors and members of the financial community, along with questions about responsibility and the technical abilities of auditors. The data from the field produces a cross-section picture of the perceptions of stakeholders on auditor liability. Statistical analysis shows there are significant differences between the auditor and non-auditor on the majority of the related issues, such as auditor’s responsibility, eligible plaintiff, and others. The empirical analysis gives general support for the proposed framework.

Therapists are continuously entering the private counselling sector, and as a result extending their occupational roles, becoming business owners and evolving in their professional identity. The purpose of this study is to understand the process of establishing a private practice while examining the development of the professional identity of private practice therapists. Specifically, the decision to enter private practice, the process of opening a business, and ethical and supervisory concerns within this field. Using systematic grounded theory, 10 female counsellors in private practice in Manitoba were interviewed. This inquiry led to the development of Professional Development in Private Practice: A Phase Model, providing an overview of therapists’ professional development in their roles as private practitioners. The five phases are seeking autonomy, logistics, transition and attitude, embracing the business and authenticity. The implications of this study are multi-faceted, influencing institutions, professional groups and therapists. / May 2016

Thesis advisor: Irwin Blumer / Over the past decade, demands and expectations placed on after school programming have changed dramatically. In the new standards based culture of accountability, after school time is seen as an opportunity to provide additional time to learn and demonstrate learning to standards. Professional development opportunities offered has not kept pace with demands being placed on after school programs. After school programs must have protocols in place to evaluate and implement professional development plans in the most effective manner possible. This study was conducted to support programs with planning professional development by assessing the impact of prevalent forms of professional development available on teaching practice and perception. The research questions were: What are teachers' perceptions of how involvement in teaching a new science program affected teaching practice in the after school program? How do teachers' perceive the three models of professional development - intervention, self-initiated, and district directed - contributed to teacher learning? Data was collected in the form of journals, interviews and observations utilizing a pool of five teachers who implemented a new set of science classes during after school time. Findings included a positive increase in perceptions of practice and teacher learning. The level of increase was a function of accurately identifying teacher needs and mapping the best forms of professional development while taking into account teacher's learning/working style. The literature review stated clearly the impact of properly aligned professional development. It underscored the need for professional learning to take place in the context of a collaborative environment that supports teacher change. The study indicates that, irrespective of the form, professional development completed in the context of a collaborative learning community has the ability to create sustainable change. It is the collaborative discussion that serves as the basis for the ongoing professional development. Each form has a particular audience for whom the impact will be the most direct, however, professional development in any form will have an impact on teacher perception and practice. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Joseph Pedulla / The most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the No Child Left Behind Act, focuses on the continued importance of teacher professional development. There are a great deal of challenges involved with delivering high-quality teacher professional development to all teachers, however, such as time, geography, and available resources. Online professional development is emerging in the literature as a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face online professional development. With the recent emergence of such a trend, however, very little research had been conducted on the quality of the individuals providing the online PD to teachers. The aim of this study was to examine one online facilitator-training program which was designed to train facilitators in the skills and best practices associated with delivering high quality PD to teachers across eight states. Using survey data collected over a two-year period, this dissertation explored the relationship between facilitator trainee ratings of training workshop quality and teacher outcomes of interest through a set of five regression equations. While only three of the relationships were found to be statistically significant, all provided valuable insight nonetheless. Specifically, the significant contributions include; a better insight into the relationship between training facilitators to deliver PD specifically in an online format and teacher perception of course quality, a series of tools to measure this relationship with other facilitator training programs in the future and, a contribution to the sparse literature currently available on this topic. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.

Faculty of Health Sciences Master of Science in Medicine 0204267n / Creatine is one of the most frequently or generally used ergogenic substances. It is used by professional and amateur athletes and the “man on the street”. Creatine is involved in energy production and protein synthesis in muscle. Although studies have been carried out on the effect of creatine on adults, no study has yet determined whether creatine would have an influence on the developing rat foetus if taken by a female during pregnancy. The aim of this study was thus to determine whether creatine had an effect on the developing foetus. Dams were divided into two groups, which we re injected between days 7-13 and on days 9 and 11 only of intra-uterine development respectively. Each group was subdivided into a control and two experimental groups. Experimental group one received a low dose of creatine (53.5mg/250g body weight); the other experimental group received a high dose of creatine (107mg/250g body weight). The control group received an equal volume (1ml) of the vehicle (saline) in which the creatine was constituted. Dams were sacrificed on day 20 of development. The foetuses were removed and their weight and length taken. Foetuses were examined for abnormalities. Two foetuses from each litter underwent skeletal staining. Tissue was excised from the remaining foetuses and processed for histology for histological investigation. Creatine positively affected the growth of the foetuses of dams injected between days 7-13, while foetuses of dams injected only on days 9 and 11 in the B-group showed reduced growth. Creatine also had a slightly negative effect on the histological structure of the liver, but enhanced skeletal muscle growth, endocrine cell formation (pancreas) and skeletal formation. From the results obtained it is hypothesized that creatine and insulin together may play a positive role from implantation to birth, while creatine given at certain stages of organogenesis delayed development of the foetus.