Students are reaching middle school 2 or more years behind in reading ability. As a result, they are unable to meet state testing standards. In 2007, the READ 180 program was implemented at an urban middle school in Virginia to address the reading gaps of these middle school students. The purpose of this sequential mixed-method program evaluation was to analyze the reading success of 30 READ 180 students and the perceptions of 4 teachers who taught the READ 180 curriculum. The theoretical framework that served as a basis for this study was Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, which holds that independent thinking is facilitated by developmentally-appropriate instruction. Research questions examined the strengths and weaknesses of the program and its effectiveness on helping the students improve their reading ability. Student scores from the program assessments were examined using a paired samples t test and by comparing central tendencies. An analysis showed a 15% increase in students' SRI pre- and posttest scores, noting that 6.67% of students passed the reading SOL. Themes from the teacher interviews indicated that the teachers perceived the training to be sufficient and that the materials and technology were authentic; however, updated curricula materials were needed. The quantitative and qualitative research data were used to generate an evaluation report to share explicit research findings with the school division and parents about the programs' successes and needs for improvement. Social change was supported by evaluating a reading intervention program designed to increase middle school students' reading ability.

Högläsning i skolan anses generellt som utfyllnad av tid och avslappning för barnen. Hemma får barnen för det mesta höra någon läsa högt under god-natt-sagan innan läggdags. Arbetets syfte är därför att undersöka hur hemmets och skolans högläsning påverkar barns läsförståelse. Arbetet tar dessutom upp samtalets betydelse under läsning och hur föreställningsvärldar påverkar barnens läsförståelse. Frågeställningarna i arbetet besvarar: Hur påverkas barns läsförståelse av högläsningen i hemmet och i skolan? Hur påverkar samtalet kring högläsning barns läsförståelse? Hur kan barns läsförståelse stärkas med hjälp av föreställningsvärldar? Resultatet visar att läsförståelsen ökar när barnen får samtala och skapa föreställningsvärldar om högläsningen.

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This thesis is a follow-up of my Bachelor thesis about the mitochondrial genome of kinetoplastid protist Perkinsela sp. This work introduces a novel approach in high-throughput analysis method of uridine insertion and deletion RNA editing, describes its background and proposes its further development. Its effect on the interpretation of U-indel editing, both in Perkinsela and in general, is demonstrated via attached manuscript which also introduces other biologically relevant aspects of Perkinsela mitochondrion.

Understanding translation efficiency is crucial to pharmaceutical companies that have invested substantial time and effort in engineering bacteria to produce recombinant proteins. While translation initiation and elongation have been studied intensively, much remains obscure in the subprocess of translation termination. We aim to understand how stop codons and the first 3’ flanking (+4) base affect translation termination efficiency. In chapter two, we hypothesized that stop codon usage of UAG and UGA is dependent on the abundance of their respective decoders, RF1 and RF2. We predicted and observed that bacterial species with high relative proportions of RF1 uses UAG more, and vice versa for UGA. In addition, the usage of UGA, not UAG, is always avoided in highly expressed genes. Thus, we argued against the claim made by a recent study that UAG is a minor stop codon in bacteria. The claim is incorrect because UAG does not meet the two criteria of a minor codon: i) it is most avoided in highly expressed genes, and ii) it corresponds to the least abundant decoder. Interestingly, we found that the proportion of RF2 decreases rapidly towards zero in species with high AT contents; this explains why UGA is reassigned to a sense codon in bacterial lineages with high AT content. In chapter three, we examined the role of the first downstream (+4) base Uracil in bacterial translation termination. The +4U is associated with a decrease in stop codon read-through in bacteria and yeast. We hypothesized that i) +4U enhances the termination efficiency of stop signals, and ii) +4U may serve to prevent stop codon misreading by near cognate tRNAs (nc_tRNAs). We predicted that i) +4U is preferred in highly expressed genes (HEGs) than lowly expressed genes (LEGs), and ii) +4U usage increases with the frequency of stop codon nc_tRNAs. We found +4U consistently over-represented in HEGs in contrast to LEGs; however, +4U usage in HEGs decreases in GC-rich species where most stop codons are UGA and UAG. In addition, +4U usage increases significantly with UAA usage in the known highly expressed ribosomal protein genes. These results suggest that +4U is a strong stop signal enhancer for UAA, not UAG or UGA. Furthermore, in HEGs, +4U usage also increases significantly with the abundance of UAA nc_tRNAs, suggesting that +4U increases UAA termination efficiency presumably by reducing misreading of UAA by nc_tRNAs.

Syftet med denna studie är att få en ökad kunskap om lågstadielärares syfte med och tillämpning av högläsning av skönlitterära böcker i klassrummet. De frågeställningar som ligger till grund för studien handlar om vad lågstadielärare har för syfte med sin högläsning av skönlitterära böcker samt hur de praktiskt tillämpar högläsning av skönlitterära böcker i undervisningen. Frågeställningarna undersöktes genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med verksamma lågstadielärare i norra Sverige. Resultatet bearbetades och strukturerades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och det teoretiska ramverk som denna studie grundas på är den sociokulturella teorin. Resultatet som framkom i studien var att lågstadielärare högläser för att skapa gemenskap, ta upp aktuella ämnen, utöka elevers ordförråd samt för att ge eleverna rika språkliga möjligheter. Resultatet visade också att lågstadielärare arbetar med högläsning av skönlitterära böcker genom boksamtal, diskussioner och bearbetningar av de lästa genom olika övningar.

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Student achievement has become a main concern for schools in the United States. Emphasis has long been placed on reading, writing, and arithmetic; however, reading achievement remains insufficient. The passage of No Child Left Behind in 2001 required all students to be reading on grade level by 2014. With states and school districts striving to make adequate yearly progress, finding programs and practices that prove effective in improving student achievement has become a main priority for schools. In an effort to improve reading achievement, a reading program was implemented at Gauge Middle School and studied for its impact. The Mississippi Curriculum Test 2 (MCT2) and Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) tests were analyzed to determine the impact of the program. The voices of the students and the voices of the teachers were considered important in understanding the impact. The reasons for this research include (a) determining whether the implementation of READ 180 increased student reading achievement and (b) understanding the perceptions of the students and teachers in READ 180. A struggling reader is defined as a student who is experiencing difficulty learning to read. The literature on struggling readers indicated that a struggling reader will never read on grade level, but they can make increases in their reading level. The data obtained from this research supports the literature review. After the participating in READ 180, the MCT2 scores did not increase; however, the SRI scores did increase for all the students. Future research that replicates this study may be conducted with various grades and schools in Leese County School District to determine if the findings of the study can be duplicated. Also, research could address the age or grade at which to focus more intently on reading interventions. Students who are too low for READ 180 need an intervention or program. A high school reading intervention would benefit high school students and help reduce the dropout rate. Motivation and student behavior for middle and high school students requires more research.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lärare använder sig av högläsning i undervisning för att främja elevernas läsförmåga och hur detta syns i elevernas aktiviteter. Teorin som studien bygger på är det sociokulturella perspektivet med ursprung i Lev Vygotskijs teorier om lärande, utveckling och språk. I studien har fem lärare som arbetar i årskurserna F–3 blivit intervjuade med en semistrukturerad intervju. Lärarna har även blivit observerade under en av sina högläsningslektioner för att se hur de använder sig av högläsning för att utveckla elevernas läsförmåga. Resultatet visar att lärarna försöker använda sig av högläsning dagligen i sin undervisning då de anser att den ger väldigt mycket. Lärarna anser att högläsningen utvecklar elevernas ordförråd, läsförståelse, läslust och koncentrationsförmåga. Utifrån observationerna, tidigare forskning och lärarnas intervjuer visar resultatet även att lärarna använder sig av olika arbetssätt och metoder för att eleverna ska få möjlighet att utveckla sin läsförmåga. / The purpose of this study is to examine some teachers' view of the effect of read-alouds on the development of pupils' reading skills, as well as the opportunities the pupils get to develop their reading skills in teacher practices of reading aloud. The study is based on the sociocultural perspective originating in Lev Vygotsky theories on learning, development and language. In this study, five teachers working in preschool and grades 1–3 have been interviewed using qualitative interviews. Teachers have also been observed during one of their read-aloud lessons in order to see how they use reading aloud to develop pupils' reading skills. The results show that the teachers try to read aloud daily in their teaching because they find it has great advantages. The teachers believe that reading aloud develops pupils' vocabulary, reading comprehension, love of reading and concentration. Based on previous research, observation and teacher interviews, the results also show that teachers use approaches to and methods for giving their pupils opportunity to develop their reading skills.