Single-subject research designs are not sufficient to determine educational validity which requires systematic attention to larger issues of meaningfulness in relationship to criterion environments. A more comprehensive evaluative framework ensures that services and practices for severely disabled persons will be guided by research findings as…

The relationship of day care quality to the activities of preschool children during free play and their knowledge of social problem solving was investigated. Relationships were found between dimensions of quality and children's absorption in solitary play and knowledge of social problem solving. (PCB)

A survey of directors of 61 Texas early intervention programs found that directors felt that program improvement should be the main reason for program evaluation efforts, that evaluating program goals and child progress are the most feasible strategies, and that evaluating program quality and family progress are the most difficult strategies. (DB)

The Dutch quality improvement model in higher education has successfully maintained the delicate balance between internal improvement and external accountability, but the faculty's clear ownership of the system (as contrasted with government ownership in some nations) has made continuous quality improvement a dominant feature of the current Dutch…

Quality measures were originally developed for research aimed at describing the settings that children spend time in and identifying the characteristics of these environments that contribute to children's development. They were also developed to guide improvements in practice. Increasingly, however, measures of quality are being used for further…

This paper draws on three national studies of professional psychology programs to identify measurement and utilization implications for the evaluation of clinical training. The focus is on the evaluation of the training program rather than the evaluation of students' performance/competence. The directors of 315 programs--74 psychology training…

A theory of program quality based on a new definition of quality is offered. Constructed on the basis of interviews with nearly 800 stakeholders in master's-level education, the engagement theory" advances a conceptual framework and a set of criteria, with indicators, for assessing graduate and professional program quality. (Author/MSE)

Reviews the African American community's unsuccessful struggle to replace the District of Columbia Public School's desegregation policy of tracking with a program emphasizing educational excellence. Discusses the Hobson v. Hansen decision, which ended tracking but shifted attention to busing and racial balancing. (FMW)

A study used a multivariate approach to assessing college departmental excellence. Factor analysis identified three potentially useful factor clusters ("faculty research,""input," and "student") and seven indicators based on those clusters. Indicators combining faculty research and input and combining all three clusters were found to be the best…

Although higher education in Scotland is part of the United Kingdom system, it has operated separately, with a distinctive focus on the assessment of quality in each academic subject. Internal and external quality assessment and assurance processes are described, and the lessons learned are explored briefly. (MSE)

Purpose: To deepen the understanding and to encourage further research on leadership best practices for sustaining quality improvement in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). Design/methodology/approach: The literature on leadership provides the theoretical context for the survey of quality managers from 42 UK HEIs. A mix of questionnaires,…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

Given the growing need to look across national borders in order to be prepared for global challenges confronting higher education in the coming decades, it can be expected that institutional administrators in the U.S. and other western countries will need information on the quality and efficiency of their activities, including an international…

The 1990 Hawaii Opinion Poll on Public Education (HOPPE) identifies state trends in public opinion on educational issues and questions, and compares them to the findings of the national Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes toward the Public Schools. A random sample of 505 adult residents statewide responded to telephone interviews. The following…

The policy papers included in this package address various facets of the topic of data-based accountability for education in California. Guy Benveniste of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Education explores the underlying issue of accountability and describes the implications of different types of accountability measures. In…