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…

This document presents a comparative analysis of education in Japan and the United States. The report explores differences between U.S. and Japanese culture. While the United States may be characterized by its diversity, Japanese culture is distinctive in the extent of its uniformity. Japan, moreover, has a highly centralized educational system;…

The assessment of educational outcomes has been a major area of interest among policy makers in recent years. Those with responsibility for assessment often are drawn from the ranks of the faculty and have little knowledge of or interest in institutional research. This paper provides a means to distinguish the unique, yet interrelated ways in…

This report examines the extent to which individuals with disabilities are involved in national and state data collection programs that play a pivotal role in reform efforts focusing on measurement of educational indicators. Thirty national data collection programs were identified and 9 of the 30 are reviewed. The extent to which students with…

A clinical case study was conducted mainly to document and evaluate achievements and problems in implementing universal primary education (UPE) in Tanzania. The focus of diagnostic aspects of the study was on (1) clarity of UPE objectives, (2) preparation for implementation of the UPE program, and (3) impact of the program on teaching and…

Focusing on 67 studies written since 1970, this report reviews the literature on the topic of school effectiveness to discover those characteristics most in evidence in effective schools and classrooms. Research on effective schools has concentrated on such topics as school climate, the role of leadership, students' preschool experiences, and…

Most early care and education teachers are not required to have attained a bachelor's degree (BA) prior to working with young children. Because of the research base demonstrating that teachers with a BA specifically related to early childhood play an integral role in the provision of high-quality early care and education, there have been…

The study sought to identify clusters of variables potentially linked to departmental excellence in institutions of higher education, and to determine whether these clusters and combinations thereof could be used to generate rankings of programs which would be consistent with those based on reputation. It studied the interrelationship of…

Proposing quality standards for Nigerian pre-primary centers, this paper argues that the first concern must be the provision of adequate care in the form of high quality health, safety, and nutritional conditions. Care is discussed in terms of illness policy, routines for good health, physical characteristics of centers, personal hygiene,…

This study provides an evaluation of the quality of immersion instruction in English as a second language in the Mele-Maat School, an English-medium, British-administered Polynesian school in Vanuatu, an independent South Pacific nation. The study consisted of one year of baseline data gathering and a second year for replication using standardized…

A survey addressing the fairness of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Design for School Excellence (DSE) Merit Schools program was administered to school principals in March, 1986. The questionnaire was developed by a representative committee of elementary and secondary principals and central office personnel not directly involved in the original development…

Superintendents, principals, and teachers from a statistical sample of small schools throughout the United States completed a needs assessment questionnaire. Concerns seemed less related to curriculum and academics and more related to teacher and student attitude, motivation, and general well-being. Significant differences were found between the…

This examination of educational institutions and their acceptance of the design and implementation of technologically based instruction considers instructional technology as a subset of technology. Methods of institutional analysis from other disciplines are presented to stimulate research that uses aspects of educational institutions themselves…

Special education teachers (n=83) from five states were surveyed concerning difficulties in implementing various educational practices validated by researchers. Time constraints and administrative support were seen as major obstacles to implementation. The reported presence of quality indicators correlated with teacher skill and implementation…

Higher education systems in a number of countries are experimenting with programs that measure and enhance educational quality. Experiences suggest that the most successful quality assurance programs are initiated, maintained, and enhanced through the professional commitment of the faculty, not through quality assurance systems, administrative…