One of the most radical actions one can take is to describe, without exaggeration or bias, exactly what is happening. The author has been reading the "Handbook for the inspection of further education and skills from September 2009." The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills' (Ofsted's) new handbook promises a "fresh…

This article summarizes the use of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and subsequent action planning as a tool of self-assessment to meet CAS (Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education) requirements for systematic assessment. The use of the evaluation results to devise improvements to increase the…

The Council of Europe/UNESCO Recognition Convention (also known as the Lisbon Recognition Convention) provides the legal framework for academic recognition in Europe, and it serves a double purpose: as a legal text and as a guide to good practice. The ENIC and NARIC Networks promote the implementation of the Convention and seek to develop a better…

This article introduces the suggested program standards for the next era of NAEYC accreditation and solicits comments on the proposed standards from early childhood professionals. Each standard is a global, evidence- and value-based statement that identifies performance expectations for an area of functioning in excellent early childhood programs.

Today, school districts cannot meet the challenges of an increasingly demanding and diverse clientele without an efficient and effective business and financial framework within which to operate. Well-prepared and dedicated school business officials, working in tandem with other members of the administrative team, can better assure that such a…

This paper documents the development of a unique institution in Canadian higher education, the university college in British Columbia. From its roots as a comprehensive community college, the university college was confronted with numerous legislative and policy changes which culminated in its current claim to be called a regional university. In…

The accreditation systems of higher education institutions and/or programs are becoming a policy measure used to find a balance between their autonomy and public assurance concerning the quality of the qualifications they award. This article analyses, from the point of view of this balance of power, the process of development of the Portuguese…

The term "corporate university", which has come into wide use in the last decade, is applied to three kinds of organizations: (1) "established," "mainstream", "non-profit universities" adapting to economic and technological pressures by adopting managerial practices of modern for-profit corporations; (2) "newly established", "highly innovative…