Indepth interviews with senior managers in six Australian universities revealed messy policy processes and considerable variation in quality policy practices. Quality policy's "big-picture" effect was to enhance national government control of higher education from a distance. A further effect was to increase inequalities among and within…

This article uses the development of a "Research Quality Framework" in Australia as a focus for reflection on the way in which quality is assessed in relation to education research, and a consideration of the role and situation of a national association of education research in relation to that. The study examines ways in which…

This paper uses a quality-assurance framework to unify the application of school-effectiveness and school-improvement knowledge to a school system. The paper proposes that effective school development is enhanced by the implementation of quality systems that recognize the stages of performance-development cycles. It discusses quality-assurance…

This paper clarifies the problems of meaning and translation into practice of concepts of "quality" in higher education by examining a quality improvement program at Griffith University (Queensland, Australia). The paper notes that Australian government agencies have advanced a quality assurance (QA) approach concerned with the…

Analyzes the 1990s conservative reform agenda in Australia. Examines the relationship between education, the economy, and the state, particularly the marketplace analogy and the concept of quality schooling. Current policies emphasize a return to managerialism and a direct education-work connection. Discusses implications of the conservative…

The article begins by setting out a confluence of events that initiated a proposal to attract students from Taiwan to a new EdD program in Australia, and then explores the tensions and congruities that ensue from this scenario. The main tensions and congruities revolved around issues of standards, quality, English-language levels, profit motives,…

Teaching quality emerged as a significant issue in higher education during the 90s. This led to the implementation of numerous quality control, assurance and enhancement schemes as institutions attempted to stay abreast of demands from various stakeholders in a rapidly changing educational environment. More recently, with the establishment of the…

This report examines the development and implementation of performance indicators in higher education, focusing on the factors driving increased demand for accountability in higher education and the use of performance indicators in the United States and other countries. It discusses the public and political concern for increased productivity,…

This book is the result of a research project on the most important principles, structural features, and functionalities of higher education policies in 11 developed nations around the world. Reports on each nation, are based in large part on analysis of responses to a common questionnaire by national experts in each nation. An opening chapter,…

The educational assessment quality assurance and control practices of Germany, Sweden, France, New Zealand, and Australia are compared to illustrate the considerable variety of approaches and some of the social factors that contribute to this variety. In Germany there is considerable variation from one province to another, and quality assurance…

Seven papers address future directions that the member libraries of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) National Section of the Australian Library and Information Association can pursue to respond to a changing environment characterized by declining public funds; the need to fulfill some of the major requirements of the government's…

This two-volume set contains a total of 67 essays on the subject of international higher education. The essays present up-to-date, statistical, and other factual information about the topic, as well as interpretations of those facts and figures. Fifty-two essays focusing on countries or regions are included. Volume 1 contains 15 chapters that deal…

Australian universities have entered a "steady-state" period in which enrollments and funding are being held with limits predetermined by government. The Tertiary Education Commission, as the federal system authority, sees a need for change in: nature of student population, funding, staffing, and procedures for coordination and…

This article presents the learnings from PASP, the Priority Action Schools Program expressed in the meta-evaluation "Knowing Makes the Difference". PASP, jointly supported by the NSW Department of Education and Training and the NSW Teachers Federation, was designed to provide intensive support to 74 schools with concentrations of…

This book argues that school-based management appears to be primarily concerned with dismantling centralized education systems (which have traditionally supported the work of teachers, students, and parents) and replacing them with a free-market ideology of competition and choice. School-based management separates elite policy makers and interest…