Several intersectoral community approaches targeting childhood obesity (IACOs) have been launched in the Netherlands. Translation of these approaches into practice is however arduous and implementation. We therefore studied the implementation of five IACOs in the Netherlands for one-and-a-half years. IACO implementation was evaluated via an…

Purpose: The Diagnosis of Sustainable Collaboration (DISC) model (Leurs et al., 2008) specifies five factors (i.e. project management, change management, context, external factors, and stakeholders' support) which predict whether collaboration becomes strong and stable. The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamics of these factors in a study…

This article aims to discuss stakeholders' influence on higher education institutions' (HEIs) internationalization, through an analysis of the relationships established between stakeholders' importance and the institutions' rationales for internationalization, the strategies developed for internationalization, and the benefits from…

In many countries the need for education systems and schools to improve and innovate has become central to the education policy of governments. School inspections are expected to play an important role in promoting such continuous improvement and to help schools and education systems more generally to consider the need for change and improvement.…

In this article, different inspection models are compared in terms of their impact on school improvement and the mechanisms each of these models generates to have such an impact. Our theoretical framework was drawn from the programme theories of six countries' school inspection systems (i.e. the Netherlands, England, Sweden, Ireland, the province…

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) would not be what it aimed to become without a strong emphasis on quality and quality assurance, as the latter can provide the basis for mutual trust--the prerequisite without which recognition, mobility and institutional cooperation could not function on a larger scale. The Standards and Guidelines for…

With decentralisation becoming increasingly widespread across Europe, evaluation and accountability are becoming key issues in ensuring quality provision for all (Altrichter & Maag Merki, 2010; Eurydice, 2004). In Europe, the dominant arrangement for educational accountability is school inspections. The purpose of this research is to identify…

This article explores how power relations are constructed in the governance of higher education institutions. It examines and deconstructs, from a Foucauldian perspective, power relations and mechanisms in the relationship between the state and higher education institutions, and between academic and management staff. This research article…

Education aiming at students' competence development asks for new assessment methods. The quality of these methods needs to be assured using adapted quality criteria and accompanying standards. As such standards are not widely available, this study sets out to examine what level of compliance with quality criteria stakeholders consider…

In this article, we will first focus on how starting from the stakeholders' needs has led to the construction of examinations based on a theory of functional language performance assessment in which, not general, but domain-specific language use plays a central role. Second, we will describe how we aim to infer real-life performance on the basis…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on human resource development (HRD) effectiveness and transfer of learning. "Factors Affecting Transfer of Training in Thailand" (Siriporn Yamnill, Gary N. McLean) discusses how the Learning Transfer System Inventory was validated in Thailand by administering it to 1,029 employers and…