A study explored quality assessment and accountability in Dutch university education. The national system of quality assurance and various models used successfully to implement it are described, and the range of apparent effects and influences of quality assurance on Dutch higher education are examined. Comparison is made with American higher…

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,…

One of a series of studies related to the Delphi research project: "Policy Instruments for Higher Education in the Western Europe of the Future", this paper describes the beginnings of a consumer-oriented public higher education system in the Netherlands. It first examines the start of public debate with the publication of two political…

This conference proceedings presents 17 papers which examine quality assurance and evaluation in higher education, including methodologies, procedures, and ideas from various nations. The papers include: (1) "Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Malcolm Frazer); (2) "Academic Standards Panels in Australia" (Kwong Lee Dow);…

Presents an historical overview of the development of research from a narrow input-output approach to a holistic approach that evaluates within-school processes. Finds that selective processes produce higher academic achievement. (CFR)

This paper describes the process evaluation of an organ donation education program for high school students aged 15-18 years of which the effectiveness was established. The program consisted of three components: a video with group discussion, an interactive computer-tailored program and a registration training session. A cross-sectional survey was…

This study explored quality assessment and accountability in Dutch university education using a case study approach. The Dutch national system of quality assurance is described, and developments since the mid-1980s are traced. The university case studies illustrate models which are being employed to implement the quality assurance system including…

This document consists of the three 2000 issues of The Bernard van Leer Foundation's "Early Childhood Matters." This periodical, addressed to practitioners in the field of early childhood education, evolved from an in-house publication directed to projects funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. Articles in the February 2000 edition…

Quality requirements of curricula are analysed in terms of the educational effectiveness of their implementation. Improvement of educational effectiveness is seen primarily as taking place by improving the pupils' opportunity to learn, by increasing their time on task, by structuring and pacing their instruction, by clear and explicit objectives…

Initiated by the government of the Netherlands and UNESCO, the European Policy Conference on Early Childhood Education focused on early childhood policy issues with special reference to the social integration of children and families at risk. The conference was organized around three themes including quality, accessibility and going-to-scale. This…

An inventory was made of reliable characteristics of effective schools within and across contexts, including a comparison of results of effective-schools research from different nations. A five-factor model of school effectiveness is discussed, which gives the following characteristics: (1) academic goal consensus; (2) safe and orderly climate;…

In child care centers, parental involvement as well as staff sensitivity toward children and parents are essential for managing cultural diversity in a way that is beneficial for both migrant and indigenous families. Defining and improving the quality of center education from a multicultural perspective require discussions between staff and…

Private education and comparisons between private and public education at the collegiate and elementary/secondary levels are discussed in 11 articles. Attention is directed to relationships between private choice and public policy as they affect the quality, finance, governance, mission, and division of labor in a cross-national, interdisciplinary…

This report summarizes responses to a public opinion survey designed to reveal attitudes towards secondary education in other countries and compares these with attitudes in the United States. The survey was conducted in the United States and 11 other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED). The other…