This digest summarizes a report that addresses trends and issues in assessment in relation to the role of college faculty, including advances in assessment to make it more congenial to faculty, different ways in which institutions have approached assessment, and how assessment can be viewed as a faculty role. The report identifies such major…

Accountability has been a developing issue for community colleges for the past several years. Demands that two-year colleges provide evidence of the achievement of their goals has placed a heavy burden on institutional research offices. A number of organizational models have been used by community colleges in carrying out the research function,…

This continuing ERIC/CAPS series, entitled Searchlight Plus, consists of two components: first, an in-depth review of cited materials, including prime issues and trends, and implications for helping professionals; and second, citations from an ERIC computer search on the topic. Series topics are selected in response to user requests. Presented in…

This report addresses trends and issues in assessment in relation to the role of college faculty, including advances in assessment that make it more congenial to faculty, different institutional approaches to assessment, and how assessment can be viewed as a faculty role. The report identifies major shifts in the assessment framework, changes in…

With the growing demand for accountability by legislators, outcomes assessment has become a much higher institutional priority for community colleges. According to a recent survey, two-thirds of the states have implemented formal assessment initiatives, compared to a very few states only 1 year earlier. Institutions, however, must be careful that…

The major distinctions between evaluation and research are examined, the chief differences being the intent and type of criteria against which judgments are made. Conceptualization of the evaluation process in higher education is discussed on two levels. A collection of nine similes for understanding evaluation is examined in terms of major…

The quality of off-campus degree programs is considered in relation to quality control models and efforts that have been used to achieve quality control, the parties responsible for quality control, the effectiveness of programs to improve the educational quality of nontraditional education, and future prospects. It is suggested that quality…