The Education and Training (ET) 2020 Working Groups (WGs), involving over 400 experts from Member States' administrations and other stakeholders, are one of the main instruments in the toolbox of the Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). Through mutual learning and the identification of good practices,…

The critical appraisal and quality assessment of primary research are key stages in systematic review and evidence synthesis. These processes are driven by the need to determine how far the primary research evidence, singly and collectively, should inform findings and, potentially, practice recommendations. Quality assessment of primary…

Since 2009 there has been increased interest in Australian universities' ability to demonstrate that their students have acquired knowledge and skills as specified by them in the form of graduate attributes or institutional learning outcomes. This paper describes research undertaken in Australia to identify a comprehensive set of generalized…

For 25 years, nearly 3,000 colleges and universities have used the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys to assess their students, strengthen the student experience, increase student success and completion, and prioritize campus planning initiatives. The surveys are valued so highly because they reveal where institutions are…

Educational quality is a way to influence the future of the American economy (Hanushek, 1986). Large-scale assessments are designed to determine quality in education by measuring student achievement. A connection exists between the standards, teachers, and assessments that form a system of accountability within education. State and national…

School accountability systems in the United States have been criticized on a number of fronts, mainly on grounds of completeness and fairness. This study examines an alternative school quality framework--one that seemingly responds to several core critiques of present accountability systems. Examining results from a pilot study in a diverse urban…

Recent policies intended to improve teacher quality have focused on the preparation that teachers receive before entering the classroom. A short-lived federal rule would have required every state to assess and rank teacher-preparation programs by their graduates' impact on student learning. Though the federal rule was repealed, last year some 21…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grants program, sponsored by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, aimed to improve children's access to high quality early care and education. RTT-ELC awarded more than $1 billion over three rounds of grants to help states develop and implement systems that rate…

In December 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and, with it, ushered in a new era of education policy in America. Leaving behind many of the most criticized aspects of its predecessor, No Child Left Behind (NCLB), this new incarnation of the primary federal legislation guiding K-12 education provides state and…

By the start of the 2017-18 school year, states must complete their plans to meet the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), which requires all states to rethink their school classification systems in consultation with community members. So far, 16 states and Washington, D.C., have submitted their plans to the U.S. Department of Education,…

This paper majors on the evaluation criteria and methods used for the assessment of health education programs in the United States. The choice of the topic is dictated by the fact that there is need to improve on the quality of the graduates that the different nursing and medical institutions in the United States produce. By looking at the…

The assessment of quality in higher education from the perspective of students has three dimensions: students' assessment of teaching, students' satisfaction and students' learning engagement. These differ in conceptions of quality, evaluation methods, evaluation content, evaluation purposes, traits and priorities. The authors conducted three…

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced the "Raise the Bar: Lead the World" initiative to use decades of research and professional experience to transform public education and advance education equity. There are three focus areas: (1) Achieve Academic Excellence; (2) Boldly Improve Learning Conditions; and (3) Create Pathways…

In many countries, students are asked about their perceptions of teaching in order to make decisions about the further development of teaching practices on the basis of this feedback. The stability of this measurement of teaching quality is a prerequisite for the ability to generalize the results to other teaching situations. The present study…

Competency-based education, also referred to as mastery-based, proficiency-based or performance-based education, is a system of education designed to equitably ensure all students develop the success skills they will need for college, career and life. Competency-based education is gaining momentum and visibility. Districts and schools turn to…