The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This paper provides information about the development of a successful quality-assurance process in the New South Wales, Australia, school system. In 1992 the New South Wales (NSW) government announced its commitment to a program of quality-assurance reviews of schools. During that year, approximately 100 meetings were held with principals, school…

This publication deals with two broad issues: (1) selection, equality, and reproduction of social hierarchies in higher education, and (2) development policies and the assessment of their effect on higher education. It contains the following 10 papers: "Ambitious Goals--Small Changes? On the Structure of Student Population in Finland in the…

This paper offers reflections on the role of the agricultural university in developing nations by analyzing in turn the factors that contribute to stagnation of these universities. It first takes up the policy conditions that govern the broad outlines of the agricultural university mandate such as the university's relationship with the ministry of…

This article explores the following questions: first, "Do colleges of higher vocational education vary in the mean success of their graduates on the labor market?" and, second, "Are the differences between these colleges stable over time?". The analysis drew upon school effectiveness, quality assurance and labor market…

The following papers are included: "Valuing Change and Changing Values" (Armstrong); "Raybouldism, Russell, and New Reality" (Benn, Fieldhouse); "The Move to Self-Assessment" (Boud); "Hijacking Experience and Delivering Competence" (Bryant); "The Professional Development Model of APEL [Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning]--Some Problems of…

This volume contains 13 papers on experiences with reform and innovation in higher education and their implications for developing countries. Four themes are highlighted: higher education and development, performance assessment, sustainable financing, and effectiveness in governance and management. The papers include: "Introduction:…

This document provides a decision tree to guide the thinking of the staff of New Zealand agencies developing national education and certification standards. It is intended to help them make decisions about moderation of assessment--a process of sampling assessments to ensure that they are consistent with the required standard. After an…

This paper describes an evaluation model developed by the Ontario Ministry of Education and illustrates how it was adapted to meet local and provincial needs of the Scarborough School System for accountability data and direction for change. The basic Cooperative Evaluation and Development of School Systems (CEDSS) model includes five stages of…

The theme of this book is that the drive for quality in higher education in Britain and the concurrent moves to reform teaching and learning have not been connected organizationally or in practice. Drawing on the Quality in Higher Education research project, the book examines the variety of meanings of "quality" showing that a tension…

This paper discusses the increasingly corporatist mentality within higher education, focusing on the role of the government within Canada, and elsewhere, to reshape higher education into narrow occupational training. It notes that while governments in Canada and the United States have reduced public funding for higher education, they have pursued…

The purpose of this booklet, which draws on experience from all over the world, is to provide educational planners, administrators, and managers with analysis and information on using assessment to improve the quality of education. Assessment options and what research and other kinds of evidence reveal about their advantages and disadvantages are…

This monograph is a "how-to" manual on responsibility center budgeting (RCB) and responsibility center management (RCM) in the context of Canadian and U.S. institutions. It explains how RCB/RCM works in practice and discusses some of the problems encountered in implementing this strategy at a number of Canadian and U.S. universities. The…

There are a number of studies that classify governing boards into different types. Some classifications are based on management form. Some are based on the form in which authority is exercised. Some are based on the form of institution that the board serves. Most of these classifications include "working boards," but few offer a clear…

Describes a study at an Israeli high school that investigated changes in the principal's role as the result of the introduction of a school management information system (SMIS). Discusses information handling and flow, interrelations with teachers, accountability, instruction evaluation, supervision, feedback, frequency of meetings, and shared…