Amidst the international movement toward establishing more rigorous external quality assurance, the recent quality assurance reform within the Ontario public university sector involves a shift of focus from external to internal quality assurance. This paper explores to what extent organisational learning was occurring at three comprehensive…

Purpose: This paper is one of seven in this volume, each elaborating different approaches to quality improvement in education. The purpose of this paper is to delineate a methodology called positive deviance. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the origins, theoretical foundations, core principles and a case study demonstrating an…

This research provides an introduction and background on accreditation of higher education in México focusing on FIMPES (Federation of Mexican Private Institutions of Higher Education), CACEI (Council for Accreditation and Certification of Education in Engineering), and CETYS University as a case study to establish relationships between…

Using Foucault's power concepts of the panopticon and governmentality as analytic and heuristic tools, this study reveals insights into how accreditation creates power networks in the quality assurance of higher education graduates in South Africa. The study draws on 11 in-depth interviews with academics from the Faculty of Engineering at a…

In 1966, the Coleman Report alerted the American people to the unfolding tragedy of a dysfunctional educational system. Seventeen years later, the National Commission on Excellence in Education issued its report titled "A Nation At Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," on the declining quality of American schools in general. This…

This paper explores the impact of external accountability on four mechanisms of network-internal quality control and the properties of (mandated) inter-organizational networks. An explorative case study approach examines the external accountability of a newly established educational network (MAT) and how schools and the Trust are held accountable…

Aim: The study intended to identify the contributions of the National awardee teachers to the teaching learning process through their teaching excellence and innovative practices which can act as exemplary model for the entire teaching community. Method: Attempts has been made to carry out a qualitative study where two selected cases are based on…

This research aims at describing parents participation in improving the quality of education of elementary schools viewed from the school substance and management. This is a qualitative research using phenomenology approach. The research design employed is comparative multicase involving four elementary schools in Malang city, East java,…

The marketisation of education is a global phenomenon and has attracted increased interest during the last three decades, not least in terms of research on school choice and its consequences. However, while much research has been conducted on the marketisation of schooling, less attention has been directed at adult education. In this paper, focus…

Breaches in academic integrity are a pervasive and enduring international concern to the overall quality of higher education. Despite students being the group most affected by academic integrity policies, organisational culture is such that students tend to be passive recipients of change initiatives, rather than the drivers. To deliver a paradigm…

All universities must achieve legitimacy, as this is essential to attract students, staff, and resources, including funding. To achieve legitimacy in transnational higher education, universities must conform to the rules and belief systems in the host countries. Adopting a case study approach, this research aims to investigate the different…

In 2007 the Cancer Care Ontario Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic (HPB) Community of Practice was formed during the wake of provincial regionalization of HPB services in Ontario, Canada. Despite being conceptualized within the literature as an educational intervention, communities of practice (CoP) are increasingly being adopted in healthcare as quality…

This case study attempts to identify the reasons for high turnover of academic staff in private higher institutions especially in small colleges. Three small colleges that shared almost the same type of background were being selected to participate in this study. The academic coordinator from these three institutions was interviewed. This case…

This article presents a case study exploring how national guidance for kindergartens in Kazakhstan was interpreted in practice. Document analysis of the "State Education Standards of Preschool Upbringing and Education," together with stakeholder interviews and observations of six Astana kindergarten settings, illustrates how competing…

Brain drain is a context-based issue and has direct impact on the quality of higher education for institutions where a significant number of instructors migrate to take up work in other countries. This is a critical problem in Yemen where higher teacher education programmes still lack teachers. Interpretive analysis of in-depth interviews with two…