Academic transcripts are becoming increasingly important in home study environments because they are gaining wider use as "sales tools" by home study program graduates seeking acceptance of their home study work by employers and registrars. Well-designed transcripts have become an excellent alumni service and subtle marketing device that all…

Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) members must realize that sound admissions policies are the first step toward high quality education. DETC members should be willing to examine the need for qualification-based admissions policies like those used by "traditional" schools. Admission is critical to outcomes assessment because…

This handbook is designed to provide school decision makers with a global view of how assessment programs for home study schools are developed. Outcomes assessment (OA) is a required element for recognition by the National Home Study Council Accrediting Committee and hence for member schools. This handbook is designed to enable program developers…

Graduate surveys are a good way for home study schools to determine whether graduates are getting jobs in their field of training and whether courses are meeting student expectations. Although telephone surveys are more costly and time-consuming than mail surveys, they are usually more accurate. Survey response rates can be boosted to 50-60% by…

Although home study institutions rarely change hands, periodic internal valuations of the financial worth of home study schools can be instructive for school owners. The first step is to determine the school's position in the context of the education field. This can be accomplished by asking 10 questions that a potential buyer of the school might…

This handbook describes what must be done to coordinate and manage distance education activities, shares practitioners' tips, provides guidelines for ensuring quality and strategies for building successful programs, and tells how to find specialized information. In addition to offering an introduction to the concepts and activities of distance…

Originally conceived as a "substitute" form of education, instruction by correspondence or distance education was formally recognized in the United States in 1883 and has since developed into an alternative form of instruction preferred by millions of people. In the past 100 years, home study enrollments in the United States have grown from…

This handbook contains a collection of 10 essays on practical skills needed by correspondence educators. The emphasis is on the "how to" of home study. The scope of the handbook includes coverage of the major aspects of providing instructional and administrative service to students, from how to organize the student services department to…

This document is intended as a template for individuals initiating and developing adult education distance learning programs. The introduction discusses the following issues: benefits of distance learning; flexibility; confidentiality; retention; and the best students to target. The template and supplementary materials are organized in five…