In this article, we discuss the process of standardization of Higher education (HE) initiated by the Bologna Process bringing to the forefront the temporal politics of the standardization of European Higher Education Arena (EHEA). Empirically, we perform a comparative review of the Scorecards indicators at the base of the Bologna Process…

Measuring Early Learning Quality & Outcomes (MELQO) was initiated to address needs for child development and quality of early childhood education (ECE) data, specifically for low- and middle-income countries. Drawing from existing tools, MELQO convened a consortium to create open-source tools to be adapted to national contexts, simultaneously…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the extent to which 15-year-old students near the end of their compulsory education have acquired the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in modern societies. The assessment does not just ascertain whether students can reproduce knowledge; it also examines…

This article focuses on the assessment procedures of Norwegian PhD theses as viewed by external members of evaluation committees from three countries with different examination systems; the USA, the UK and Sweden. Their viewpoints give useful information not only on the pros and cons with the Norwegian system, but also on the strengths and…

University rankings are key drivers in national and institutional strategic planning. The increase in the number of university ranking systems and the diversity of methods and indicators used by these systems necessitate the development of an index that can measure a university's performance in all these systems at once. This article presents…

In 1997 the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) partnered with countries around the world to design the ambitious and innovative Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Beginning in 2000, and every three years since, OECD/PISA has assessed 15-year-old students in participating countries to gauge the extent…

The report, which reflects the framework of the Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communique, is the result of a joint effort by Eurostat, Eurydice as well as by Eurostudent and has been overseen by the Bologna Follow-up Group and more specifically by a working group established by the latter. In line with the specific mission and methodology of the…

In this article, the characteristics of five test review models are described. The five models are the US review system at the Buros Center for Testing, the German Test Review System of the Committee on Tests, the Brazilian System for the Evaluation of Psychological Tests, the European EFPA Review Model, and the Dutch COTAN Evaluation System for…

Smaller universities may produce research which is on a par with larger, elite establishments. This is confirmed by a recently developed mathematical model, supported by data from British and French higher education research-evaluation exercises. The detailed nature of the UK system, in particular, allows quantification of the notion of critical…

Standardized testing for higher education has been much in the news in the US over the last few years. In the wake of the Spellings Commission, the clear intent of the Department of Education's (USDOE) position in negotiated rulemaking in 2007 was to mandate its use in accreditation. Standardized testing is also a central feature of the Voluntary…

The E-Learning Maturity Model (eMM) is a quality improvement framework designed to help institutional leaders assess their institution's e-learning maturity. This paper reviews the eMM, drawing on examples of assessments conducted in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA to show how it helps institutional leaders assess and compare their…

This paper develops an empirical methodology for the construction of a synthetic multi-dimensional cross-country comparison of the performance of governments around the world in improving the livelihood of their younger population. The devised "Youth Welfare Index" is based on the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology and…

International education involves a dichotomy of study between the largely theoretical discipline of comparative education, and the still relatively under-researched body of international schools. The last 40 years has seen the rapid growth both in scale and diversity of this type of school, plus the emergence of a discrete industry. This dimension…

Economic development in Latin America has trailed most other world regions over the past four decades despite its relatively high initial development and school attainment levels. This puzzle can be resolved by considering the actual learning as expressed in tests of cognitive skills, on which Latin American countries consistently perform at the…

Describes how universities in the United States have used evaluation systems to rate the quality of their programs, faculty, administrations, entire educational institutions, and the evaluation process itself. The applicability of American-style evaluation methods to German universities is considered. (AM)