Customer Service is important for a myriad of reasons, such as retaining customers, building customer loyalty, getting customer referrals, improving employee happiness, and remaining competitive. However, as a company grows, the focus may be on sales and production, with customer service efficiency and effectiveness being seen as an overhead…

This paper reviews one of the policies which have been removed from implementation as a management approach (Total Quality Approach) in education. The main argument is that barrowing policies from abroad without considering to what extend the characteristics of the existing system would suit to the intended approach or to what extend the major…

The University of North Dakota (UND) Libraries have developed a multi-award winning Customer Service Program (CSP) involving longitudinal assessment and continuous improvement. The CSP consists of iterative training modules; constant reinforcement of Customer Service Principles with multiple communication strategies and tools, and incentives that…

In this commentary I discuss how Getting to Outcomes and other empowerment strategies have potential to contribute to a theory of evaluation practice, address the epistemology of quality improvement, and inform the external validity of outcome evaluations.

As states move to teacher evaluation that is intended to capture teacher contributions to students' learning outcomes, some states have adopted "value-added measures" to examine teachers' and teacher preparation programs' effectiveness. In Louisiana, the value-added assessment of teacher preparation programs includes students with…

This essay examines the shared philosophical foundations of Fredrick W. Taylor's scientific management principles and the contemporary learning outcomes movement (LOM). It analyses the shared philosophical ground between the focal point of Taylor's system--"the task"--and the conceptualization and deployment of "learning…

Students need a safe and supportive school environment to maximize their academic and social-emotional learning potential. A school's discipline policies and practices directly impact school climate and student achievement. Together, discipline policies and positive school climate efforts can reinforce behavioral expectations and ensure student…

The economic growth of a nation depends greatly on the improvement in education. Human development to a great extent depends on the improvement in Education. Among various levels of education, higher education has a pervasive and influential impact on development. Higher education empowers the individual with necessary skills and competence for…

This article explores the relationship between research on educational change, the Baldrige continuous improvement framework, and Schlechty's (2002) WOW school standards articulated in "Working on the Work". Each of Schlechty's standards are examined and examples from practicing educators who have been trained in continuous improvement…

There is international recognition of the importance of high quality services for young children with a consensus that three pillars contribute to quality improvement: adult: child ratios, staff qualifications and group size. In Australia over the past 5 years, early childhood policy has attempted to drive improvements in early childhood service…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into quality management for business education. The paper provides business schools and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) with information about two different quality standards and suggests how the AACSB accreditation process might be strengthened--thereby…

The article examines not-so-evident influences of postmodernism on modern Russian education, its values and norms. At school, children have to face inadequate competitions and carry out projects, which are irrelevant to their experience and even age. During holiday festivities, the rejection and oblivion of traditional culture and core human…

The last few decades have seen many attempts to "reform" education across the world. Those reforms have been spurred on by the perceived low standards, by the number of young people who are seen to be educational failures, and by the need for a "skilled workforce" if our respective countries are to compete successfully in an…

Public interest in educational outcomes has markedly increased in the most recent decade; however, quality management and statistical process control have not deeply penetrated the management of academic institutions. This paper presents results of an attempt to use Statistical Process Control (SPC) to identify a key impediment to continuous…

Schools are working to improve achievement through the examination of instructional practice and the use of instructional technology. This article provides informed commentary on the state of school reform and the need for continuous improvement, instructional improvement and instructional technology improvement. It also presents advocacy for the…