The Early Learning Challenge (ELC) program awarded more than $1 billion in four-year grants to 20 States to implement comprehensive and cohesive high-quality early learning systems that support young children with high needs and their families. A key lever in making these improvements was the enhancement of States' Quality Rating and Improvement…

As district leaders search for the best ways to improve student learning with the Common Core State Standards, California districts are leading the way as early implementers of the new standards. The ideas and lessons emerging from their work can help other educators maximize the effectiveness of their own implementation efforts. This brief…

This study illustrates the development, usability, and advantages of an electronic exhibit for the TEAC (Teacher Education Accreditation Council) academic audit from the perspective of program education faculty. The examination of the successful utilization of electronic exhibits for teacher licensure and educational leadership program IBs…

In many European countries and in North America, home education is a viable alternative for education at school. Parents who want to home school their child are legally allowed to do so, although some countries impose rather strict conditions. This article concentrates on the way authorities supervise or inspect the quality of home education. A…

Across the broad spectrum of disciplines and departments within higher education, it sometimes feels like there is little that unites them. They talk about silos, they bemoan divergent and fragmented efforts, and they refer frequently to "them" and "they," regardless of where they are on the organizational chart. However, there is one topic that…

The Shanghai Education Evaluation Institute (SEEI), expanding from the Shanghai Evaluation Institute for Higher Education first established in 1996, is an institution under the management of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. Among the provincial education evaluation agencies in China, it is by far the largest in terms of its scale and…

The emergence of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) for Quality Assurance has been seen as an important step towards realising the European Higher Education Area by creating more transparency and accountability in the area of quality assurance. The ESG also include standards as to how quality assurance agencies should be reviewed. In a…

Purpose: HEdPERF (Higher Education PERFormance) is one of the most recently developed scales in the literature to measure service quality in higher education. However, HEdPERF is designed to measure service quality at a macro level (university level) and may be considered as a more generic measurement instrument. In higher education, new scales…

The annual meeting of the ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) IQA (internal quality assurance) Group gathered some 60 participants in the premises of the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) in The Hague in June 2009. This seminar was a successful follow-up to the first ENQA IQA…

The use of rigorous assessment in an Information Literacy program can be used to persuade reluctant faculty and administrators to buy into a program. A "culture of assessment" also assures quality control for internal and external audiences. Information Literacy at Wartburg College is unique in that it is a required component of five…

Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states are trailblazers in providing access to high-quality, state-funded pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds: last year, the majority of all 4-year-olds attending pre-kindergarten in the nation were enrolled in SREB states. The SREB region also leads the nation in setting high standards of quality for…

In its effort to simplify the accreditation process, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education has limited the amount of documentation that a program can use to support its efforts for accreditation. With this "no frills" approach, the rubrics or scoring guides that accompany assessments provide critical information about the…

This paper reports a recent national study by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education into contemporary practices in student assessment in Australian higher education and the issues of quality assurance facing the sector in the light of public speculation and concern about academic standards. A major issue emerging from the project is the…

This study analyzes the accreditation experience in the United States with special emphasis on the issues and decisions that surrounded the development of evaluation procedures and standards. Attention is given to the relationship between accrediting agencies and governmental agencies, the effect of accrediting requirements on the way that…

Focuses on quality assurance in open and distance education. Discusses making use of new technologies in ways besides the simple transfer of content; establishing systems of quality assurance and control tailored to universities' needs; four broad principles for developing distance education policies and procedures; and managing change. (AEF)