The US Department of Education's (ED's) responsibilities for the distribution of federal financial aid and collecting data are well-known to the general public. Few know of the department's role in quality assurance, however, and its relationship to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)--a federal advisory…

The U.S. has many of poor- and under-performing colleges, where millions of students are paying and borrowing a lot. Unfortunately, most students do not know that schools are underperforming until it is too late. The higher education industry has coasted on the reputation of the nation's most prestigious schools. Nationally, only about 42 percent…

Most countries, developing as well as developed, have adopted some type of quality assurance mechanism. Argentina is neither an island nor an outlier in higher education reforms in general. This study is based on case study design and involved extensive fieldwork to collect interviews and official documents. This article analyzes the regulatory…

Walden University recently underwent a successful reaffirmation of accreditation process with The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. As part of the 3-year process, a committee, named the Education and Communication working group, was formed to inform and engage with the entire Walden community. The…

Our country is faced with a financial crisis of mammoth proportions: a crisis rooted in ethics, or rather, the lack of ethics. Critics are increasingly complaining that business schools focus too much teaching effort on maximizing shareholder value, with only a limited understanding of ethical and social aspects of business leadership. Business…

The theme of qualifications frameworks and their relation to quality assurance is gaining urgency in the European scene as more and more countries are completing their national qualifications frameworks and quality assurance agencies need to take important decisions on how to implement them. Some of the key features of the qualifications…

The term "institutional effectiveness" was developed in response to accreditation, and this emphasizes the large extent to which accreditation drives institutional effectiveness efforts on community college campuses. There are two general types of accreditation. "Institutional accreditation" is the process by which institutions of higher education…

How states authorize postsecondary institutions to operate within their boundaries is one of the least well documented topics in higher education today. No two states do this the same way and jurisdictional boundaries among the state agencies that perform these functions are sometimes uncertain (Goldstein, Lacey, and Janiga 2006). The role of…

This report is a product of an ENQA (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) seminar on the first external evaluations of quality assurance agencies, held in Paris in July 2008. The seminar took stock of the achieved reviews of agencies to learn lessons from these first outcomes and, hence, provided a platform for…

The role of the staff members of California's Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing needs to be clarified. As it is now, it is difficult to distinguish whether they are to act as advocates or judges of institutional programs. (HMD)

The author's concerns about California's proposed external assessment system center around: a) the dual role of the Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing; b) lack of involvement of teacher educators in the process; and c) the amount of time and effort involved. (HMD)

Four educators agree the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) should ensure quality of teacher education, change and quantify standards, and increase its power. They oppose both NCATE accreditation of state departments of education instead of education programs and standardized teacher preparation programs. (PB)

This paper describes the current circumstances surrounding the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and its location and functioning of power in the accrediting process. Strengths and weaknesses of NCATE are listed and discussed, as are positive and negative effects the association has had on teacher education.…

There have been calls to increase the autonomy of higher education institutions in Europe for a number of years. They have been counterbalanced by demands for increasing accountability and a European quality assurance system. In London in 2007, the European ministers of education decided to implement a European register of accredited quality…

Professionals within institutions of teacher education, in association with those in the field, are best qualified to set standards of quality, develop training programs, and assess effectiveness of teacher preparation programs. (HMD)