University administrators may invest significant time and resources with the goal of improving their "U.S. News & World Report" ranking, but the real impact of these investments is not well known since, as other universities make similar changes, rankings become a moving target. This research removes the mystique of the "U.S.…

Community college students are often placed in developmental math courses based on the results of a single placement test. However, concerns about accurate placement have recently led states and colleges across the country to consider using other measures to inform placement decisions. While the relationships between college outcomes and such…

Using a conceptual model, this study examines the variables associated with the "U.S. News and World Report" peer assessment ratings of graduate and professional schools in business, education, engineering, law, and medicine. What are the correlates of prestige among the nation's leading graduate and professional schools, and are they consistent…

College rankings and guidebooks have become big business. The prominent role played by rankings and guidebooks is problematic because the criteria used to evaluate institutions have little to do with the quality of education students receive. Designed as an alternative to college rankings, NSSE assesses student engagement in activities that…

Relationships between ideologies and organizational effectiveness indicators are examined for a sample of 35 university departments. Most differences in research and teaching effectiveness across different fields can be attributed to dissimilar ideologies. (Author/MLW)

The Carnegie classification system has served as a framework for research on colleges and universities for more than 30 years. Today, the system's developers are exploring criteria that more effectively differentiate among institutions. One approach being considered is classifying institutions based on students' educational experiences. This study…

Little agreement as to criteria for evaluating college teaching was found in a literature review. A list of 10 activities and faculty behaviors that can be more reliably and validly evaluated by fellow colleagues than by students or administrators is presented. Recommendations for upgrading colleague evaluation of teaching are made. (JT)

A 3-dimensional model was developed to assess impact of institutional research studies. Elements are short, intermediate, and long-range time components; acceptance, non response, and rejection actions; and primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences. A variety of criterion measures and instruments have been identified to assist in model…

Research involving 23 hard science disciplines at a midwestern university indicates that research and teaching are complementary but that time allocation tradeoffs are necessary between the two functions. Administratively, evaluations tend to influence the direction faculty choose to follow. (Author/LBH)

The Biglan model of classification of academic subject areas is outlined, and its practical implications and uses by administrators for faculty evaluation are discussed. The reasons for applying subject-area standards in faculty productivity studies are examined. (MSE)

A faculty evaluation system that classified performance factors within a hierarchy and weights each, producing a final composite set for each faculty member, is explained and illustrated. The process is recommended for more objective and consistent decision-making about faculty tenure. (MSE)

A study of student evaluation of college instruction looked at how students weigh various teacher and course attributes. Student enjoyment of the learning process and student learning explained most of the variation in ratings. It was found that students apply weightings consistently across courses and teachers. (Author/MSE)

Instructors whose teaching was evaluated by students rated how applicable the evaluation items were to their classes. Results show that while weighting composite evaluation scores by means of faculty applicability judgments does not affect those overall scores, the distributions of certain items may be altered. (Editor/JT)

Two studies examining the effect of grade inflation on the piling up of grades in fewer grade categories and on the reliability of grade point averages found that reliability suffered significantly only in graduate study in which almost all grades were in two categories, A and B. Some other small effects were found in different rating scales. (MSE)

Three areas (business, psychology, and sociology/anthropology) at Kansas State University were studied. Significant differences were found in the orientations and the criteria that are being used and that should be used (according to the respondents) for performance evaluation. All agreed that teaching should be an important evaluative criterion.…