The article grounds the structure of the external evaluation of colleges at the level of the non-university higher education sector, and it reveals the problems met in this process as well as possibilities for their solution: the phenomenon of the external evaluation of colleges is discussed and its concept is presented; the external evaluation…

This handbook is primarily for the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) auditor. It is intended to help in preparing for audits of "Inquiry Briefs" and "Inquiry Brief Proposals" and to contribute to the writing of the audit report. This handbook contains a full description of the audit process, the responsibilities of…

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council's (TEAC's) "Guide to Accreditation" is primarily for the faculty, staff, and administrators of TEAC member programs. It is designed for use in preparing for both initial and continuing accreditation. Program personnel should understand and accept all the components of the TEAC accreditation process…

For better or for worse, the assessment of research quality is one of the primary drivers of the behaviour of the academic community with all sorts of potential for distorting that behaviour. So, if you are going to assess research quality, how do you do it? This article explores some of the problems and possibilities, with particular reference to…

The "PISA 2009 Technical Report" describes the methodology underlying the PISA 2009 survey. It examines additional features related to the implementation of the project at a level of detail that allows researchers to understand and replicate its analyses. The reader will find a wealth of information on the test and sample design,…

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) "Guide to Accreditation" includes a full description of TEAC's principles and standards, the accreditation process and audit, and detailed instruction on writing the "Brief." This revision includes expanded information on (1) preparing an "Inquiry Brief Proposal" and the audit of the "Inquiry…

This deliverable identifies key approaches for quality management in peer production by benchmarking peer production practices and processes in other areas. (Contains 29 footnotes, 13 figures and 2 tables.)[This report has been authored with contributions of: Kaisa Honkonen-Ratinen, Matti Auvinen, David Riley, Jose Pinzon, Thomas Fischer, Thomas…

Reports the implementation of a quality assurance program in Colorado mental health facilities, designed to help managers know how they were doing on operational issues. The program was simple, low cost, and easy to implement. All levels of management found it a useful tool. (Author/WAS)

After seven years of conducting the National Association of College and University Business Officers' benchmark program, designed to establish standards for institutional administration, the association reviews the lessons learned and the challenges ahead in higher education. Representatives of four participating universities offer their…

Sharon (Massachusetts) Public Schools developed an alternative procurement process for school food services that complies with state public bidding laws while evading "low-bid" constraints. The new process features evaluative criteria covering nutrition education, community outreach, management expertise, site visits, and price…

A program in peer review and quality assessment at the University of Michigan denture department is described. The program exposes students to peer review in order to assess the quality of their treatment. (Author/MLW)

The British experience with nationwide research quality assessment exercises and newly-introduced measures to improve research program accountability is described. Consequences for institutions of higher education and for the system as a whole are examined, using the University of Glasgow (Scotland) as an example. Utility of performance indicators…

Four newsletter issues address aspects of adult immigrant education for employment. The first focuses on the manufacturing industry, with articles describing a Pima County Adult Education (Arizona) program concerning quality standards, an El Paso Community College (Texas) program for employees of companies in transition, and survey results on…

Both of these "Surveys of policy and practice" were conducted on behalf of COL by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as part of COL's partnership agreement with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning. The first report identifies…