Just as surveillance in general has become more sophisticated, penetrative and ubiquitous, so has the surveillance of teachers. Enacted through an assemblage of strategies such as learning walks, parental networks, student voice and management information systems, the surveillance of teachers has proliferated as a means of managing the risks of…

Many teachers view "teacher evaluation" or "teacher appraisal" as a means of effecting bureaucratic organisational change in schools. In essence, this change is attributed to "political reconstruction" and the "disciplining" of teachers. As a result, some common phrases associated with this ideological…

This paper argues that the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be used to establish stronger links between educational effectiveness research (EER) and school improvement. It provides research evidence to support the validity of the model. Thus, the importance of using the dynamic model to establish an evidence-based and theory-driven…

Several family-based treatments of conduct disorder and delinquency in adolescents have emerged as evidence-based and, in recent years, have been transported to more than 800 community practice settings. These models include multisystemic therapy, functional family therapy, multidimensional treatment foster care, and, to a lesser extent, brief…

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…

Since 1986, with the creation of the Renovation ("Doi moi") policy, Vietnam has demonstrated a strong commitment to the improvement of its higher education system. After 25 years of opening its doors to the global educational environment, Vietnam has achieved some notable accomplishments. The country's higher educational system has…

The paper highlights some of the results of a study concerning the implementation of quality assurance systems in Italian universities. Through an analysis carried out on Italian universities' websites and two case studies this paper tries to explain what is happening in Italian universities by identifying some trends of action concerning quality…

The procedures commonly employed for quality assurance in higher education are designed as if the endeavour were a technical process, whereas it may be more useful to view it as a political process. For example, quality assurance requires making choices among competing conceptions of quality, and in so doing privileges some interests over others.…

This paper attempts to critically analyze the educational discourses and policies of the European Union over the last decade (2000-2010) in the context of the Lisbon Strategy initiatives (Council of the EU, 2000) and provide an account on "The Shape of Things to Come". It will be argued that the symbolic and actual construction of the…

The scope of institutional research (IR) undertaken in Australasian universities is progressively expanding. A traditional focus on student life cycle elements such as enrolment, retention and satisfaction has been complemented for some years now by other areas of focus including research performance and community engagement. More recently,…

The government of Ireland, like many European countries, is currently under severe pressure from external forces to grow the economy. One possible way to maintain and grow its economy is through the production of a highly educated and globally competitive workforce. In an effort to develop such a workforce, the government, through the Department…

Quality management theory pervades education policy across Europe. In this article its prevalence is examined through analysis of policy texts drawn from 16 different state systems in Europe, as well as from the European Union and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The article argues that Quality discourse has…

In Kuwait, as in other rapidly-developing higher education systems, one major area of concern is ensuring the quality of education offered by private providers. This paper briefly reviews the history of the development of higher education in Kuwait since its inception in 1936. It considers various quality systems currently in place in other…

The question of the manner in which universities have organised themselves to embed the "quality" agenda in Scotland is addressed in this paper by considering whether the seemingly different structures generated are in fact sophisticated and efficient forms of resource allocation, or organic and emergent structures with only local…

There are three purposes for evaluation: evaluation for action to aid the decision making process, evaluation for understanding to further enhance enlightenment and evaluation for control to ensure compliance to standards. This article argues that the primary function of evaluation in the "Catherine Wheel" computer-based assessment (CBA)…