This chapter describes a model for continuous improvement that guides the work of the National Center on Scaling Up Effective Schools, or NCSU. NCSU is a research and development center funded by the Institute for Education Sciences, the research arm of the United States Department of Education. At the core of the Center's work is an innovative…

Planners strive to develop the best programs and strategies to enhance student learning and advance their institutional mission while meeting their desired outcomes. This work, while rewarding, can be time intensive and demanding and developing new initiatives is not without risks. Some common reasons these efforts fail include: lack of buy-in…

This paper provides a framework for an institutional self study integrating total quality management (TQM) and institutional effectiveness (IE) models within the context of standards of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It highlights the common dimensions in general management principles between TQM and IE and the strategies for…

Providing high-quality student services to students enrolled in distance education programs is a critical link to the academic success of this growing student population. (Contains 7 figures.)

Examines a five-stage assessment model used at James Madison University (Virginia) to assess student learning and to guide policy. Includes identification of program objectives, selection or design of methods that measure those outcomes, analysis of assessment data, application of data for decision making, and use of data to bid for state funding.…

This paper begins by describing the changing needs in the education of today's information technology (IT) professional. It presents a theoretical framework for using an experiential learning approach in the context of professional education in IT and information management and describes an instructional model that augments the principles of…

This document contains 35 papers from the program development section of an international conference on vocational education and training (VET) for lifelong learning in the information era. The following are among the papers included: "Using Quality Indicators to Create World-Class Curricula: From Concept to Application" (Curtis Finch,…