Across the broad spectrum of disciplines and departments within higher education, it sometimes feels like there is little that unites them. They talk about silos, they bemoan divergent and fragmented efforts, and they refer frequently to "them" and "they," regardless of where they are on the organizational chart. However, there is one topic that…

The emergence of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) for Quality Assurance has been seen as an important step towards realising the European Higher Education Area by creating more transparency and accountability in the area of quality assurance. The ESG also include standards as to how quality assurance agencies should be reviewed. In a…

Purpose: This paper aims to compare the ways in which a range of quality frameworks have been validated and to identify a number of factors that have an impact on validation processes. Design/methodology/approach: Seven examples of published quality frameworks applicable to the field of e-learning are described and the methods used to validate…

Anecdotal evidence about Web site effectiveness can be colorful but is not useful in structuring and managing a site. This article examines elements of Web quality (identifying customers, articulating purpose, providing relevant content, creating coherent structure, crafting housestyle, providing relevant action points, delivering promises) and…

In Spring 2006,. the NAEP Validity Studies (NVS) Panel was asked by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to undertake a validity study to examine the quality of the NAEP Mathematics Assessments at grades 4 and 8. Specifically, NCES asked the NVS Panel to address five questions: (1) Does the NAEP framework offer reasonable content…

The ECERS-R and ITERS-R are among two of the most widely used observational measures for describing the characteristics of early childhood education and care. This paper describes a professional development programme currently taking place in seven regions across England, designed to train local government staff in the application of the scales as…

This paper reports a recent national study by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education into contemporary practices in student assessment in Australian higher education and the issues of quality assurance facing the sector in the light of public speculation and concern about academic standards. A major issue emerging from the project is the…

This evaluation guide resulted from a 2-year project that conducted literacy audits at 10 manufacturing companies, assessed 3,291 workers, developed customized assessments and curricula, and provided 104 courses to 948 participants in the Chicago area. The guide is a hands-on resource to assist companies, unions, or educational agencies in setting…

A project was conducted to improve the productivity and efficiency of 10 manufacturers by providing workplace literacy instruction to workers lacking basic skills required for their jobs, and to improve the capability of educational programs to meet the basic skill needs of the manufacturing industry by developing an evaluation manual for basic…

Across the country, states are developing more unified and comprehensive education systems for young children. The authors of this article outline seven features that help connect various early education programs across a state. First, supportive governance ensures that all parts of an early care and education system complement, rather than…

Given the range of student learning, behavior, and emotional problems experienced each day by teachers and families, meeting the challenge of supplying appropriate support is complex. Efforts to do so may be handicapped by the way in which student support interventions currently are conceived, organized, and implemented. Student supports are…