Although many institutions and government agencies count degrees as the sole measure of determining departmental or program viability, this method fails to consider other factors such as how many students who are within programs are present to replace students who graduated from those programs or how many credit hours were generated in the area.…

A typology of budget-driven program reviews is categorized by two variables: the locus of responsibility and the timing of the review. When a budget-driven program review is first implemented during a crisis, the range of financial and administrative options are high, yet buy-in and match to mission are low. When a budget-driven program review is…

This paper reviews the literature on the effects of feedback provided to teams in higher education or organizational settings. This review (59 empirical articles) showed that most of the feedback applications concerned "knowledge of results" (performance feedback). In contrast, there is a relatively small body of research using feedback…

This paper presents and discusses quantitative recall data from a longitudinal study that investigated the effects of Dynamic Assessment (DA) on diagnosing and promoting listening comprehension in French as a second language. We first define the theoretical concept of DA based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, which integrates mediation…

Many Pennsylvania colleges and universities require that teacher candidates pass a standardized assessment in order to gain formal entry in to their education programs. Standardized tests are also required for Level I teacher certification within Pennsylvania. The initial assessment required of all Pennsylvania preservice teachers for…

Purpose: Employability is a major educational goal, but employability programmes emphasise skill development, while employers value performance. Education acts as a model for employment, so educational performance assessment should be aligned with employment models. Consequently, the aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between…

Although there is substantial literature on the use of performance appraisal in the for-profit world, there is little literature available concerning the appraisal of staff positions in higher education. More knowledge is needed in this area since there is considerable research indicating that performance appraisal creates benefits to an…

In an October 22, 2010, speech to teacher educators at Columbia University's Teachers College, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan proclaimed that revolutionary change in the education of teachers is essential if the problems facing U.S. society and U.S. schools are to be solved. Toward the end of his speech, he declared that a standardized…

Over a decade ago, Barr and Tagg (1995) declared that a shift had occurred in higher education from an instruction paradigm to a learning paradigm. A central element in this new paradigm is learner-centered assessment. While a growing body of literature suggests that this approach to assessment is a best practice in higher education pedagogy, it…

This study investigates the effects of a competency-oriented course and the effects of feedback training on students' reflection skills. Thirty-one nursing students enrolled in a conventional course with lectures and assignments following a traditional test. Subsequently, they enrolled in a competency-oriented course, which included more…

There is increasing pressure for institutions of higher education in the United States to objectively document student learning outcomes. Criticism of higher education is mounting, with the result being that education institutions need to be more accountable for student learning on their campuses. As a result, there is increased interest in the…

Librarians at Washington State University Vancouver helped the campus develop a method of assessing its General Education Program, a program based on university learning goals, one of which is information literacy. The assessment method, which relies on an electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) along with rubrics to evaluate work in the ePortfolio,…

Institutional performance was a topic given considerable attention by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. Florida's Community College System responded to the challenge by committing to increase performance-based funding allocations from less than 2% to 5% of total state appropriations. Results of the analysis indicated that…

This study investigated the usefulness of the many-facet Rasch model (MFRM) in evaluating the quality of performance related to PowerPoint presentations in higher education. The Rasch Model utilizes item response theory stating that the probability of a correct response to a test item/task depends largely on a single parameter, the ability of the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to extend the research of Michael, Schwartz, and Balraj pertaining to presidential effectiveness. Faculty senate chairpersons, academic deans, senior-level institutional officers, and student leaders were surveyed in order to ascertain whether there was a relationship between stakeholders' perceptions and…