This paper seeks to provide a rationale for evaluating Technical and Further Education (TAFE) programs by using a management system approach that is based on corporate planning. The first section reviews the sources of increased demands for accountability in TAFE (societal, economic, government, and legislative sources) and examines various…

The purpose and direction of the quality improvement program of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) are described. The improvement program was designed to develop a systematic approach to identify, measure, and correct errors in the student aid delivery system. Information is provided on the general approach…

The overall idea of programed learning plays an important role in the learning process, but it does not contain any sensational discoveries or unusual points. Importance resides in the perfection of the existing systems and methods of learning with the use of the achievements of modern science, and particularly of radio electronics and…

This third national conference on open learning and nontraditional study attempted to demonstrate cooperative efforts across the country and to show how open learning and nontraditional study relate to unified efforts to achieve common goals. Topics discussed at the conference included: (1) the national overview, (2) military training programs,…

The Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities (UECU) was developed as an alternative form of postsecondary education, fostering the development of university without walls programs at a number of institutions and initiating its own undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Its commitment is to personalized, self-directed, lifelong…

This document is designed to introduce practitioners in the United Kingdom's learning and skills sector to the principles and practice of benchmarking. The first section defines benchmarking and differentiates metric, diagnostic, and process benchmarking. The remainder of the booklet details the following steps of the benchmarking process: (1) get…

This study of school-based mental health programs used stakeholder focus groups to examine factors related to positive treatment outcomes, barriers to accessing services, and methods for improving service delivery to high school students with emotional/behavioral disorders. Fifty-one high school students (34 receiving treatment) at three urban…

Internalization of higher education will be remembered as one of the major challenges and accomplishments of the last two decades. This paper introduces the concept of qualitative and quantitative tracking measures to enable a monitoring of progress and quality toward specified objects or targets. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to emphasize the…

This annual report details activities by the New York State Commission on Quality of Care for the Mentally Disabled, which oversees the public and private service system for individuals with mental disorders. The report notes that during 1994-1995, the Commission's cost-effectiveness studies identified over $15 million in potential savings, and…

This document describes six different approaches to outcomes assessments, approaches that are named in the titles of chapters 2 through 7. The chapters and authors are as follows: "Perspectives on Assessment Policy and Practice" (Bragg, Harmon); "Total Quality Management" (Bragg); "Assessing Student Success" (Harmon);…

This collection of articles of international appeal on the future of vocational and technical education and training begins with an introduction by William Hall and includes the following papers: "New Vocationalism in the United States: Potential Problems and Outlook" (Benson); "Learning within a Work Context: Training Concepts,…

This report summarizes proceedings and recommendations of a workshop on trends, needs, and issues in maternal and child nutrition services and presents 28 major recommendations and associated action strategies which address general areas, women's nutrition for optimal reproductive health, infant nutrition, child nutrition, adolescent nutrition,…

An assessment is provided of the progress of Maryland's Joint Coordinating Committee for Occupational Education Programs in developing a systematic procedure for the evaluation of the quality of occupational programs in Maryland. After presenting the 1976 resolution which established the joint committee, a project summary for fiscal year 1989 is…

This policy paper includes four perspectives on educational quality presented at the 1983 annual meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Gwen Morgan considers the role of government, raising questions about what regulatory agencies should do, can do, and cannot do in the light of public attitudes. Ways that…

This monograph reviews theory and procedures of evaluation as reflected in the professional literature and in correspondence from chairmen of departments of English and the Humanities. Introductory comments are followed by chapters on: the evaluation of teaching; teaching and values; student evaluation of faculty and courses; observation of…