The supra-national level has become increasingly important in educational policy formulation. This paper describes and compares two settings in which growth in these supra-national policies is evident--in Europe and in Africa. Key themes arising in policy documents in each context are examined. A distinction is drawn in analysis between themes…

This article advocates for the need to link early childhood program quality and professional development, with a particular focus on how this topic relates to early childhood inclusion. There is consensus in the early childhood field about various components of program quality for young children in general, and a number of states now have program…

Will the digital-learning movement repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement? How much more successful might today's charter universe look if yesterday's proponents had focused on the policies and practices needed to ensure its quality, freedom, and resources over the long term? What mistakes might have been avoided? Damaging scandals…

Purpose: The paper describes the purpose of and strategies for conducting post-occupancy evaluations (POEs) as a method for assessing school building performance. Set within the larger context of global efforts to develop and apply common indicators of school building quality, the authors describe research conducted within the newest generation of…

There have been calls to increase the autonomy of higher education institutions in Europe for a number of years. They have been counterbalanced by demands for increasing accountability and a European quality assurance system. In London in 2007, the European ministers of education decided to implement a European register of accredited quality…

The recent release of another critique of accreditation provides an opportunity to sort through some of the mass of ill-informed rhetoric in Washington regarding the nature and limitations of collegiate approval processes. The new report, "Why Accreditation Doesn't Work and What Policy Makers Can Do About It," comes from the American Council of…

This paper presents a profile of Palm Beach's Quality Counts prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4) Indicators for…

This paper, written from a British perspective, looks at "new" methods of learning that are transforming higher education teaching and learning and at some issues in quality control that arise from these rapid changes. The author notes that in the past new methods have often mistakenly been hailed as the panacea of current educational problems but…

The main objective of this research is to analyze the current status, the existing mechanisms for the regulation and quality assurance, and the impact of transnational commercial provision on the higher education system in six developing countries and a country in transition. The case-study research: (1) analyzed the principal forms and…

Assuring the quality of education provision is a fundamental aspect of gaining and maintaining credibility for programmes, institutions and national systems of higher education worldwide. Despite a long and generally successful track record, open and distance learning (ODL) is still required to prove that the quality of student learning is at…

The history of (external) quality assurance schemes in European higher education since ca. 1980 is sketched in this article. The three pioneering countries in Western Europe are taken as models of different developments and contrasted with the rise of accreditation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Using theoretical insights, the dynamics…

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…

Accreditation of early childhood programs helps teachers and administrators evaluate and improve their practice, helps parents make informed decisions, and helps children receive quality programming. This manual explains the policies and procedures for accreditation of early childhood programs through the National Association for the Education of…