Despite the increasing discussions on quality and professionalism in the field of language assessment, limited empirical research is currently available on whether language testing practice conforms to the best practice model prescribed in professional standards. Situated in the context of Chinese higher education, this study examined how English…

This handbook is primarily for the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) auditor. It is intended to help in preparing for audits of "Inquiry Briefs" and "Inquiry Brief Proposals" and to contribute to the writing of the audit report. This handbook contains a full description of the audit process, the responsibilities of…

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council's (TEAC's) "Guide to Accreditation" is primarily for the faculty, staff, and administrators of TEAC member programs. It is designed for use in preparing for both initial and continuing accreditation. Program personnel should understand and accept all the components of the TEAC accreditation process…

Implementation of patient safety initiatives can be costly in time and energy. Because of small volumes and limited resources, rural hospitals often are not included in nationally driven patient safety initiatives. This article describes the Tennessee Rural Hospital Patient Safety Demonstration project, whose goal was to strengthen capacity for…

The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) "Guide to Accreditation" includes a full description of TEAC's principles and standards, the accreditation process and audit, and detailed instruction on writing the "Brief." This revision includes expanded information on (1) preparing an "Inquiry Brief Proposal" and the audit of the "Inquiry…

The "Setting the scene" deliverable of the QMPP project (www.qmpp.net) has been authored by Mr. Ari-Matti Auvinen (HCI Productions Oy) and many QMPP project partners. In addition to the definition of the scope of the project, it includes also a good list of references to the literature of user-generated content as well as good web links…

Online learning is growing rapidly as states and districts are creating new online schools, and existing programs are adding new courses and students. The growth reflects the spreading understanding that online courses and programs can serve a wide variety of students and needs. These include: (1) Creating opportunities for small and rural school…

This deliverable identifies key approaches for quality management in peer production by benchmarking peer production practices and processes in other areas. (Contains 29 footnotes, 13 figures and 2 tables.)[This report has been authored with contributions of: Kaisa Honkonen-Ratinen, Matti Auvinen, David Riley, Jose Pinzon, Thomas Fischer, Thomas…

Since a large, underfunded urban Colorado district initiated ISO 9000 reforms, administrators and staff have reviewed 14 central-office departments' processes to improve efficiency and enhance student outcomes. Jefferson County has saved $900,000 annually on purchasing processes, developed a quality curriculum-development process, and improved…

Ten New Zealand kindergartens, play centers, and child care centers were studied to assess the consequences of government-mandated charter development. Issues related to the charter document, consultation, effects on centers and participants, government bureaucracy, and the impact of becoming chartered were examined. It was found that there was…

The author was employed as an inspector of education in Nigeria from 1973 to 1978, in what was a completely new system of national inspection. His experience as an inspector has given him a long term interest in educational administration, particularly in relation to the types of school inspection that different countries have in relation to their…

Twenty-three transition programs for high school students with disabilities in Minnesota are profiled. These programs were selected because they applied a set of 10 quality standards developed to improve the transition process and adult outcomes for students, as well as to increase the cost effectiveness and efficiency of transition services 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…