Associate Professor Dr. M. Murat Erguvan has 28 years of teaching and administrative experience in various countries and positions such as programme coordinator, dean, vice rector for education, research and/or external affairs. He has been with the International Black Sea University (IBSU), in Tbilisi, Georgia, a country located at the…

In this commentary I discuss how Getting to Outcomes and other empowerment strategies have potential to contribute to a theory of evaluation practice, address the epistemology of quality improvement, and inform the external validity of outcome evaluations.

This article is part of the dialogue on human performance technology (HPT) models that began in the October 2011 issue of "Performance Improvement." In 1996, the author shared a new HPT model with "Performance & Instruction" readers. Since then, he has refined the model and added empirical research. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the…

According to a recent study, institutions of higher learning in South Africa fail to a great extent to integrate the key management functions that are fundamental to effective quality management. This article argues that the effective promotion of quality of a university's core business depends to a large extent on the ability of an institution's…

The 1993 inaugural issue of the "Journal of Statistics Education" ("JSE") published an article about a small conference for Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs of twelve projects in statistics education funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This twenty-year retrospective (1) offers some personal memories related…

As technology has evolved, the opportunity to transform and enhance the business processes of academic records managers has become more attractive. Many institutions embrace business-process change as a part of their ongoing strategy, but others defer--or simply avoid--any such change. But now more than ever, according to this author, it is…

Education reformers are abuzz over school "turnarounds," a simple idea that has undeniable appeal. School turnarounds offer the opportunity to take familiar educational institutions and improve them through coaching, mentoring, capacity building, best practices, and other existing tools. Unlike most reform efforts, which focus on…

Accrediting agencies, legislators, pundits, and even higher educational professionals have become enamored with applying the language of continuous improvement to learning outcomes. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges specifically uses the term "continuing improvement" in Core Standard 2.5, one of its…

The author, who is a superintendent of the Iredell-Statesville Schools in Statesville, North Carolina, discusses how his school district has obtained a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Along the journey to the Baldrige Award, the author shares his experiences and many turning points he and his cabinet members encountered. The author…

The rise of the research center has changed the landscape of U.S. research enter-prise. It has also created a number of evaluation challenges, particularly when considering strategically focused, multifaceted cooperative research centers (CRCs). The author argues that although recent CRC evaluation efforts have gone a long way toward meeting the…

Purpose: Teacher research (inquiry) has been characterized as practice improvement, professional development and action research, among numerous names and descriptions. The purpose of this paper is to support the case that teacher research is also a form of quality improvement known as continuous process improvement (CPI).…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss some key aspects of quality in education in the light of over 30 years practical experience of doing quality assurance (QA). Design/methodology/approach: Reflection on three concepts, which are still the subject of debate, namely: "quality"; "total quality management (TQM)"; and…

This article presents an interview with Mark Wilson, the principal of Morgan County High School and the 2009 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year. In the interview, Wilson shares his experiences in taking his school to the next level. When asked how he determined what would take his school to the next level, Wilson states that…

History has shown effective training techniques can produce significant business results especially in customer service, product development, and capability in obtaining new skill sets. This linkage of training to business strategy has given many businesses the needed competitive edge in today's global market. In today's technology age,…

In a time of constant change, sometimes it is worthwhile to ruminate on the future and how things ought to be. "Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship" wanted to capture some of these ruminations from around the field in a new column called "E-Opinions from the Field" where readers are asked to send in their thoughts on a topic and respond…