Facilities that self-police under the Environmental Protection Agency's Audit Policy are eligible for reduced penalties on disclosed violations. This paper investigates whether self-policing has additional consequences; in particular, whether self-policing reduces future enforcement activity. Using data on U.S. hazardous waste enforcement and…

Strategic planning and quality management have been developed independently of each other, but they meet in practice in many kinds of organisations. Strategic planning and quality assurance integrate different aspects of higher education institutions (HEIs) to ensure high-quality educational outcomes. This paper investigates the role of these two…

This paper begins by reviewing some of the different models of third-party observation of university teaching that can be found in the literature. Having analysed these, it argues that--if "peer" is taken to indicate equality of status--only one is genuinely a model of peer-observation. It proposes an alternative categorisation of third-party…

Quality Rating System (QRS) initiatives define levels of quality based on research and then support providers with funding and technical assistance to increase their quality. Each program is assessed and given a number of "stars" to indicate to parents what level of quality the program has reached. In this article, the author describes…

The University of Southern Queensland's Centre for Further Education and Training, which offers distance teaching and training courses to a wide range of mature students, developed a quality assurance framework to guide its efforts to improve the quality of its distance courses for teachers and trainers with little or no training in educational…

Editorial practices revolving around tests of statistical significance are explored. The logic of statistical significance testing is presented in an accessible manner--many people who use statistical tests might not place such a premium on them if they knew what the tests really do, and what they do not do. The etiology of decades of misuse of…

This project investigated the use of external examiners by institutions accredited by the Open University Validation Services (OUVS) in England. The investigation involved visiting 18 accredited institutions and interviewing 10 external examiners. The study found widespread approval of the contribution made by external examiners. Reasons given for…

This publication is an annotated bibliography of articles and key organizational sources on Total Quality Management (TQM) in higher education. The list was developed through searches of local and national data bases including Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Public Affairs Information System (PAIS), Wilson Indexes to Journal…

Two instruments have been developed to aid teachers and other educators in evaluating educational software and courseware: the "Courseware Description" form and the "Courseware Evaluation" form. Complete instructions for using both forms are provided in this guide, along with the forms themselves. Prior to the instructions is…

Through the Clean Air Act of 1970 the Federal government established ambient air quality standards while allocating to the states the responsibility of implementation. State plans must be modified to ensure maintenance of the standards after attainment has been achieved and to maintain standards in areas threatened by pollution. (MR)

Remarks prepared for educational Marketers' Day, Tarrytown, New York, June 20, 1974. (Author)

The following standards are affirmed by the American Medical Technologists organization: (1) regardless of the size of the laboratory setting, the patient deserves the highest quality of laboratory service available; (2) certified personnel should be employed by physicians in office laboratories; (3) quality control should be mandatory and…

The directory contains a list and description of 20 quality assurance instruments, 5 organizations, and 10 publications to aid in monitoring service delivery systems for people with mental retardation. A position statement by the Association for Retarded Citizens on the multiple dimensions of quality assessment precedes the list. It stresses…

Since 1982, the Quality Assurance Committee of the New England Online Users Group (NENON) has focused on communicating online searchers' problems to system vendors and database producers, primarily by distributing check-off and fill-in-the-blank forms to NENON members, collecting and tabulating the forms, and forwarding them to the vendors and…

Teacher education programs which guarantee the effectiveness of their graduates may help to redesign the image and substance of the teaching profession. Doane College (Nebraska), one of the pioneers with educational warranties, bases its program on previous concepts of performance contracting and criterion referenced evaluation. Doane's beginning…