Purpose: This paper aims to compare the ways in which a range of quality frameworks have been validated and to identify a number of factors that have an impact on validation processes. Design/methodology/approach: Seven examples of published quality frameworks applicable to the field of e-learning are described and the methods used to validate…

Quality improvement centers were created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau beginning in 2001 to promote knowledge development through an innovative approach to applied collaborative research in child welfare. The National Quality Improvement Center on the Privatization of Child Welfare Services was funded to…

Teacher evaluation has emerged as a major focus for reform at the highest levels of education policymaking, and for good reason. Most evaluations are based on scant evidence of actual effectiveness, produce inflated ratings, and provide teachers with little useful feedback. This paper offers policymakers and practitioners important "lessons…

Discusses several administrative reforms that could conceivably be implemented that would improve the management of inner city schools." (Author/AA)

Discusses the impact of external quality monitoring (EQM) on higher education and identifies areas in which changes have taken place as a result of such external initiatives. Suggests that the lack of effects related directly to quality improvement should not be conceived as an EQM design error, but rather as a misconception of how organizational…

Discusses the use of process improvement in performance technology to address industry's problems in quality, timeliness, and cost reduction. Examines both successes and failures that resulted from a focus on process and suggests that process improvement is used most effectively in conjunction with other performance tools and concepts. (Author/LRW)

Defines statistical quality control (SQC) as a method used to analyze people, materials, machines, or processes by statistical methods. Explains why a technology educator would include SQC in some courses and describes elements of an SQC system. (JOW)

This paper examines some of the ways in which subject review can contribute to the scholarship of teaching. Subject review was a quality assessment process conducted under the auspices of the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. A preliminary discussion considers the potential and pitfalls of using subject review as a basis for…

This article presents an action plan for establishing a system of quality assurance for Croatian higher education. The action plan is forward-looking rather than retrospective and draws on experiences with adopting continuous improvement practices in Australia, Turkey, and the United States. Numerous authors have explored the challenges facing…

The marching trend of the new economic order has generated a new capsule of SIX SIGMA as a unified approach to process excellence. The tests reveal that it has transformed some of the most successful companies in the world like Motorola, GE etc. It is activated as an approach to aiming at the target by changing the culture of a company, involving…

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a poor fit with higher education and can only be made to fit by major reshaping either of TQM to a more appropriate methodology (and hence not TQM), or of higher education to an image of organisation that fits TQM. The paper revisits longstanding concerns about multiple aspects of TQM from a critical systems…

An examination of the reports of quality audits of Australian universities is used to identify quality assurance issues which emerge as more or less important for governing bodies and academic boards respectively. For governing bodies, many issues identified in audit reports reflect established good practice, such as a need to evaluate the…

The vital role of Vocational and Technical Education in the production of skilled and competent manpower for economic, industrial and social development cannot be achieved if an efficient and effective teaching and examination is not maintained. Therefore, this paper examines the objectives of Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria, factors…

In order to develop capacity to link knowledge to economic growth in developing countries, there is an urgent need to make quality the major element of higher education systems. In Iran, a developing country, such a need was felt a decade ago in the academic community. Based on research projects conducted, a model that combines collegial…