The Council on Postsecondary Accreditation states the purposes of accreditation to be the assurance of quality and self-improvement of institutions. Neither goal is well served by a single process. A process designed to distinguish acceptable from unacceptable performance should be different in character from one to improve an institution. (MLW)

Discusses need for retrospective conversion of library catalogs in terms of user-problems related to split catalogs in various formats. Difficulties to be overcome in retrospective conversion projects (ownership of records, costs, non-Roman script languages, standards and inhospitability of MARC for variety of manuscript and pictorial material)…

Suggests a method of integrating user performance and attitudes toward the computer system into quality control procedures (QCP) and describes an application of user attitudes to the QPC in a class of novice computer users receiving instruction in BASIC programing language via formal classroom lecture with computer assisted instruction tutorials.…

Reports membership and organizational changes in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) over the past two years. Also describes the development of a project to accredit day care centers, an information services department, and recommendations by NAEYC on many early childhood issues. (CB)

Recommendations for program development with reduced resources include maintaining a quality-conscious approach to academic program development; appreciating and exhausting the entire institutional management process; making proactive use of resources; and finding and using the parallels between program planning and career development. (MSE)

Those concerned with the funding of mental health services have begun to demand proof that psychotherapy is effective. This study examined clients' evaluations of specific therapist and client tasks at a university mental health center. Results and implications are discussed.

Describes a study of chief state school officers on their opinions of accountability in public education. Findings are examined concerning their responses to questions about funding, professionalism, teaching, innovations, certification, and quality control. (CT)

Access programs are facing increased scrutiny. Not all programs are equally effective. In an environment in which resources are short, funders increasingly require criteria that enable them to make informed decisions about program quality. As elaborated in this report , one role of a high performance board is to help develop benchmarks of…

This report presents lessons learned from the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR) and offers advice for state and local reinvention efforts, describing how NPR's leaders built political and public support and focusing on five aspects of reinvention: getting started (e.g.; creating a reinvention team, building relationships with…

This paper pursues the evolving relationships between Foucauldian understandings of surveillance (the disciplinary observation of the many by the few) and Debordian notions of spectacle (the disciplinary observation of the few by the many). It argues that education today must be understood according to a setting in which spectacle and surveillance…

This handbook combines the outcomes of the "Symposium on Quality Schools" (April 14, 15 and June 2, 3, 1994, Toronto, Canada) with a continuing presentation of the quality philosophy. It is designed to guide the development and implementation of quality-driven educational programs. Quality schools are committed to creating enhanced…

This paper describes a two-year study by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre that examined the potential of self-assessment for public library services. The approaches that formed the basis for the investigation were the Business Excellence Model, the Quality Framework, and the Democratic Approach. Core values were identified by…

This report analyzes the findings from an evaluation of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, using data from interviews with leaders around Alabama and leaders from business, local and state government, news media, and education. Section 1 describes the approach taken to this required evaluation. Section 2 explains terminology used in the…

Accreditation is a primary means of quality assurance in North American higher education. The seven sections of this handbook (an eighth will follow) explain the accreditation process of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). The first section, "An Introduction to Accreditation by ATS," provides…

This guide assists Internet users in searching for quality information sources available via the Internet and assessing the quality of materials. Chapter 1 provides an introduction and background to the concept of quality in relation to the information available via the Internet. Chapter 2 presents a guide to the different types of online search…