The six regional accrediting associatio working closely with each other can establish a sound approach to the accreditation of vocational education. (Author)

Recent literature on academic program review or evaluation is reviewed, including case study reports of ways in which systematic reviews of programs have been designed and carried out at selected colleges. Attention is given to procedures that have been used or suggested for collecting information. (MLW)

To maximize freedom from personal and political conflicts of interest, decentralized mechanisms of federal program evaluations are needed. Block grants mean that state legislatures and governors will become more responsible for oversight of funds. Three proposals are presented for helping the states deal with these increased evaluation…

The Japanese theory of participatory management is seen as thriving on American campuses under the rubrics of shared governance and collegiality. Participatory management, quality control circles, lifetime employment, superordinate goals, and interdependent leadership are discussed. More commerce between academic administrators and corporate…

Cites the strengths and weaknesses of high school newspapers, based on evaluations for national scholastic press associations. (RL)

Discusses the problems, benefits, and future of cooperative library reference services in five separate papers: (1) keynote address; (2) interlibrary reference communication; (3) quality control; (4) computerized cooperative reference; and (5) national reference service. (JD)

From an economic and technologic perspective, self-publishing through electronic media is now a viable and attractive alternative to traditional publisher-mediated channels. For academicians developing a multi-authored hypermedia publication, a common vision must be created by defining pedagogical objectives; roles of all involved; authoring…

Quality Function Deployment, a set of concepts and tools used in manufacturing engineering to link consumer needs with product design, can also improve academic advising systems and processes. The technique promotes structured, logical examination of students' advising needs and their relationship to advising system design, processes, methods,…

A survey of 250 American Marketing Association members investigated which international business research topics were seen as having high utility or importance. It also identified five latent factors (global market expansion; international marketing management; management issues in an international context; quality, values, and expectations;…

The ideal evaluation instrument would help educators consider the merits of a Holocaust curriculum in regard to historical accuracy, comprehensive presentation of major historical aspects, pedagogical soundness, and developmental appropriateness. Unfortunately, the 1995 guide issued by the Association of Holocaust Organizations is conceptually…

Common concerns in quality assurance (QA) in higher education and convergence in power balances within educational systems worldwide are resulting in adoption of similar methods for QA. Quality issues addressed include definition of quality, international comparability of education, academic standards, institutional autonomy, external review,…

An ideal process is outlined for test item development and the study of item responses to ensure that tests are sound. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to assess the item-level validity evidence for high-stakes examinations. A checklist for assessment is provided. (SLD)

Reviews the framework developed by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology, considers the tradeoffs of its broad-based approach, and presents an alternative model for assessing educational technology programs. Discusses what can be expected from educational technology programs; how educational change occurs; barriers to effective technology…

A methodology for calculating the return on training investment is described. The method covers attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of participants as well as effectiveness in organizational improvement. Output, time savings, quality improvements, and "soft data" on effectiveness are set against costs. (TJH)

This bibliography is divided into 2 parts: literatures citations and abstracts/annotations of State Reports. Part I contains 7 sections: General, Foreign Medical Graduates, Biomedical Scientists, Physician Performance, Minorities and Women, Graduate Medical Education, and Other Bibliographies. Part 2 contains 71 reports of surveys of physician…