West Virginia State College entered into a contract with two professors from North Carolina State University to provide consultation and guidance to the West Virginia State College-Community and Technical College (WVSC-CTC) Study Commission. Findings and recommendations include: (1) the strengths of the CTC, as seen by its community, are the…

The Montana School Accreditation Standards require every Montana school to conduct a self-evaluation at least every 10 years. For some small Montana schools this has been an informal process and often more anecdotal than data driven. Using the Montana Statewide Education Profile as a model, a committee of county superintendents, teachers, and…

While institutional researchers commonly evaluate the programs and services provided by their colleges, they rarely evaluate their own effectiveness with as much gusto. If Institutional Research (IR) is to serve as the bedrock of an institution's effectiveness, it must be effective in itself and continually improving. It must make certain that the…

The purpose of this report is to review the past and present external quality assurance for higher education in Portugal and to recommend a future quality assurance and accreditation system that meets the standards for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area. The review was carried out on the initiative of the Portuguese Ministry…

Describes the University of Michigan-Flint's program evaluation and planning effort, which used a thematic approach focusing on the liberal arts and sciences, the productive and technological environment, health and human services, and fine arts and cultural affairs. The effort involved external consultants, faculty surveys, and regional…

Describes the procedures and rationale involved in selecting the National Study of School Evaluation Elementary School Evaluative Criteria as the self-study instrument by a laboratory school in Iowa. Explores major features of these criteria and discusses their advantages and disadvantages as guidelines for elementary school self-study. (DMM)

Describes a study of the relationship between faculty expectations of the accreditation visiting team and their satisfaction with the quality of the team visit. Responses to pre- and postvisit surveys revealed that faculty were well informed about and supportive of team visits and that knowledge was not correlated with perceptions of quality. (DMM)

Outlines the history of the North Central Commission on Institutions of Higher Education's institutional accreditation techniques. Contends that explicit scope requirements coupled with minimum structure and a flexible evaluation plan yield useful accreditation plans. Evaluates and reviews the new accreditation criteria statements for…

Sets forth the criteria established by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. Describes general institutional requirements. Explains the meaning of candidate for accreditation status and accredited status and the criteria that must be met before an institution can gain these statuses. (CAM)

Argues that evaluation and accreditation are necessary for private schools because of their responsibility to parents and society. Describes the accreditation system established by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and its private schools and lists regional and state private school associations that have evaluation programs. (RW)

Trustees evaluating their private school should know the school and its staff. They can use objective evaluation methods, such as standardized test results or college placement of graduates, but they should also incorporate the opinions of recent graduates and the community and utilize staff presentations to the board. (RW)

Encourages the use of evaluation research rather than process, impact, or comprehensive evaluation; and notes that meaningful evaluation research can occur when the true experiment is combined with longitudinal designs. (JEG)

Explains the evaluation and accreditation processes used by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools for postsecondary institutions. Focuses on the purposes of of institutional accreditation, the relationship between accreditation and institutional improvement, accreditation requirements and criteria, and agency services. (DMM)

Presents an open letter addressed to Morton B. Zuckerman of "U.S. News & World Report" concerning the magazine's survey/article "America's Best Colleges" which received a great deal of public attention. Criticizes the survey for failing to help families make better choices among institutions and failing to encourage colleges to do a better job for…

If accreditation is to fulfill its purposes of quality assessment and quality enhancement, its processes must succeed in evaluating institutional or program performance on stated objectives, and in motivating continuous planning for improvement. (MLW)