"A Construct for Identifying Excellence in Schools" is based on the development and use of a set of criteria to evaluate middle-grades schools for the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, Schools-to-Watch initiative. It was developed by The National Forum, on whose behalf the article was written. The article summarizes these criteria…

This paper describes the many difficulties of a newly founded satellite branch library to evolve into an independent college library within sixteen years. Changing roles and priorities are discussed, as well as the influence of the accrediting agency on this small California community college library. (Contains 3 notes.)

For institutions of higher education, accreditation and re-accreditation are facts of academic life. Since accreditation standards now include distance education and related support services, librarians and library administrators involved with distance learners and distance education programs need to know the published guidelines and methods for…

In autumn 2003, the author conducted a study of the best practices in linking assessment and strategic planning in higher education by visiting three institutions that represent models in integrating these processes. Information was gathered by interviewing faculty, staff, and administrators involved in the institutions' strategic planning or…

Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) worldwide are investing significant resources in strategic planning and self-evaluation programs to improve institutional performance and to meet external stakeholder demands. Little empirical evidence exists however which demonstrates that these programs are effective in leading to improvements in institutional…

This study was designed to develop the Service Quality Assessment Scale to evaluate the service quality of health-fitness clubs. Through a review of literature, field observations, interviews, modified application of the Delphi technique, and a pilot study, a preliminary scale with 46 items was formulated. The preliminary scale was administered to…

This paper considers the development of intermediary, or buffer, bodies dealing with quality assurance in higher education in Central and Eastern Europe over the past 10 years. It relates these developments to the context of communist-era centralisation and control, and to more recent interventions by international aid agencies. The lessons that…

This study was commissioned by the California Community Colleges System Office to identify effective practices in basic skills programs. The Center for Student Success (CSS), which is affiliated with the Research and Planning (RP) Group for California Community Colleges, was selected to conduct the study. There are three major components of the…

IMHE-Info is the newsletter published by the Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) programme. This issue includes: (1) How Do Rankings Impact on Higher Education?; and (2) OECD International Assessment of Higher Education Outcomes. IMHE News, publications of interest and upcoming events are included.

Objective: Assessing the achievement of social work educational outcomes is a requirement of the Council on Social Work Education's Educational Policy and Standards (EPAS). The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) was created to assess student progress in advanced concentration courses focused on evaluation and thereby provide data regarding…

The "internationalisation" of universities has recently become a keyword in many countries. With the progress of globalisation, the mobility of students and academic staff at universities has drastically increased in the past few decades. As a result, more universities are now trying to bring an international dimension to their…

In June 2007, the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) was awarded a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop the College Ready School Diagnostic, a web-based diagnostic instrument. The purpose of this tool is to provide individual school profiles and customized recommendations, enabling each institution to make…

The quest and agitation for the enthronement of corporate integrity in the nation's universities by the stakeholders have become almost hysterical given the often alleged, sometimes proven, cases of mal-administration, fund embezzlement and or misappropriation, over bloated or even fake invoicing, unbridled favoritism, sexual harassment, bribery,…

As new technologies expand the availability of information and services, previously isolated rural and small school libraries must begin to use formal evaluations to find out how best to serve their clientele. Although some forms of self-evaluation are ongoing, a library should ask for formal evaluations by its users, administration, and staff at…

This document consists of the U.S. Department of Education's current list of the approximately 95 accrediting agencies and associations in the United States recognized as reliable authorities concerning the quality of postsecondary education or training offered by institutions or programs. The introductory section points out that the United States…