Provides a checklist of concerns for libraries planning to implement shared research databases in a consortium environment, based on experiences at OhioLINK. Highlights include database selection criteria, licensing, pricing, funding, vendor considerations, database profiling, custom data processing, hardware selection, database access,…

A college faculty member who has graded Advanced Placement exam essays on U.S. government and politics, taken mostly by high school juniors and seniors, suggests that high school teachers and college faculty who assess the essays are not the best qualified persons to do so and that despite efforts to ensure consistency, the resulting scores are…

A faculty consultant to the Educational Testing Service for advanced placement (AP) test reading in U.S. government and politics responds to an article criticizing essay evaluation methods and criteria, finding in it a fundamental misunderstanding of the AP reading process and explaining why the essays are subject to less scrutiny for style,…

Gives an overview of the Ball State University (Indiana) academic assessment program, from its origins through present and future efforts. Several current assessment activities are described--university-wide, in general education, and discipline-specific. Areas of strength in the program and challenges to conducting successful assessment are…

A survey of 701 medical-school administrators, medical-residency program directors, medical students and residents, and practicing physicians investigated the perceived clarity and validity of 44 medical school accreditation standards as indicators of the quality of undergraduate medical education. Predictive validity of some standards was also…

This article discusses three important issues that educators must address as they integrate technology into their classrooms: increasing access to technology, appropriate instruction in and use of technology, and barriers to institutional technology. Tips for creating technology-rich schools and classrooms and for improving technology integration…

Reviews the published evaluations used in online formal courses in higher education. The 10 instruments reviewed indicated three general categories of evaluation. Three evaluation (30%) were given pre-course, two (20%) were given mid-course, and five (50%) were post-course evaluations. Questions in each of these categories break down into several…

It is argued that colleges and universities can become more productive by enhancing the efficiency of student learning. This requires both acceleration of learning through individually paced mastery learning, better academic focus, year-round schooling, and an earlier start to graduate and professional education. Eight strategies for enhancing…

A conceptual framework is offered for understanding the role of program review in college, particularly a community college. Such a framework should account for the following institutional factors: purpose of the review, stakeholder involvement, leadership support for review, organizational communication, degree of organizational centralization,…

This study applied probability models in a four-year case study at a selective liberal arts college. The study found that, while admissions decisions matched institutional goals for student characteristics, discrepancies between acceptance and enrollment decisions frustrated the institution's efforts to achieve diversity and highlighted the…

CD-ROM periodical indexes are becoming increasingly tailored for specific age ranges and are also providing access to full text. Two charts separate several full-text CD-ROM products by intended audience (middle school versus secondary school students) and compare costs and features. Tips are provided on assessing institutional needs and…

Advocates using portfolio assessment in music education, more as a teaching tool than a final evaluative instrument. Explains those advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment that are peculiar to music education. Discusses materials for inclusion. (MJP)

Summarizes the characteristics of graduate programs and departments in psychology throughout the United States and Canada during the 1992-93 academic year, and compares them with those of the 1970-71 and 1979-80 academic years. The discussion centers on differences between master's-only and doctoral departments in psychology and pivotal trends in…

Argues that Mississippi has used every effort to block the higher education aspirations of its black citizens and describes the state's latest effort that involves setting higher admissions standards at the state's predominantly black universities. The history of unequal funding of higher education in the state is highlighted, as well as political…

Until society has addressed underlying factors in racial and minority-group inequities, it should attempt to make progress toward equity at all educational levels, including colleges and graduate and professional schools. Analysis of newly available empirical data suggests that following race-neutral policies at selective colleges would have…