A project developed and tested an Institutional Effectiveness Assessment Guide (IEAG) that incorporated themes and factors identified by Wardlow et al. (1992) as contributing to excellence. An interpretive design was used to enable researchers to gain input and consensus from participants of exemplary institutions regarding the institutional-level…

This report outlines the National Head Start Association's (NHSA) Quality Initiative, which is designed to promote and recognize practices of high quality in Head Start preschool programs. The Initiative recognizes that within the Head Start community there are four levels of quality: Needs Improvement, Adequate, Achievement, and Excellence. The…

This report presents a review and evaluation of the accountability plans in public postsecondary education as they relate to the mission and goals of postsecondary institutions. A review of current accountability activities found that existing legislation and institutional responses do not sufficiently embody the kinds of characteristics that…

This book describes how schools can develop and utilize portfolios as frameworks for evaluating school reform. The portfolio is a nonthreatening self-assessment tool that exhibits a school's goals, progress, achievement, and vision for improvement. Chapter 1 examines the school portfolio as an effective and positive, ongoing monitoring system that…

This paper offers a broad look at accreditation and quality assurance in higher education and how these issues are addressed around the world. Section 1 is an overview of accreditation and addresses the aims and objectives of accreditation, standards, accreditation bodies, stages of the accreditation process, the quality of that process, the role…

This paper describes fourth-year outcomes of the Brooklyn New School (BNS), a parent/staff-run alternative public elementary school located in Brooklyn, New York's Community School District #15. The BNS used a self-study process, in which an external researcher collected school data through document analysis, interviews, and participant…

In accordance with Section 665(3)(b) of the Education Law, the Office of the New York State Comptroller determined that Bronx Community College (BxCC) was overpaid $191,126 because school officials incorrectly certified students as eligible for (Tuition Assistance Program) TAP and (Supplemental Tuition Assistance Program) STAP awards. TAP is the…

This publication is one of a series designed as a companion to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)'s fact book, "Policy Indicators for Higher Education: WICHE States." The title article maintains that the growth of distance learning programs has heightened existing concerns about their quality. Institutions can…

This report highlights and summarizes accountability activities and initiatives submitted by Illinois' 49 community colleges. It is designed to assure that programs and services offered by the colleges are high-quality, cost-effective, and support the mission and priorities of each institution. The first section of this report, "Priorities,…

This report aims to assist the board in achieving its goals for 1999. Background and current status are reviewed for the following 12 topics: (1) transfer articulation; (2) educational competencies; (3) institutional effectiveness reporting; (4) addressing unmet needs of time and place-bound students; (5) policies regarding community college…

This document describes an evaluation of the competencies of faculty who deliver contracted workforce training at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC). A self-assessment questionnaire was administered to FVTC's 150 full-time and adjunct faculty who conduct workforce training; in addition, 157 employers who were clients of the college in the…

These proceedings of the annual accreditation and quality assurance conference present the following papers: "The Coming Revolution in Higher Education" (Arthur Levine); "Corporate/College Alliances" (Jeanne C. Meister); "Why Are We Educators?" (Catharine R. Stimpson); "Serving an Increasingly Adult Student Population: Lessons from Nordstrom and…

This study builds upon prior research studies of academic drift and the diversity of higher education systems to examine how universities grow and to ask whether such growth produces greater or lesser diversity within higher education systems. The study uses data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System from 1988-89 through 1995-96…

This paper presents second phase research on the vision of Puerto Rico's higher education policy makers concerning excellence criteria. The research focused on the importance policy makers assigned to selected criteria of excellence and how they evaluated postsecondary institutions in regard to these criteria. A questionnaire was administered to…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of assessment practices of educational quality at universities in the Netherlands. The project involved analysis of questionnaire responses from 239 study programs at all 13 Netherlands universities followed by 12 case studies. The paper first provides a brief account of the theoretical background of the…