This report is the first in a series of policy papers on the education of educators. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the university-based programs that educate the majority of the nation's school principals and superintendents. Of the approximately 250,000 school administrators employed in the United States, nearly all were trained at…

This paper was prepared for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Training Taskforce on Teacher Quality & Educational Leadership. It covers the following broad areas: (1) How can a national definition of "Good Teaching" be developed, and what should it include?; (2) What should a "National Standards…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year project at Central Missouri State University to develop and pilot test a Continuous Process Improvement (CPI) model as a replacement for the course-credit completion paradigm in 15 academic departments. The pilot CPI project was phase 4 of a 5-phase Decade of Transformation…

Nine European Community Member States (Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and United Kingdom) conducted national studies that involved case studies of quality assurance in continuing education. Analysis of findings indicated that many firms regarded continuing training as a central instrument for achieving…

This paper reports on the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University's adoption of an approach to training packages that equally values the learning journey of its students with the training outcomes. The paper looks at the essential educational design issues, including underpinning knowledge, building generic capabilities, graded…

Multiple qualitative methodologies were used to describe and analyze the Maternal and Child Health Training Program (MCH), including a review of FY1999 continuation applications for all 101 projects; site visits to 31 training projects; focus groups with state Title V program staff and federal regional MCH consultants; and interviews with 110…

The academic planning process begun in 1975 by a new chancellor is described that had as its objectives reassembling a shaky academic program, rebuilding staff morale, and regaining commitment of the academic community, outside community, and legislators. The process involved extensive external and self-evaluation, with periodic review. (MSE)

The foreign language program in the Edison, New Jersey public schools is described. The exemplary features of this program are: (1) It is not limited to college-bound students, (2) a significant provision is made for program advocacy, and (3) there are full four- and six-year sequences in French, Spanish, and German. (PMJ)

In an effort to encourage cost-conscious behavior and quality assurance, students in community medicine clerkships at the Medical College of Ohio were required to conduct retrospective reviews of their peers' laboratory usage patterns using information generated by these peers during internal medicine and pediatrics rotations. (Author/JMD)

The origins and strategies for change in the administrative structure of Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania) are discussed, including trends within all of higher education and conditions specific to the university. Quality improvement efforts are described briefly. Special attention is given to the institution's procurement-disbursement…

This article argues that the concept of the college student as consumer, and adoption of quality assurance approaches embraced by business, are alien to the nature of higher education. Academic peer review is seen as more appropriate to the university culture and more comprehensible to teachers and researchers. (MSE)

Some universities have responded to the need for leadership and staff development activities as a result of, or as part of, the quality improvement movement. The principles of the Total Quality Management approach are as germane to the academic institution as to business but may need some adaptation to the academic culture. (MSE)

Higher education institutions can enhance school reform by establishing accountability measures for professional preparation of curriculum specialists. The article describes a knowledge base of curriculum domains and related practices. A quantifiable compendium of operationalized behaviors and skills can help establish frameworks for program…

A discussion of the response of George Mason University (Virginia) to economic decline in 1989-92 looks at four stages in the downturn and examines a variety of planning and policy issues, including management of both unplanned and planned reductions, continued uncertainty, politics of decline, organizational communication and morale,…

Describes the creation of an interactive retrieval system for electronic numeric files that was developed at Cornell University's (New York) Mann Library. Topics discussed include user characteristics; special data characteristics; quality control; software; hardware; data preparation; database design and construction; interface; subject indexing…