Thoughtfully constructed standards provide valuable direction for curriculum and instruction. But to bring about significant improvement in education, standards must be linked to students' learning experiences and to classroom assessments. The author describes the table of specifications, a planning tool for analyze standards for instruction and…

This paper describes technology issues that educators, teacher educators and students in the Pacific Islands confront, specifically in American Samoa (a U.S. territory) and Chuuk (one of the Federated States of Micronesia). It will also briefly mention issues relevant to Yap and Kosrae (two other states in Micronesia), and the Marshall Islands.…

The act of collaboration is important when improving communication between administration and teachers, guiding school personnel to collectively clarify teaching and learning outcomes, and facilitating school stakeholders to engage in strategic institutional planning. As necessary as collaboration is, adults often do not know how to collaborate…

The development of course management plans and student behavioral guidelines are a necessary component for the foundation of any school or learning community. In this article the authors explore a few of the principal foundations of creating these plans based on the qualities Erasmus described in his great friend Thomas More. Teachers and…

This article describes a pilot study in which a prototype instrument is presented as a first step toward a reliable and valid tool that facilitates both the establishment of a visioning strategy and evaluation of the effectiveness of visioning strategies, existing or new. A brief historical perspective precedes an examination of the actual steps…

This paper chronicles the process undertaken by one community college to analyze its Developmental Studies Program. A participant/observer faculty member involved in the college's assessment activities contemplated the institution's complex past, the challenging present, and the unfolding future. An interesting account explicating committee…

Purpose: With significant change as an ongoing challenge, the development and use of a flexible change curriculum is identified as a success factor that will allow an organization to optimize the outcome from change transformations. Design/methodology/approach: After discussing significant change, this paper will contrast two organizations in…

If technology can affect student learning, shouldn't it be considered in making decisions? Data-driven decision making models include data from curriculum, instruction, test scores, lunch programs, budgets, and transportation. None of the current models include anything about technology. The challenge with any type of data-driven decision making…

This article provides the basic elements for constructing a comprehensive enrollment management plan. While enrollment professionals develop and implement plans, it is important to recognize that the campus climate and institutional leadership impact the enrollment plan's development and implementation. This article will focus on three components…

Most publications on outcomes assessment take a holistic approach: they focus more on the whole of assessment than on its components. They describe entire academic assessment programs and their cumulative impact on institutional effectiveness. Some evaluation articles characterize assessment components such as instruments, findings, and use of…

Judging by their literacy proficiency scores, Nordic countries stand out from others. Their consistently high scores are intriguing and make their populations interesting benchmarks for other countries that participated in the International Adult Literacy Survey. This article addresses the question of whether there are any specific…

Quality academic advising in higher education is the product of a multitude of elements not the least of which is institutional vision. By recognizing and embracing an institution's concept of its capabilities and the kinds of educated human beings it is attempting to cultivate, advisors gain an invaluable apparatus to guide the provision of…

Using the diary of Kim Stasny, superintendent of the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District in Mississippi, and accounts from other superintendents from areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, the author describes the grim situation faced by schools in the days and weeks after the storm struck. He then discusses the importance of getting students…

This article discusses the benefits of professional portfolios for educational diagnosticians throughout their careers as a means of documenting proficiency and experience in communication, assessment, time management, organization, community resources, and educational planning. Various purposes of the portfolio are considered; for gaining…

This booklet aims to provide policy advice and support to decision-makers and managers in the area of quality assurance in higher education. In order to do so, the authors describe and discuss major issues that decision-makers in charge of quality assurance need to consider for the creation or development of an external quality assurance (EQA)…