This document analyzes the inspection reports of the five further education (FE) colleges in Britain that have achieved a grade of 1 for quality assurance (QA), identifies key lessons for the improvement of programs in other FE colleges, and refers to helpful FE publications. The five colleges consisted of two general FE colleges, one sixth-form…

This guide is designed to help prospective students, counselors, public agencies, and institutions better understand distance school accreditation and how the accreditation procedures of the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) work. The guide defines distance education, discusses who the accrediting…

The International Standards Organization (ISO) has developed standards to provide a uniform framework for quality assurance in organizations' products and services. Commonly referred to as ISO 9000, these standards focus on achieving and sustaining the quality of the product or service produced to continuously meet purchasers' needs, and give…

The author discusses the trend toward faculty mediocrity in university departments. The author suggests that equality breeds mediocrity. Inequality should be legitimated in the interest of the whole as a possible solution. (DE)

The paper describes Quality Service Management (QSM) as applied to the provision of services to disabled and other special needs persons. QSM is defined as a systems approach to consumer relations based on the belief that quality care may be achieved only within the context of overall services management. Differences among "quality…

This paper defines professional certification as a voluntary process regulated by a profession to measure competencies possessed by its practitioners. A hierarchy of motives for certification is illustrated, and its importance for the fields of adult education and human resource development (HRD) is emphasized. The evolution of the concept of…

Because the mass marketing of educational support services through franchised reading clinics is growing on a daily basis, both reading specialists and reading supervisors need to become aware of the growth of this industry and of its implications for the educational system. Primary forces in the franchising movement, Sylvan Learning Corporation,…

Basic information about each of 50 accrediting bodies that have been evaluated by the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation (COPA) and recognized as meeting acceptable levels of quality and performance is provided. Information was supplied by the individual accrediting bodies, who were asked to update and verify the accuracy of information from…

A project was conducted to develop a curriculum and training materials to be used in training industrial operatives in statistical process control (SPC) techniques. During the first phase of the project, questionnaires were sent to 685 companies (215 of which responded) to determine where SPC was being used, what type of SPC firms needed, and how…

A study was undertaken to develop a checklist of desirable characteristics of mail questionnaires. The checklist was to reflect some degree of consensus among experts in survey research and to be used as a general guide by novice questionnaire designers. A second objective was to take a first step toward development of an objective measure of…

This issue of FEEDBACK, a newsletter produced by the the Austin Independent School District Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE), illustrates the accuracy, validity, and fairness of ORE reports. The independence of the reports is explained. Internal and external quality controls are used to ensure reliability and accuracy of the reports.…

This document details the creation and development of a small-scale microfiche production unit in the Matheson Library of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. Emphasized are the technical aspects of developing the unit, especially in a developing nation. Specifications for equipment are provided, and production procedures are detailed.…

The Florida Association of Professional Health Educators (FAPHE) has been instrumental in developing a voluntary registration/certification process to upgrade professional standards, identify health educators, and establish a network for the purpose of continuing education. Eight basic steps have been identified as necessary for the development of…