A study of library school faculty and academic library directors' perceptions of the educational quality of master's and doctoral programs in library and information science and of the professional contributions of library school faculties is reported. Perception rankings are compared to similar studies carried out in 1980 and 1986. (18…

The history of (external) quality assurance schemes in European higher education since ca. 1980 is sketched in this article. The three pioneering countries in Western Europe are taken as models of different developments and contrasted with the rise of accreditation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Using theoretical insights, the dynamics…

Recent studies of turnarounds of low-performing schools have focused on the factors that made their successes possible. The author of this article realizes that it would also be valuable to look at what made the schools decline in the first place and the factors that might hinder their transformation. He focuses on some of the aspects of the…

Formally stating and assessing student learning outcomes (SLOs) is a new focus for California community colleges required by the 2002 Accreditation Standards. This paper, the first in a series, explores one aspect of this sea change across the state: the emergence of a new group of faculty leaders, Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment…

As a consequence of the suspension of a system of yearly evaluations of individual courses with student questionnaires, the University of Leuven organised a broad consultation of the academic community focussing on what they expect from a system based on student feedback. The study revealed that this community attaches great importance to a clear…

Principles for college outcomes assessment, as outlined in the literature, are reviewed. Drawing on the experience of the Virginia State Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) during a decade of state-mandated outcomes assessment, a number of salient issues are identified. Faculty and academic issues include these: faculty…

Recent accreditation guidelines of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as various legislative initiatives, require two-year institutions in Kansas to develop measures of student achievement as part of their overall assessment of institutional effectiveness. In July and August of 1992, a subcommittee of the Kansas Council…

During 1989, Florida citizens, educators, and students engaged in an intensive discussion about the passing score standards for the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST), which were scheduled to increase in August 1989. There was concern that the higher requirements would result in failure rates, particularly among Black and English as a…

An overview of assessment practices in the 107 California community colleges (CCCs) in 71 community college districts is presented. Nearly 1.4 million students are now enrolled in CCCs, and 40,000 full- and part-time faculty work in CCCs. The primary mission of CCCs is the provision of rigorous, high-quality lower division instruction for students…

During May of 1985, an external audit team was engaged by the Lorain (Ohio) City Schools to assess implementation of the seven correlates of an effective school. The correlates, developed by the Ohio State Department of Education, included: (1) a sense of mission; (2) strong building leadership; (3) high expectations for all students and staff;…

South Carolina's School Incentive Reward Program Program (SIRP) based on year-to-year gains in reading and mathematics achievement, which seemed to have face validity, was evaluated, particularly its use of the relative gains of students in only the highest grade in the school as the basis for the awards. When this requirement was relaxed so that…

This manual assists South Carolina service providers in their efforts to comply with components of Public Law 94-142, Education of All Handicapped Children Act, in order to assure that handicapped children receive an appropriate education. The manual is designed as an evaluation tool for school districts to record areas of compliance and to…

The purpose of Lake Forest College's 1986 self-study was to provide the North Central Association's Commission on Institutions of Higher Education Evaluation Team with materials needed for reaccreditation; to evaluate Lake Forest's efforts to fulfill the purposes and meet the goals established in the new mission statement; and to evaluate the…

Findings from a study of the viability of a sample of 51 institutions that received substantial federal funding are summarized. The institutions received funding through Title III of the Higher Education Act during the 1981-1982 academic year and the 5 prior academic years. Study objectives included the following: to determine general factors…

Changes at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), begun when the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) initiated a funding mechanism designed to promote assessment and improvement of quality, are chronicled. Implications for program evaluation, planning, and resource allocation in other state colleges and universities are also…