This report concerns the use of benchmarking as a strategy for assessing and improving efficiency and productivity of administrative processes and instructional models in colleges and universities. The introductory chapter addresses the need for new tools and strategies to meet the increased competition and the higher demand for accountability…

A study examined differences in writing self-efficacy beliefs among high- and low-apprehensive writers. The Daly-Miller (1975a) Writing Apprehension Test was administered to 43 developmental writers in 3 freshman composition classes. Students scoring plus or minus one standard deviation from the mean for that population were selected for further…

Five studies assessed the impact on systems and jobs of the recognition of qualifications in the field of the restoration and rehabilitation of the architectural heritage in five countries: Germany, Belgium Dutch-speaking region, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. A striking feature in all five countries was the insignificant share of initial…

A meta-analysis of 35 interventions to reduce diagnostic testing revealed that testing was reduced overall by 17.6%. Stronger effects were found for immediate reductions (31.7%) compared to reduction at follow-up times (18.7%) and stronger effects were found for interventions targeted at specific tests (23.2%) compared to interventions designed to…

This report presents a preliminary set of international education indicators developed by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). The set of indicators is designed to meet the growing demands by national authorities and the education community for comparative…

This report examines the issue of sexual discrimination within British higher education and argues that further and higher educational services as a whole are discriminatory environments for women. The report's first section involves interviews with six women who had achieved notable success in the field of further and higher education management.…

This study examined the characteristics of those universities from which scientists, working in private industry, procure research information. It assessed these characteristics with respect to institutional size, quality, institutional type, geographic location, and the presence of cooperative research structures. The study involved a citation…

This study explored factors contributing to the educational aspirations of African American students. An underlying assumption of the study was that the paradigm for looking at aspirations as a key predictor of later attainment in college students may work differently for black students than for the general population. The study involved data…

The Institutional Functioning Survey (IFS) is a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire designed to assess how different employee groups at an educational institution perceive their institution. In October 1989, the IFS was distributed to all 63 full-time faculty, 131 part-time faculty, and 12 administrators at the College of the Canyons (CC)…

In spring 1992, the College of the Canyons (CC) in Valencia, California, held three workshops for faculty and staff on the topics of gender equity and sexual harassment. A total of 60 faculty and staff attended the workshops, representing 19.3% of the college's employees. Women comprised 52 of the 60 participants. To help assess the current campus…

Two methods to teach study skills to underprepared college freshmen at a two-year technical institute were compared. The effectiveness of using a traditional method was compared to that of the Suggestive-Accelerative Learning Techniques (SALT) method, a holistic method that attempts to engage both sides of the brain by creating a positive learning…

This study explored the international business programs of small-to-moderately sized private colleges and universities. The study had three phases: identification and curricular analysis of a small core group of Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) institutions with representative international business curricula; a broader survey of a larger…

A study analyzed student outcomes at those schools and colleges that filed reports with the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools/Colleges of Technology during the 1993 school year. It also compared these data to information collected in 1990, 1991, and 1992. The study focused on the following outcomes calculated separately for full- and…

A study investigated the effects of the literature-based reading instruction on the reading achievement of Mexican-American first graders in Spanish. Using a posttest-only control group design and "t" test for independent samples, results indicated that after three months the experimental group of 30 students (attending a 100% Hispanic…

A study was conducted to compare the success of students entering the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) at college and pre-college English levels to measure the effectiveness of English developmental programs. Ideally, the time spent in remedial programs should allow students to succeed and progress at the same rate as students who…