The paper proposes a metric, the research quality index (RQI), for assessing and tracking university research quality. The RQI is a composite index that encompasses the three main areas of research activity: publications, research grants and higher degree by research activity. The public availability of such an index will also facilitate…

Using data to redesign instruction is a means of increasing student achievement. Educators in Camden County (Georgia) Schools have used data from benchmark testing since 1999. They hired a commercial vendor to design a benchmark test that is administered four times a year and use the data to generate subject-area reports that can be further…

This guide describes a process that can be used or adapted by school districts to evaluate standards and guide practitioners in developing locally appropriate benchmarks. The guide is not a training manual that provides a step-by-step guide for undertaking this effort with a group of educators; instead, it suggests an approach and rationale for a…

Suggests that strategic planning can help an organization mature and become more effective. Aims for strategic planning with a benchmarking objective, beginning with the information process-maturity model, assessing strengths and weaknesses, and identifying opportunities for process maturation. Finds all components of the reporting structure now…

An organizational learning capability survey was used to benchmark the process by which two companies tried to become learning organizations. Over 2 years, both significantly improved learning capability via different paths. One used generic interventions with a small group; the other targeted a small group first with later diffusion across the…

Benchmarks online retailing transactions against critical factors that impact online retailing. Findings suggest several areas that e-retailers should target for improvement, including the speed of home page loading, ability to translate into multiple languages, capabilities of search engines, security policies display, payment options, minimum…

Offers benchmarks to help campuses evaluate their efforts in supplying information technology (IT) services. The first three help understand the IT budget, the next three provide insight into staffing levels and emphases, and the seventh relates to the pervasiveness of institutional infrastructure. (EV)

Discusses why corporate communications/public relations (cc/pr) should be benchmarked (an approach used by cc/pr managers to demonstrate the value of their activities to skeptical organizational executives). Discusses myths about cc/pr benchmarking; types, targets, and focus of cc/pr benchmarking; a process model; and critical decisions about…

Benchmarking is used in higher education to improve performance by comparison with other institutions. Types used include internal, external competitive, external collaborative, external transindustry, and implicit. Methods include ideal type (or gold) standard, activity-based benchmarking, vertical and horizontal benchmarking, and comparative…

Discusses what students should know and be able to do as specified in the International Technology Education Association's standards. Addresses how technology education programs can meet the standards set by industry and teachers. (JOW)

Examines the use of stochastic frontier estimation of constant elasticity of substitution (CES) cost function to measure differences in efficiency among British universities. (Contains 28 references.) (PKP)

School districts worried about how students will perform on end-of-the-year state tests are increasingly administering "benchmark assessments" throughout the year to measure students' progress and provide teachers with data about how to adjust instruction. Nearly seven in 10 superintendents surveyed for "Education Week" said…

This is a document that lays out the Mission of the NY College of Osteopathic Medicine's Mission Statement, It's 13 Goals and subsequent Objectives of Learning Outcomes. Benchmarks were established for each Educational Goal and defined further in Objectives. This document represents an historic attempt by NYCOM to address it's need for complete…

Online learning is a complex undertaking that holds great potential as a teaching and learning mode that public colleges and universities may strategically employ to achieve broad institutional priorities and contribute to the attainment of national goals. The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities- (APLU) Sloan National Commission on…

We developed equivalent, alternate forms of easyCBM[R] in reading (n=20 forms) and mathematics (n=13 forms) with different skills reflective of the National Reading Panel (NRP) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), respectively. We then took three forms to use as screening measures in the fall, winter, and spring so educators…