This article presents the findings of an exploratory investigation involving the direct assessment of the quality of abstract thinking of two cohorts of South African university entrants who had very good school leaving qualifications. The investigation was prompted by the observation of difficulties these students seemed to have had in a first…

To nudge students to study English and to improve their English proficiency, many universities in Taiwan have imposed an English graduation benchmark on their students. This article reviews this policy, using the theoretic framework for education policy analysis proposed by Haddad and Demsky (1995). The author presents relevant research findings,…

Student performance on the Major Field Achievement Test in Business is an important benchmark for college of business programs. The authors' results indicate that such benchmarking can only be meaningful if certain student characteristics are taken into account. The differences in achievement between cohorts are explored in detail by separating…

Efficient use of resources, including space, is critical in academic departments. Traditional space auditing simply assesses occupancy levels. We present a novel approach which assesses not just the extent to which space is used, but also how well it is used. We link space use quantitatively to key performance indicators in a research-intensive…

There is increasing emphasis on the use routine outcome assessment measures to inform quality assurance initiatives. The calculation of reliable and clinically significant change indices is one strategy that organizations could use to develop both internal and externally focused benchmarking processes. The current study aimed to develop reliable…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and experiences of 33 amotivated students (i.e. students with low levels of motivation) during four consecutive seasons of the Sport Education Model. A qualitative case-study approach was utilized within this study and data was collected using interviews, field notes and reflective journals.…

The Assessment Skills and Knowledge (ASK) standards seek to articulate the areas of content knowledge, skill and dispositions that student affairs professionals need in order to perform as practitioner-scholars to assess the degree to which students are mastering the learning and development outcomes the professionals intend. Consistent with…

Academic self-efficacy and perceived teacher support in relation to academic skill growth across one academic year were examined in the study. Participants included 193 5th-grade students. Teachers collected curriculum-based measures (CBM) of reading and math on three occasions as part of routine academic benchmarks, and researchers collected…

In this article the author discusses public reaction generated by the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings. He argues that it is not simply that the methodologies adopted by the main rankers -- Times Higher Education (THE), QS and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University -- are diverse and open to the usual interpretation, but there…

A fully online prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) tool for internationally educated nurses (IENs) was developed and tested by an inter-professional team at Ryerson University. The tool consisted of two stages: a self-assessment component followed by a multiple-choice examination and narrative (vignette) evaluation. The purposes of…

How can CIOs and IT leaders prepare themselves for the challenge and opportunity of a more central role in strategic decision-making? First, they must make sure they understand the needs and expectations of other campus leaders. For example, they need to closely align with the vision of their presidents, and they need to ally with chief financial…

Safe School Ambassadors (SSA) is a student-centered bystander education program developed by Community Matters to reduce bullying/mistreatment and enhance school climate. A two-part program evaluation was designed to assess the efficacy of the program's logic model and its impact on school-level discipline indicators. For the first part, a…

The intense focus on standards and accountability is rapidly altering the education environment. Often the gauge for measuring school effectiveness is performance on high-stake state tests. In this retrospective cohort comparison study, I observe the relation between the use of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) for reading and change on a state…

This chapter examines a specific aspect of digital media use, namely the viewing of violent content amongst a male adolescent cohort aged 15-17 years. It is a qualitative study that examines the online practices of fourteen male adolescents, with particular emphasis placed on their understanding of violence. The participants offer the researcher…

One of the most widely used commercially available systems incorporating benchmark assessment and training in differentiated instruction is the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) program. The MAP program involves two components: (1) computer-adaptive assessments administered to students three to four…