This report presents the primary papers given at a 1992 workshop to identify specific higher order thinking and communication skills and to develop appropriate indicators of collegiate outcomes as suggested by Goal 5.5 of the National Education Goals formulated in 1990. This goal addressed improvement in college graduates' ability to "think…

Studies suggest that the traditional technique of one-way lectures used most often by teachers results in about 42% retention after class, and 17% a week later. To improve both student learning and institutional effectiveness, colleges should support faculty development programs that expose teachers to two-way teaching and learning processes.…

This document presents findings of a nationwide study that examined the extent to which American high schools are implementing various restructuring activities. A survey mailed to principals in all of the nation's 10,365 regionally accredited public and private high schools elicited a 33 percent response rate. Seven indicators of major school…

This volume is the result of a policy seminar on Improvement and Innovation in Higher Education in Developing Countries, organized by the Economic Development Institute and the Population and Human Resources Department of the World Bank in collaboration with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies of Malaysia. The seminar was held in…

This report provides information about the schooling of over three million students in approximately 10,000 schools in Australia's eight states and territories during 1991. Chapter 1 describes the Australian Education Council and offers a national overview of schooling in Australia including the structure of schooling and how to achieve and…

This paper explores the function and effects of recent government reform of higher education in the United Kingdom particularly on quality assurance and quality assessment. The reforms have aimed to make institutions more akin to business and have used the language and techniques of "management." It is argued, in agreement with Michel…

In their effort to provide quality programing for their diverse student body, the Des Moines Public Schools continually evaluate their teaching and student outcomes. This report presents results about student performance on the following tests: (1) Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS); (2) Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED); (3) American…

In 1992-93, high school and college forms of a questionnaire on rank in class (RIC), grade point average (GPA), and college admissions were developed and mailed to high schools and colleges. Usable returns were received from 2,175 high schools and 1,109 colleges and universities. To elaborate on questionnaire data, in-depth interviews were…

Problems of validity and reliability of concept mapping are addressed by using item-response theory (IRT) models for scoring. In this study, the overall structure of students' concept maps are defined by the number of links, the number of hierarchies, the number of cross-links, and the number of examples. The study was conducted with 92 students…

This conference proceedings presents 17 papers which examine quality assurance and evaluation in higher education, including methodologies, procedures, and ideas from various nations. The papers include: (1) "Quality Assurance in Higher Education" (Malcolm Frazer); (2) "Academic Standards Panels in Australia" (Kwong Lee Dow);…

Action research is a way to examine purposes and practices in teaching. One way of conducting action research is to engage in participant observation, which may be seen as a systematic attempt to discover the knowledge that a group of people has learned and is using to organize the group's behavior. Participant observation has a great deal of…

This paper discusses the competency space approach to diagnosing misconceptions, skill, and knowledge acquisition. In some approaches that combine misconceptions, skill, and knowledge acquisition, the latent ability theta is used more or less as an insignificant element, but in the competency space approach, a multidimensional latent space is…

To maintain public support, higher education in Missouri must make significant changes in the next few years, changes which will place the state's community colleges in a unique leadership position. Specifically, several pressing short, medium, and long-range issues facing the state's community colleges can be identified. Short-range issues…

Given that current redefinition of the principalship emphasizes instructional leadership, this document begins with a summary of previous research findings on effective school characteristics related to school improvement planning, program development, staff development, school assessment, and organizational culture with emphasis throughout on the…

A summary of some of the major events in education that occurred in 1990 in the United States, France, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China, is presented. The events discussed fall into the following categories: teachers and teacher education; U.S. Department of Education; school restructuring, choice, and vouchers; higher education;…