Looks at the United Kingdom's recent Funding Council-led attempts to streamline external accountability in higher education, then uses this as a platform for determining the criteria which an external accountability regime in higher education should meet. Outlines a new, streamlined system under the aegis of a new single accountability body…

Describes two national-level collaborations among urban public universities: Restructuring for Urban Student Success (RUSS) and the Urban Universities Portfolio Project (UUPP). RUSS developed and studied approaches to improving performance and retention among urban college students, particularly first-years. UUPP was designed to enhance…

Surveyed deans of 80 U.S. schools and colleges of pharmacy on programmatic assessment. Forty-nine percent reported having assessment committees, 71 percent have approved a list of general education abilities, and deans were most frequently reported as driving development of assessment. The North American Pharmacy Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) was…

Interviews with 115 candidates for qualifications in care and childcare occupations in Britain (7% males) revealed the following: 24% wanted to work with people; 25% entered care by chance; 35% had prior experience in the field; and 34% thought that such work fitted with family needs and responsibilities. Most men were motivated by unemployment,…

Argues that the concept of quality is permeated by values and socially constructed to embody a modernist belief in the possibility of definitive and universal criteria that will offer certainty and order. Outlines other choices for evaluating early childhood services and their pedagogical work. (JPB)

Based on the ACE Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation, examines how universities can develop the capacity to assess change and determine the extent to which institutions are different. Defines transformation, describes types of evidence, presents a framework for determining evidence, suggests strategies for collecting evidence,…

Operationalizes the new educational assessment culture. Outlines developments in the field of learning and instruction and their effects on student assessment. Also reviews five frequently used assessment methods that fit into the new culture. Explores the notion of construct validity as it applies to educational measurement. (SLD)

Argues against hopping on the assessment bandwagon, asserting that every experience of learning, like each learner, is singular. Asserts that provision comes before assessment, teaching before testing. (EV)

Discusses efforts by South Dakota, Oregon, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Virginia to assess students using the Internet and computers. (PKP)

Describes the use of ethological observation methods in a study of student behavior for use in student or course assessment. Describes how a convenient, highly portable recording system designed for ethological observation can be used in educational settings. (Contains 12 references.) (ASK)

Following months of pressure from states and education groups, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has announced a pilot program that will let some states use what are known as growth models to evaluate the success of schools and districts under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Growth models track the progress of youngsters over…

By the end of November, 2005, 26 states will have undergone a "peer review" to determine whether their standards and tests meet the requirements of the Federal No Child Left Behind Act. The reviews, conducted by a team of at least three experts in the fields of standards and assessment, are required under the law. The reviewers do not…

This study provides a methodological critique of major quality assessments in U.S. higher education over the last 70 years, through an examination of their taxonomy, unit of analysis, frame of reference, and definition of quality. Many quantitative indicators currently used in assessments have a weak theoretical link to quality and have serious…

In the global context, the basic education systems in both Canada and Finland have provided the majority of their students with a solid foundation for further studies, working life and active citizenship, as evidenced by student performance in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). However, in both the 2000 and 2003 assessments,…

Although the concept of assistive technology has been around for some time in the fields of study for rehabilitation, communication as it relates to speech and language (Bryant & Bryant, 2003; Church & Glennen, 1992) and medicine (Porter, Haynie, Bierle, Caldwell, & Palfrey, 2001), assistive technology pedagogy is relatively new to the field of…