The Bolman and Deal (2003) Four-Frame Model was adapted in this qualitative phenomenological research study to describe how stakeholders experience student service-learning. The study presents how students perceive the positive benefits and critical challenges encountered in their service-learning experience; how professors perceive the positive…

Learning outcomes are described as written statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to do at the end of a period of learning. At the beginning of the 90s, a EU pilot project on ECTS showed that study programmes were much easier to compare if they were described in terms of outcomes, instead of inputs. The…

Recently, there has been a significant expansion in the use of performance assessment in large scale testing programs. Although there has been significant support from curriculum and policy stakeholders, the technical feasibility of large scale performance assessments has remained a question. This report is intended to contribute to the debate by…

This report lists RTI International's efforts to improve education around the world by strengthening education system management. Projects are organized based on the following themes: (1) Conducting research to inform the education policy process; (2) Promoting education reform and policy support; (3) Facilitating and enabling participation; (4)…

Regardless of the role technology plays in a school district, district personnel should know the costs associated with technology, understand the consequences of technology purchases, and be able to measure the benefits of technology, so they can make more informed decisions. However, determining costs and benefits of current technology or…

Accountability is a concept that is well suited to the marketplace and a market-driven society, and it is appropriate when one wants to acquire a product made or sold by someone else. This commodification model is less effective when people pay for a service, rather than a product. The model becomes even more problematic when it is applied to…

Both professional development programs for teachers currently in the classroom and programs for preparing future teachers should provide technology-rich experiences throughout all aspects of the training. Standards and resources within the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s project "Information and…

American regional accreditation serves two basic functions: quality assurance and quality improvement. Through its public function of quality assurance, accreditation signals to prospective students, parents, employers, and others that the institution meets fundamental standards of quality. Through its private function of quality improvement,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address the development of a European architecture of vocational education and promote an alternative proposal. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is the result of discussions of researchers in the Institut Technik und Bildung on a European Qualification Framework. Findings: The paper provides an…

This study examined whether instructional policies at the local level are becoming standardized as a result of state and federal accountability initiatives. A stratified random sample of 21 Virginia school districts was used, and the policies reviewed covered seven topics: class size, student grouping, homework, remedial instruction programs,…

The implementation of the ISO 9000 international quality management system in education has become a debated trend. Building on the literature, this study did not attempt to end the debate over ISO 9000 in education but looked at the problem with a new perspective. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that relate to the time required…

Purpose: In response to the challenges of enhancing quality, the agency of government which is responsible for coordinating university education in Nigeria, the National Universities Commission, evolved a system of academic programme accreditation in 1991 to ensure conformity with minimum standards and to promote quality. The purpose of this paper…

In 1989, the delegate assembly of the Council for Exceptional Children began the process of developing standards of knowledge and skills for all beginning teachers of special education, including teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Now in its third major revision, these standards provide guidance to states' departments of…

Decisions by markers about quality in student work remain confusing to most students and markers. This may in part be due to the relatively subjective nature of what constitutes a quality response to an assessment task. This paper reports on an experiment that documented the process of decision-making by multiple markers at a university who…

Compared two Angoff standard-setting methods, percentage, and yes-no, in the work of four groups of judges (n=24) given behavioral descriptors or incidents to use in making ratings. Results indicate that passing scores based on percentage estimates were stable from initial to final ratings, but those based on dichotomous (yes-no) ratings had…