University rankings play an increasingly large role in shaping the goals of academic institutions and departments, while removing universities themselves from the evaluation process. This study compares the library-related results of two university ranking publications with scores on the LibQUAL+™ survey to identify if library service quality--as…

In this paper we consider the question of how quality assurance can have a real, positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning at universities, considering the realities of different systems--the system of control and the system of quality culture--in using the example of two universities: the KNITU-KAI in Russia and the TU Dresden in…

The stated goal of current education reform is the redesign of education systems in pursuit of quality. Systems that consistently "come out on top" have excited much interest in uncovering the features that have contributed to their success; notably among these is the preparation of future teachers. Research on teacher education quality…

The dropout rate is an indicator of complex analysis and there is no consensus on its significance. Universities lack systematized, univocal methods for collecting student dropout data, making measurement problematic. In consequence, the formulas applied to analyze this phenomenon differ between countries and it is therefore an immense challenge…

Higher education in Latin America has deep roots back to the Spanish colonisation in the Hispanic countries. In Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, this sector did not emerge until the nineteenth century and in the Anglophone Caribbean, not until the twentieth. Now in the twenty-first century throughout the region it is subject to the global reach…

This publication provides a general description of the key features of U.S. accreditation of higher education and recognition of accrediting organizations. Accreditation in the United States is about quality assurance and quality improvement. It is a process to scrutinize higher education institutions and programs. Accreditation is private…

Purpose: The incentive to strengthen university governance is espoused by a number of implications but among these three are very conspicuous: improve quality of university education system, and thus provide students and the general public value for money; enhance the utilization of resources invested in university education; and nevertheless…

The globalization of science and scholarship and the worldwide massification of post-secondary/tertiary education is creating an atmosphere that is at once competitive between and collaborative among colleges and universities. Because of the importance of these institutions to the shared economic futures of individuals and countries, there are…

Student Learning Outcomes are increasingly de rigueur in US higher education. Usually defined as statements of what students will be able to measurably demonstrate upon completing a course or program, proponents argue that they are essential to objective assessment and quality assurance. Critics contend that Student Learning Outcomes are a…

Purpose: This paper aims to create a theoretical model of student involvement in the institutional quality assurance process at their universities. Design/methodology/approach: The model suggested in this paper was created and developed from a critical examination of relevant literature on stakeholder involvement in decision making and quality…

The course (module) grades entered on higher education academic records (transcripts) purportedly represent substantive levels of student achievement. They are often taken at face value and accepted as comparable across courses. Research undertaken over several decades has shown that the underlying standards against which student works are…

For nearly half a century, the federal government has largely outsourced the determination of which colleges and universities are eligible to receive federal taxpayer money--in the form of student grants and loans--to member-based, geographically oriented accrediting agencies. This outsourcing of responsibility, however, has failed to protect…

The IFSP is both a document and process for developing, implementing, and evaluating the supports and services delivered to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families eligible under Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA; 2004). Recently, researchers have defined IFSP quality based on five…

Purpose: Quality management systems are being used more frequently in educational institutions, although their application has generated a certain amount of disagreement among education experts, who have at times questioned their suitability and usefulness for improving schools. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to this discussion by…

The free primary education policy has led to a significant increase in primary school enrollment in the country, from 8.6 million children in 2008 to 9.9 million in 2012. Increased enrollment complicated the work of teachers in the classrooms in the wake of FPE. This article seeks to document the challenges that teachers face in Kenyan classrooms…