LSP performance assessment has become a special focus for language testers in recent years where experts have debated how testing tools and processes can be strengthened to more accurately and more validly assess professional communication at work. Suggestions to achieve this include ethnographic studies of the target language situation; authentic…

There are lessons for Australia in the key approaches to the development, approval, maintenance and quality assurance of qualifications adopted in countries overseas. This research takes into account a range of approaches used in selected European Union (EU) member states (Germany, Finland and Sweden), the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland…

This statistics report provides a comprehensive snapshot of national statistics on all parts of the sector for the year 2013, by bringing together data collected directly by TEQSA with data sourced from the main higher education statistics collections managed by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. The report provides…

In both Europe and the United States, accountability pressures have continued to increase, spurred by the higher-level policy groups represented by the EC in Europe and by the federal government in the US, forcing institutions to measure their effectiveness in ways that are more transparent to governmental bodies and the general public. These ways…

Organisational culture and external quality assurance have both been presented as significant drivers of effectiveness, efficiency and excellence in higher education institutions. However, these assumptions have not been critically examined given the philosophical, conceptual and methodological contestations surrounding both constructs. A…

This article argues that, in Greek higher education policies of the 2000s, "equality of educational opportunities" is not given as much importance as in the 1980s and the 1990s, when higher education had been massively expanded. In the 2000s, the issue of equity is giving way to that of efficiency/quality, in accordance with a neoliberal…

The article discusses higher education policies and policy making during the period of the author's direct involvement between the mid-80s and the present. The author points to an increasingly ideological form of policy making which has emphasised the economic role of higher education and created a higher education "market". As the scope…

The curriculum for undergraduate engineering courses in Malaysia is becoming increasingly structured, following the global trend for quality assurance in engineering education, through accreditation schemes. Generally, the accreditation criteria call for the graduates from engineering programs to demonstrate a range of skills, from technical…

This paper is an endeavor to develop a customised and computerized matrix of Quality Function Deployment paradigm (QFD) that has been applied in industry, with the aim of probing quality assurance and enhancement in Universities. Results of testing the new matrix proved that, it is efficient and time-saving while compared with a detailed field…

This paper examined principals' quality assurance strategies in secondary schools in Osun State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 10 male and 10 female principals, and 190 male and190 female teachers. "Secondary School Principal Quality Assurance…

Institutional Research (IR), as a concept, has been gaining traction in the UK and across the world, as evidenced by the growing number of European, African, Australasian and North American associations, communities, conferences and publications. This paper stresses the need for high-quality (Institutional) research behaviours, aligned with and…

This article argues that adult education/lifelong learning policies in Greece, as these are expressed by law 3879/2010 "Development of Lifelong Learning and Other Provisions," have the characteristics of the "statist" model of lifelong learning in Europe, namely strong governmental control and centralization. However, there are…

After nearly 20 years of evaluation in Italian higher education, a new national agency for the evaluation of the university system (ANVUR) came into being in 2011. This article traces the history of evaluation in Italian universities, discussing the tasks assigned to the national evaluation bodies and their functions within the university system.…

It's a familiar if not fully explained paradigm. A "World Class University" (WCU) is supposed to have highly ranked research output, a culture of excellence, great facilities, and a brand name that transcends national borders. But perhaps most importantly, the particular institution needs to sit in the upper echelons of one or more…

This study confirmed the reliability and validity of the Quality Indicators of Exemplary Transition Programs Needs Assessment-2 (QI-2). Quality transition program indicators were identified through a systematic synthesis of transition research, policies, and program evaluation measures. To verify reliability and validity of the QI-2, we…