This third publication on the theme of quality in the Commonwealth of Learning Perspectives on Distance Education series widens the discussion beyond external quality assurance processes to a more generic focus on a "culture of quality." It is an extension of the earlier two publications, which came out in 1994 and 1997 and drew…

Governors and state and local education officials assumed that raising student achievement in the elementary and middle grades would solve the problems with high schools--but it hasn't. Why? Good information is the basis for successful improvement, and high school reform lacks accurate information about what students are to learn and about how…

Purpose: This study examined the professional and research needs of distance learning librarians in higher education in order to inform program development by the Association of College Libraries Distance Learning Section. Methodology: 270 members of the section completed a 23 item online questionnaire on distance learning librarians' work…

In the fall of 2004, following a series of conversations with the accreditation community on the topic of providing additional information to the public, the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) contracted with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) to conduct a survey of accrediting organizations on this…

This report summarizes some Austin Independent School District (AISD) activities to support parent and community involvement during the 2005-2006 school year.

Although much research in the 1960s and 1970s was devoted to cross-cultural issues such as expatriate employment, researchers moved away from doing cross-cultural research in order to direct their efforts toward the hot topics of the time. However, the past few decades have seen an exponential increase in the globalization of our economy, and this…

With increased debates over various aspects of special education, it has become apparent that multicultural leadership is needed to prepare school administrators and teachers to design effective special education programs. In this article, the authors discuss several aspects of administering successful programs for multicultural students. To be…

Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) is a 130-year-old independent girls' school in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Teaching students from ages 4 to 18, PLC has a reputation for academic excellence. Geography is a separate subject taught as a part of the core curriculum in the secondary school. The College, which uses principally Macintosh…

Penn State York has a history of collaboration with the York community. The campus became involved in two university-community collaborative efforts to identify and take action to resolve living and learning needs of children and teachers in York County. This article presents stories of two initiatives, and the lessons that emerged from reflection…

Throughout the United States today schools and community colleges are putting greater emphasis than ever before upon adult education. Obvious reasons for this include the manpower demands of national defense, the spreading desire for educational upgrading, and the impact of technological change upon the daily lives of millions of workers. For each…

This document summarizes the discussions that occurred during the third conference on admissions models on August 23-24, 2001, in Vancouver, Canada. This monograph builds on the work of the first two College Board conferences on admissions models, which culminated in the 1999 publication of "Toward a Taxonomy of the Admissions Decision-Making…

Australian librarians have participated in and contributed to international librarianship for over 125 years. Individual and collective practice is well regarded internationally since it is in dialogue with international concerns, is based on shared values and reaches high standards. Many are willing contributors to international initiatives,…

A well-designed assessment strategy can motivate students, and help teachers and institutions to support deep learning. In contrast, inappropriate forms of assessment may promote surface learning, and will therefore fail to support the true goals of education. Recent theories of learning stress the value of dialogue, negotiation and feedback.…

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) can be seen to have reached maturity as the global data structure standard for the electronic representation of archival finding aids. One factor responsible for this success, flexibility, is now being questioned as it has led to a great deal of divergent practice. This article discusses the attempt to tighten…

What does it mean to "develop professional standards"? This paper argues that the task is one of setting up the processes and resources that will bring about an informed and growing teaching community. This is not a task in making lists of the "competencies" that teachers are to be measured against. Considerable work by…