Audits of Colleges and Universities


Book Description




Managing Institutional Self Study


Book Description

This book is about the use of evidence in the leadership and management of universities and colleges. The role of institutional self-study in establishing strategy and measuring progress is examined across the full range of institutional activities, with many worked examples. Practical guidance is also set in the context of theory about organisational learning within complex enterprises at the start of the 21st century, as well as an account of the state of the art within higher education in the UK, with some international comparisons. Because of the nature of the business – knowledge production and use –universities should be better at organisational learning than they are. This book shows how disciplined self-study can assist decision-making, general effectiveness and reputational positioning for universities and colleges. The book explores why self-study matters, the key processes and techniques, as well as what can be delivered. In addition to the internal drivers to enhance self-study capacity and practice, institutions are increasingly required to produce explicit and transparent accounts of their activities and performance to external bodies, to support marketing, to respond to multiple stakeholders and to meet external reporting and regulatory requirements. At the heart of the book is the case for the development of the university or college as a mature, self-reflective community, making full use of its analytical and other resources.




Exemplars of Assessment in Higher Education


Book Description

Co-published with “While assessment may feel to constituents like an activity of accountability simply for accreditors, it is most appropriate to approach assessment as an activity of accountability for students. Assessment results that improve institutional effectiveness, heighten student learning, and better align resources serve to make institutions stronger for the benefit of their students, and those results also serve the institution or program well during the holistic evaluation required through accreditation.” – from the foreword by Heather Perfetti, President of the Middle States Commission on Higher EducationColleges and universities struggle to understand precisely what is being asked for by accreditors, and this book answers that question by sharing examples of success reported by schools specifically recommended by accreditors. This compendium gathers examples of assessment practice in twenty-four higher education institutions: twenty-three in the U.S. and one in Australia. All institutions represented in this book were suggested by their accreditor as having an effective assessment approach in one or more of the following assessment focused areas: assessment in the disciplines, co-curricular, course/program/institutional assessment, equity and inclusion, general education, online learning, program review, scholarship of teaching and learning, student learning, or technology. These examples recommended by accrediting agencies makes this a unique contribution to the assessment literature.The book is organized in four parts. Part One is focused on student learning and assessment and includes ten chapters. The primary focus for Part Two is student learning assessment from a disciplinary perspective and includes four chapters. Part Three has a faculty engagement and assessment focus, and Part Four includes four chapters on institutional effectiveness and assessment, with a focus on strategic planning.This book is a publication of the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (AALHE), an organization of practitioners interested in using effective assessment practice to document and improve student learning.




Asia Pacific Education


Book Description

The Asia-Pacific region has rich and unique traditions, cultural diversity and common as well as unique challenges, including obstacles of language and geographical separation. As home to over 60 per cent of the world's population, this region has a diverse range of educational issues, which have not as yet been fully explored. This ground-breaking volume considers current perspectives on educational diversity, challenges and changes occurring across a number of countries in the region and provides a closer look at these complexities. Focus has been given to the influence and impact that these complexities are having on policy and practice in leadership, governance and administration structures. Who has been given the agency? What kinds of power currents are in play? What are the hidden political enablers and disablers in these narratives? The authors of chapters in this series have presented some solid examples of what is currently happening, the discourse that is emerging around it, the effects of these changes and their impact within the region. While some of these narratives are a synthesis of literature and policy, other chapters have focused on findings from empirical studies being conducted in this space. As a timely collection of works from active researchers in Education, the book supports and encourages the importance of on-going educational research within the Asia-Pacific region The findings in this book have been drawn from original and current research which is anticipated as being a valuable academic reference as well as a teaching resource in the field of Education. This volume will be beneficial to students and academics of Education around the world as well as a useful reference to educational academics, researchers, policy-makers and administrators across the Asia-Pacific region.The Asia-Pacific region has rich and unique traditions, cultural diversity and common as well as unique challenges, including obstacles of language and geographical separation. As home to over 60 per cent of the world's population, this region has a diverse range of educational issues, which have not as yet been fully explored. This ground-breaking volume considers current perspectives on educational diversity, challenges and changes occurring across a number of countries in the region and provides a closer look at these complexities. Focus has been given to the influence and impact that these complexities are having on policy and practice in leadership, governance and administration structures. Who has been given the agency? What kinds of power currents are in play? What are the hidden political enablers and disablers in these narratives? The authors of chapters in this series have presented some solid examples of what is currently happening, the discourse that is emerging around it, the effects of these changes and their impact within the region. While some of these narratives are a synthesis of literature and policy, other chapters have focused on findings from empirical studies being conducted in this space. As a timely collection of works from active researchers in Education, the book supports and encourages the importance of on-going educational research within the Asia-Pacific region The findings in this book have been drawn from original and current research which is anticipated as being a valuable academic reference as well as a teaching resource in the field of Education. This volume will be beneficial to students and academics of Education around the world as well as a useful reference to educational academics, researchers, policy-makers and administrators across the Asia-Pacific region.







Validity and Limitations of College Student Self-Report Data


Book Description

Critics of student self-reported data claim that the accumulated corpus of research documenting student learning on the basis of survey responses stands on shaky ground. This volume argues that scholarship on proper use of student self-report data is woefully underdeveloped and contributing authors offer several important insights to assist IR practitioners in identifying potential limitations associated with self-report data. Volume editors Serge Herzog, director of institutional analysis at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Nicholas A. Bowman, postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, have assembled contributing authors who are leading scholars in the field of college student self-reports. Combined, the chapters draw on data from a mix of colleges and universities, capturing student growth at different stages of the undergraduate experience, and even beyond graduation. This is the 150th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Institutional Research. Always timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.




In the Nation's Compelling Interest


Book Description

The United States is rapidly transforming into one of the most racially and ethnically diverse nations in the world. Groups commonly referred to as minorities-including Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska Natives-are the fastest growing segments of the population and emerging as the nation's majority. Despite the rapid growth of racial and ethnic minority groups, their representation among the nation's health professionals has grown only modestly in the past 25 years. This alarming disparity has prompted the recent creation of initiatives to increase diversity in health professions. In the Nation's Compelling Interest considers the benefits of greater racial and ethnic diversity, and identifies institutional and policy-level mechanisms to garner broad support among health professions leaders, community members, and other key stakeholders to implement these strategies. Assessing the potential benefits of greater racial and ethnic diversity among health professionals will improve the access to and quality of healthcare for all Americans.




Institutional Self-study Handbook


Book Description




Self-Study Teacher Research


Book Description

Offer novice and experienced teachers guidelines for the "how" and "why" to do self-study teacher research Designed to help teachers plan, implement, and assess a manageable self-study research project, this unique textbook covers the foundation, history, theoretical underpinnings, and methods of self-study research. Written in a reader-friendly style and filled with interactive activities and examples, this book helps teachers every step of the way as they plan and conduct their studies. Author Anastasia Samaras encourages readers to think deeply about both the "how" and the "why" of this essential professional development tool as they pose questions and formulate personal theories to improve professional practice. Key Features A Self-Study Project Planner assists teachers in understanding both the details and process of conducting self-study research. A Critical Friends Portfolio includes innovative critical collaborative inquiries to support the completion of a high quality final research project. Advice from the most senior self-study academics working in the U.S. and internationally is included, along with descriptions of the self-study methodology that has been refined over time. Examples demonstrate the connections between self-study research, teachers′ professional growth, and their students′ learning. Tables, charts, and visuals help readers see the big picture and stay organized. Accompanied by High-Quality Ancillaries! A Student Study Site offers a wealth of resources, including additional examples and activities, web-based resources, study questions, and key terms. Intended Audience Self-Study Teacher Research: Improving Your Practice Through Collaborative Inquiry is intended as a core textbook for a wide variety of courses in the education curriculum, including Action Research, Qualitative Research Methods, Research Methods in Education, and the capstone/teacher researcher course required of all early childhood, elementary, and secondary education majors.




People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present


Book Description

Winner of the 2021 National Jewish Book Award for Con­tem­po­rary Jew­ish Life and Prac­tice Finalist for the 2021 Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction A New York Times Notable Book of the Year A Wall Street Journal, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A startling and profound exploration of how Jewish history is exploited to comfort the living. Renowned and beloved as a prizewinning novelist, Dara Horn has also been publishing penetrating essays since she was a teenager. Often asked by major publications to write on subjects related to Jewish culture—and increasingly in response to a recent wave of deadly antisemitic attacks—Horn was troubled to realize what all of these assignments had in common: she was being asked to write about dead Jews, never about living ones. In these essays, Horn reflects on subjects as far-flung as the international veneration of Anne Frank, the mythology that Jewish family names were changed at Ellis Island, the blockbuster traveling exhibition Auschwitz, the marketing of the Jewish history of Harbin, China, and the little-known life of the "righteous Gentile" Varian Fry. Throughout, she challenges us to confront the reasons why there might be so much fascination with Jewish deaths, and so little respect for Jewish lives unfolding in the present. Horn draws upon her travels, her research, and also her own family life—trying to explain Shakespeare’s Shylock to a curious ten-year-old, her anger when swastikas are drawn on desks in her children’s school, the profound perspective offered by traditional religious practice and study—to assert the vitality, complexity, and depth of Jewish life against an antisemitism that, far from being disarmed by the mantra of "Never forget," is on the rise. As Horn explores the (not so) shocking attacks on the American Jewish community in recent years, she reveals the subtler dehumanization built into the public piety that surrounds the Jewish past—making the radical argument that the benign reverence we give to past horrors is itself a profound affront to human dignity.