Assessing Quality in Postsecondary Education: International Perspectives

✍ Scribed by Harvey P. Weingarten; Martin Hicks; Amy Kaufman

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2018
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 217
• Series: Queen's Policy Studies Series; 193
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

For many years the benefits conferred by a higher education went undisputed. But students, employers, governments, and taxpayers are now demanding evidence of educational quality and value. At the same time, fiscally strapped governments are raising questions about how institutions are funded and the role quality should play in setting funding levels. In the face of these mounting pressures, jurisdictions around the world are working toward designing meaningful indicators to measure the performance of postsecondary institutions that go beyond enrolment numbers, graduation rates, and ever-popular reputational rankings. Assessing Quality in Postsecondary Education: International Perspectives presents a collection of thought-provoking essays by world-renowned higher-education thinkers and policy experts that discuss ways of defining and measuring academic quality. The papers were presented at a conference convened by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario in May 2017 and provide valuable insight into this pressing issue and underscore the need for reform.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title
Copyright
Table of Contents
About the Authors
Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Section I: The United States
Chapter 1 Indicators of Educational Quality for Postsecondary Accountability Systems
Chapter 2 Quality as Both State and Process: Implications for Performance-Indicator Systems
Chapter 3 The Role of Generic Skills in Measuring Academic Quality
Section II: Europe
Chapter 4 Governance and Power Through Indicators: The UK Higher Education Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework
Chapter 5 Assessing Teaching and Learning in Ireland
Chapter 6 Performance Contracts: A New Tool in Higher-Education Governance
Chapter 7 Benchmarking Higher-Education System Performance: A Look at Learning and Teaching
Section III: Canada
Chapter 8 The Sweet Smell of Student Success: Demonstrating Learning Experience Quality in Ontario
Chapter 9 Supporting Quality Through Collaboration and Funding-Based Policy Levers: Nova Scotia’s Experience
Section IV: The Future of Quality Measurement
Chapter 10 Postsecondary Punters: Creating New Platforms for Higher-Education Success
Conclusion