Quality Judgements and Quality Improvement

This paper considers the quality movement in English higher education through an examination of four quality techniques, those of Total Quality Management, assurance of systems, assessment and audit. A heuristic device is used to further understanding through examination of judgements concerning association of the four techniques with a range of purposes, criteria and methods of evaluation. An emphasis throughout is the connections between improvement and evaluation; teaching and learning are the focus of the discussion. Some of the conclusions are linked to possible ways forward for the next phase of assessment, including the need to reduce emphasis on external evaluation and measurement and facilitate the development of a culture more aligned to improvement.     

New business models: AgBiotechNet™, a case study

The article examines the launch by CABI Publishing of a new internet product called AgBiotechNet™. The product was launched in January 1999 and features a range of content from news stories through to review articles and a bibliographic database taken from CAB ABSTRACTS™. The article describes the pre- and post-launch phases of AgBiotechNet™, and does, so the author hopes, provide some pointers on what it means to develop a new business model for the internet.     

Digital badging systems as a set of cultural tools for personalized professional development

Educational technology research and development - Through design-based research, this study examines a digital badging system to support online, independent teacher Professional development (PD) in...     

Academic achievement among a sample of youth in foster care: The role of school connectedness

Research shows that youth in foster care experience poor academic performance and disciplinary actions in school more frequently than do non-foster care youth. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to further examine youth in foster care and the relationship between individual/intrapersonal factors (future orientation and school connectedness) and exosystem factors (number of placement and school moves) and academic performance (grades) and disciplinary referrals among 363 youth (9–11 years of age; males = 52.9%). Controlling for key variables, hierarchical linear regression analysis was utilized to understand how well students' school connectedness, future outlook, number of placement changes, and number of school moves predicted academic and disciplinary outcomes. Beyond the variance explained by control variables, school connectedness made a significant contribution to this model. Results are discussed in the context of implementing interventions that foster school connectedness among this vulnerable population.     

European Approaches to Widening Participation in Higher Education: A Commentary in Light of the Role of the Society for Research into Higher Education

This article derives its arguments from case studies reflecting the situations of Estonia, Bulgaria, and the United Kingdom, the access and equity agenda in each country being viewed in the light of its own social concerns and financial priorities. Local institutions, in their turn, reinterpret the agendas of their respective countries in the light of their own missions and objectives. The role of the Society for Research into Higher Education is shown to be of importance, along with that of other NGOs, in ensuring that the cross‐fertilization of ideas and approaches takes place as effectively and as efficiently as possible.     

Mexican American Male Masquerades in the Institution as Bully

This Black and Chicana Feminist case study challenges national discourse surrounding school bullying as individualistic, student-centered. We explore the warrior lens of Mexican/Mexican-American males. While masquerading institutional compliance, they simultaneously unmask policies, practices as the means to control mind/bodies/spirit. This research seeks to uncover and more deeply understand lived realities at intersections of race, class, and gender while highlighting these young men’s agency to physically and psychologically resist that which seeks to circumscribe their educational and social outcomes. Within an elusive and subversive rasquachismo resourcefulness, they adhere to expectations while masquerading compliance to create spaces of resistance and survival within the institution as bully.