Measure the Place Before You Measure the People: new alternatives for quality assessment

Enthusiasm for interventions designed to improve organizational quality has far outpaced interest in assessing their effects. This article describes two procedures for systematic quality assessment. First, distributional assessment provides a way to monitor individual, group or unit performance by establishing real and maximum‐feasible parameters. Second, a cost assessment system based on utility analysis provides a way to assign dollar values and benefits to quality interventions targeted at specific jobs and job functions. Both procedures are described and illustrated. They resolve a long‐standing problem with quality assessment, arising from the difficulty of accounting for situational influences which can constrain the effects of interventions designed to improve organizational performance, product or service delivery, and customer satisfaction.     

How newly qualified primary teachers develop: A case study in rural Eritrea

This paper reports on the professional development of a small group of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who began their careers in four rural schools in Eritrea. These teachers were monitored over a period of four years from 2001 to 2004. Their development as primary practitioners was recorded by videoing and observing their classes and by interviews and informal discussions held over the period. The ways in which they developed and the factors involved in this development are analysed and discussed.It is hoped that this research offers an insight into the challenges faced by newly qualified teachers in small rural communities, often very much dependant on their own resources and those of the local community. This indicates ways in which the current programme and on-going in-service provision may be targeted in future. An important point is made that in spite of the unusual circumstances of education in Eritrea this research provides insights that are relevant to other sociocultural contexts.     

Quality: What Should Make Higher Education ‘Higher'?

This article addresses what ‘quality’ in education is, and should be. Findings published previously in this journal and elsewhere are drawn together to consider the notion of quality and conditions for its improvement. It is argued that quality in education relates to development of intellectual independence. Both a focus (enhanced metacognition) and a method (Collaborative Action Research) for improving quality are presented. It is argued further that secondary and tertiary education should differ only in the extent of students’ development towards the desired goal. Accordingly, institutions of higher education must take the lead in fostering improvement in quality of education at all levels.