COMPARING QUALITY IN EUROPE

As higher education begins to operate increasingly in a European framework, consequences for the assurance of quality in higher education are bound to become evident. A pilot study to develop a methodology for the comparison of quality across different higher education systems is described. The project involved comparison of ten study programmes in economics in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. A design derived from general considerations about the concept of quality and about the nature of higher education and different systems incorporated two stages. First was the collection of information and the processing of this information into manageable data sets; second was the assessment of the information by way of peer review. The proceedings and principal findings of both stages followed the overview of the project design. The article concludes by highlighting some implications of this pilot project for the future of quality assurance in higher education on a European scale.     

Presidential Communication

PRESIDENTIAL PRESS CONFERENCES: A CRITICAL APPROACH by Carolyn Smith (New York: Praeger, 1990—$45.00/16.95, ISBN 0-275-93574-4 hard, 0-275-93575-2 paper, 280 pp.)

THE SIX O'CLOCK PRESIDENCY: A THEORY OF PRESIDENTIAL PRESS RELATIONS IN THE AGE OF TELEVISION by Fredrik T. Smoller (New York: Praeger, 1990—$39.95, ISBN 0-275-93598-1, 176 pp.)

THE I'RESS & THE CARTER PRESIDENCY by Mark J. Rozell (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1989—$32.50, ISBN 0-8133-0765-7, 235 pp.)

POLLING AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COVERAGE edited by Paul J. Lavrakas and Jack K. Holley (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1991—$36.00/17.95, ISBN 0-8039-4073-4 hard, 0-8039-4074-2 paper, 244 pp.)

LISTENING FOR A PRESIDENT: A CITIZEN'S CAMPAIGN METHODOLOGY by Ruth M. Gonchar Brennan and Dan F. Hahn (New York: Praeger, 1990—$42.95, ISBN 0-275-93245-1, 217 pp.)     

Toward Course Content Improvement

Abstract

Learning about environmental issues, their complexity, and urgency can be overwhelming. In this article, the author suggests that positive examples offer a refreshing change from the more typical doomsday warnings or edicts for action. While acknowledging environmental realities, these stories establish a norm for seeing those realities as challenges. They hold promise in terms of helping people build more adequate models about environmental problems and about their roles in addressing them.     

The Evidence Base for Mental Health Consultation in Early Childhood Settings: A Research Synthesis Addressing Children's Behavioral Outcomes

Research Findings: Early childhood mental health consultation aims to reduce problem behaviors and improve social skills in young children primarily through changes in the classroom environment and teacher practices. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and identified 14 rigorous studies that reported on child-level outcomes. These studies had at least one of the following characteristics: publication in a peer-reviewed journal, use of a randomized control trial design, or inclusion of a comparison group. Across these studies, there was variation in the approaches to consultation, qualifications of the consultants, and intensity of the services provided. Overall, early childhood mental health consultation services were consistently associated with reductions in teacher-reported externalizing behaviors. Findings related to reductions in internalizing behaviors were mixed. Teacher ratings of prosocial behaviors were improved in the majority of the studies that reported on this domain. Practice or Policy: This research synthesis underscores the importance of documenting the specific approaches to early childhood mental health consultation that are being implemented to allow for replication of effective models. Areas for future research improvement include increasing rigor through studies that contain independent assessments of children's behaviors, isolating key components of effective consultation, and identifying consultant qualifications and characteristics that lead to child behavior changes.     

“But a champion comes out much,much later”: A sport development case study of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team

Increasing attention has been given to the effective development of elite athletes. In this inquiry, the authors used a historical case study to ascertain the ways elite athletes were developed in a different era of sport in the United States. Using the attraction, retention, and transition frameworks, the factors that fostered the development of athletes from the 1968 Summer Olympics were drawn out through oral history interviews. In total, interviews with 59 U.S. Olympians were conducted. The results reveal how the athletes experienced supportive recruitment and retention environments, were able to manage the difficulty of developing elite talent, and encountered both challenges and opportunities transitioning through and out of elite sport. This analysis demonstrates how sport development principles are diverse in their temporal relevance and reinforce the practical implications meant to serve the modern athlete. Further, at least some sport development principles could remain constant regardless of how context and elite athlete experiences evolve in the future.     

A Masters Programme in telecommunications management – demand-based curriculum design

This paper presents a curriculum design approach for a Masters Programme in Telecommunications Management based on demand data obtained from surveying the needs of potential students of the proposed programme. Through online surveys disseminated at telecom companies in Jordan, it was possible to measure the demand for such a programme and to determine the required programme contents and specifications. The curriculum design is based on definition of programme outcomes and on using a house of quality approach (HOQ) to determine the list of courses required in the programme. Surveyed competencies are mapped to a long list of proposed courses in a HOQ in order to determine the importance of each of these courses. A final list of core and elective courses is then developed considering the contribution to programme outcomes and the academic standards.     

Conditional Standard Errors of Measurement for Scale Scores

Standard errors of measurement of scale scores by score level (conditional standard errors of measurement) can be valuable to users of test results. In addition, the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, & NCME, 1985) recommends that conditional standard errors be reported by test developers. Although a variety of procedures are available for estimating conditional standard errors of measurement for raw scores, few procedures exist for estimating conditional standard errors of measurement for scale scores from a single test administration. In this article, a procedure is described for estimating the reliability and conditional standard errors of measurement of scale scores. This method is illustrated using a strong true score model. Practical applications of this methodology are given. These applications include a procedure for constructing score scales that equalize standard errors of measurement along the score scale. Also included are examples of the effects of various nonlinear raw-to-scale score transformations on scale score reliability and conditional standard errors of measurement. These illustrations examine the effects on scale score reliability and conditional standard errors of measurement of (a) the different types of raw-to-scale score transformations (e.g., normalizing scores), (b) the number of scale score points used, and (c) the transformation used to equate alternate forms of a test. All the illustrations use data from the ACT Assessment testing program.     

The impact of engineering curriculum design principles on elementary students’ engineering and science learning

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards propose that students learn core ideas and practices related to engineering as well as science. To do so, students will need high-quality curricular materials designed to meet these goals. We report an efficacy study of an elementary engineering curriculum, Engineering is Elementary (EiE) that includes a set of hypothesized critical components designed to encourage student engagement in practices, connect engineering and science learning, and reach diverse students. To measure the impact of the curriculum, we conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial in 604 classrooms in 152 schools in three states. Schools were randomly assigned to either the treatment curriculum or to a comparison curriculum that addressed the same learning goals but did not include several critical components. Results show that students who used the treatment curriculum (EiE) regardless of demographic characteristics outperformed students in the comparison group on outcome measures of both engineering and science content learning. The results show that curriculum design affects student-learning outcomes.