STANDARDS FOR THE CONDUCT OF QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER WUCATION

This paper reports on research that was designed to produce a 3imited number of assessment standards judged by exp-rt t. as the most important standards in the practice of quality assessment in undergraduate higher education. The study collected the opinions of a group of national assessment experts and employed a modification of the Delphi technique in order to arrive at a group consensus. The research resulted in identification of 40 standards that were agreed upcn by the expert group. The rationale for each of these standards is presented. The study's research phases included: (1) the clarification of the component of the institution/program to be assessed and its context; (2) the designing of the assessment process; (3) collecting and analyzing the data; (4) communicating the assessment's findings; and (5) using the findings to make recommendations, make decisions about improvements, and make judgements about quality. The appendix contains descriptions of the 40 standards. Contains 19 references. (GLR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document