Evidence of Quality: Toward Resolving the Paradox of Evidence in the American Accreditation Process
15 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2013
Date Written: September 18, 2013
Abstract
An evidence-based decision-making paradigm can be seen in the contemporary American accreditation processes. Individual institutions compile the evidence of quality assessed by the peer reviewers. These reviewers apply a broad and diverse body of knowledge to both assure that quality has been achieved and to provide suggestions for quality improvement. Within the current process, however, there appears to be a paradox of evidence. Where multiple and varied sources of evidence do exist, critics consistently call for better evidence of quality. Rather than a bottom-up, measurement-specific approach to addressing the issue of quality evidence in accreditation, further application of the principles of evidence-based management may instead not only increase understanding of the evidence that already exists among stakeholders but also may help to uncover those areas where new and improved sources of quality evidence are needed.
Keywords: Higher education, accreditation, quality, evidence-based management
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