Ensuring the Quality and Productivity of Education and Professional Development Activities: A Review of Approaches and Lessons for DoD

摘要

The Office of the Chancellor for Education and Professional Development in the Department of Defense (DoD) was established in 1998 to help raise the quality of civilian training and professional development to world- class standards. The Chancellor's office is specifically charged with ensuring the quality and productivity of education and professional development activities targeted at DoD civilians. In support of this aim, the Chancellor asked RAND to review existing approaches for assessing academic quality and productivity and to suggest approaches that might be useful for the assessment of the current DoD system of education and professional development. The RAND study team conducted a broad review of the general literature on the assessment of quality and productivity in education and professional development. The team also reviewed the documentation of organizations engaged in such assessment, interviewed experts, attended conferences, and conducted site visits to exemplary organizations. This report synthesizes that information and provides suggestions for approaches that might be useful for DoD.