Quality Improvement in Aviation Education: A Framework for Programmatic Assessment and Quality Improvement

Abstract

There is a growing concern in higher education for a system of assessment and program quality improvement. This paper introduces a program evaluation system that may be used for evaluating higher education programs in a manner that provides an understandable quantitative quality metric. It provides background on the movement of higher education into the realm of quality management of educational processes, the national quality movement in public education, and efforts by the International Standards Organization and its affiliate organizations to establish international standards for education. Finally, it describes a seven-step assessment and quality improvement process. These steps reflect structure found in the Kirkpatrick Model of Program Evaluation and guidelines provided by the Central Missouri State University Quality Improvement Plan.