Each student will be asked to decide what grade they desire and sign a contract that specifies the criteria for earning the desired grade. My overall plan is to spend about the first third of the semester on the statistical aspects of tests and measures and the second third of the semester on specific assessment tools. During the last third of the semester my expectation is that individuals will be engaged in independent projects that take them in different directions according to their interests. Therefore, all the energy of the instructor should be devoted to pleasing the student customers. This view is only partially correct.
Education has other important customers.
Your parents, employers, graduate and professional schools, and the community all have an important role in judging the quality of your educational experience. For those of you admitted to graduate school, I want you to be ready to move comfortably into advanced courses in measurement and clinical psychology. For those of you who enter the job market, I want you to be able to assist the organization in developing measures of quality performance so you can advance professionally. I also want you to feel that you have experienced a quality course and that you have reached your fullest potential in this subject area. As a philosophy or approach to management TQM just sounds great.