Práce se snaží reagovat na posun ve vnímání fungování veřejné správy. Tím je zejména přechod od nařizovací správy k chápání správy jako službě veřejnosti. Jednou z možností modernizace a zlepšení práce veřejné správy je aplikace metod managementu kvality. V práci se poukazuje na rozdílnost veřejné správy a celého veřejného sektoru oproti soukromému. Ze soukromé sféry jsou zdůrazněny metody, které mohou být aplikovatelné i ve veřejné správě. Větší část práce je pak věnována Modelu CAF (Common Assessment Framework), který byl speciálně navržen pro implementaci ve veřejném sektoru. Pro jeho snazší zavedení jsou uvedeny i upravené praktické příklady ze starších projektů.

In present day society there is an artificial dichotomy between wastes and resources that is perhaps best summed up by the Western Sydney Waste Board slogan 'there is no such thing as waste � only resources in the wrong place and at the wrong time'. Waste management was originally driven by managing the health consequences of wrong time/place materials. This has changed and the significant driver is now the sustainable utilisation of resources, that is, trying to optimally recover as resources (right time/place) those materials that present as wastes requiring management. However, it is not acceptable to justify a resource recovery option purely on the basis that it is diverting material away from landfill. Preferences are emerging for recovery activities that maximise the resource value of a material according to techno-economic, environmental and socio-political criteria; collectively known as the criteria of sustainability. The people and organisations articulating these preferences include owners/operators of resource recovery centres, proponents of alternative waste management technologies, waste planners and managers at both a state and local government level and environmental NGOs representing community interests, in addition to the generators of waste at a domestic, commercial and industrial, and construction and demolition level. It is therefore important to be able to answer the question of 'what is the optimal or most sustainable resource recovery option for materials presenting as waste to landfill in the Greater Sydney Region?' The point of departure for this thesis is twofold. Firstly, that optimal resource recovery options (also known as alternative waste management technologies) can be identified by understanding the context and system drivers and constraints within the system of waste generation and utilisation, by modelling the system using industrial ecology (specifically Materials Flux Analysis) and by using the technology assessment framework developed by the NSW Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry to evaluate the available options. Secondly, that should the assessment framework from the NSW Inquiry prove to be unsuitable as a framework for evaluation, then an improved and refined assessment framework can be constructed in order to identify optimal resource recovery options and that this process can be successfully demonstrated using wood waste as a case study. The context of waste as an issue has shifted from local government control (pre-1970s) to state government control through the Department of Environment and Conservation. This transition followed experiments with organisations such as the NSW Waste Boards and Resource NSW, in addition to state targets such as a 60% reduction of waste to landfill by the year 2000. In addition to this backdrop of change from a government administrative perspective, there are also a suite of often conflicting drivers and constraints influencing the process of resource recovery. For example, sustainable development is a public policy driver for the integration of environmental and societal concerns, but can also constrain new innovation if competing 'status quo' utilisation options are not subject to the same scrutiny. Similarly, legislation acts as a constraint to resource recovery options by establishing license conditions, prohibiting some energy recovery options and setting recovery criteria; however legislation also acts as a driver for resource recovery options that generate renewable electricity or act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other drivers and constraints include social, technical and economic issues and concerns in addition to environmental impacts such as emissions to air, land and water. Industrial ecology is a model for viewing system components as part of a dependent and interrelated greater whole. Within the context of Industrial Ecology, waste is a by-product of manufacture available as a beneficial input into other processes. Using Materials Flux Analysis as a tool to build a model of waste generation and utilisation, elements within the system are presented as a series of stocks (sources), technology interventions (transformation flows) and sinks (markets). The stocks or sources of materials for resource recovery are categorised as Municipal Solid (MSW), Commercial and Industrial (C&I) or Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes. Approximately seven million tonnes of waste is generated in the Greater Sydney Region (nearly two and a half million tonnes of materials recovered for recycling and four and a half million tonnes of materials disposed of to landfill). The purpose of technology intervention is to transform the material into a product that is suited to the end market (sink). Markets are grouped according to reuse (same function and form), direct recycling (same supply chain), indirect recycling (different supply chain) and energy recovery (either as process heat, electricity or co-generation, a combination of the two). Landfill is also a potential sink for materials and in this sense can be thought of as a negative value market. The Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry provided an assessment framework for resource recovery technologies. Each technology was measured and compared against 16 evaluation criteria, resulting in a score out of one hundred. Material sorting scored the highest (81.5), incineration the lowest (50.8) with most of the biological technologies performing �well� (64.6 � 71.7) and with the landfill technologies performing 'moderately well' (60.4 - 61.4). The positive features of the Inquiry included the overview of alternative resource recovery technologies, waste generation and other issues pertinent to decision making and resource recovery. The negatives of the Inquiry arise from the inadequacies of the assessment framework, which lacked technology options, system boundary definition and requisite evaluation criteria in addition to inconsistencies in scoring approaches. By undertaking a sensitivity analysis on the Inquiry�s results, it is shown that rank order reversal results from the allocation of weightings. The improved and refined assessment framework, constructed to overcome identified inadequacies of the Inquiry�s approach, focussed on clearly identifying the problem to be addressed and the primary decision maker involved in the process; ensuring that appropriate options for evaluation were included; defining the system boundary for the assessment; selecting necessary evaluation criteria; adopting a more sophisticated system for scoring; and using a sensitivity analysis to validate the results of the resource recovery option evaluation. Wood waste was used as a case study for this second assessment methodology. Wood waste refers to the end-of-life products, failed products, offcuts, shavings and sawdust from all timber products. Approximately 350,000 tonnes of wood waste are disposed of to landfill each year. This comprises untreated timber (hard wood and soft wood), engineered timber products (particleboard, medium density fibreboard and plywood) and treated timber (predominately copper chrome arsenic). Eight wood resource recovery options are selected for evaluation within the Greater Sydney Region with a different approach to scoring that has the advantage of 'scaling up' the best performers within each attribute (highest score) while 'scaling down' the worst performers (no score). Under this evaluation, an on-site purpose built energy facility is the most preferred option with particleboard manufacture the least preferred option. A sensitivity analysis of the results reveals that the scores of each technology option are sensitive to the weightings of the decision maker. When the change in rankings is examined, it is identified that two eight wood recovery options undergo a large rank reversal. A critique of the results of the wood evaluation reveals five major flaws. Firstly the evaluation produces non-highest resource value results that are non-intuitive (and arguably misleading), for example the poor performance of reuse and particleboard against energy generation options. Secondly, the recording of a single summary score for each recovery option hides unacceptable performance levels in some criteria. For example, the top scorer of Primary Energy On-site hides the fact that such an option is likely to have no political desirability (likely public opposition to 'incineration' within the Sydney air-shed), calling into question its ability to be implemented as a solution. Thirdly there is a reliance on judgement for the scoring of options and weighting of preferences, calling into doubt the accuracy of scores. Fourthly, the rankings of recovery options by the assessment framework are sensitive to the allocation of weightings. Finally and most importantly, the refined evaluation approach suffers from the 'discrete option syndrome', the scoring of each recovery option in isolation with no ability to look at integrated systems with joint recovery options. This is pinpointed as a fundamental flaw in the process of both the Inquiry and the wood evaluation. This leads to the conclusion that the founding assertions of this thesis were false. That is to say that the assessment framework developed by the NSW Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry is not suitable for use in evaluating resource recovery options. Furthermore a refined assessment framework based on this approach is also unable to identify optimal resource recovery options as demonstrated using wood waste as a case study. The results of this research points to the overall conclusion that any discrete option evaluation and assessment for resource recovery technologies that results in a single summary score for each option will be fundamentally flawed, providing no value in determining optimal resource recovery solutions for the Greater Sydney Region. A systems approach is suggested as an alternative method for the evaluation of optimal resource recovery, the starting point of which is to ask 'what is the highest resource value of the components in the material stream under consideration and how could a network of infrastructure be designed in order to allow materials to flow to their highest resource value use?' A feature of such an integrated approach is a focus on the materials composition of recovered resources, as opposed to recovery technologies, resulting in a 'fit for purpose' as opposed to a 'forced fit' style of resource recovery. It is recommended that further research and public policy efforts be made in logistics planning across the Greater Sydney Region (as opposed to a regional or local government area) in order to create network opportunities for integrated flows of materials to move toward their highest resource value.

In present day society there is an artificial dichotomy between wastes and resources that is perhaps best summed up by the Western Sydney Waste Board slogan 'there is no such thing as waste � only resources in the wrong place and at the wrong time'. Waste management was originally driven by managing the health consequences of wrong time/place materials. This has changed and the significant driver is now the sustainable utilisation of resources, that is, trying to optimally recover as resources (right time/place) those materials that present as wastes requiring management. However, it is not acceptable to justify a resource recovery option purely on the basis that it is diverting material away from landfill. Preferences are emerging for recovery activities that maximise the resource value of a material according to techno-economic, environmental and socio-political criteria; collectively known as the criteria of sustainability. The people and organisations articulating these preferences include owners/operators of resource recovery centres, proponents of alternative waste management technologies, waste planners and managers at both a state and local government level and environmental NGOs representing community interests, in addition to the generators of waste at a domestic, commercial and industrial, and construction and demolition level. It is therefore important to be able to answer the question of 'what is the optimal or most sustainable resource recovery option for materials presenting as waste to landfill in the Greater Sydney Region?' The point of departure for this thesis is twofold. Firstly, that optimal resource recovery options (also known as alternative waste management technologies) can be identified by understanding the context and system drivers and constraints within the system of waste generation and utilisation, by modelling the system using industrial ecology (specifically Materials Flux Analysis) and by using the technology assessment framework developed by the NSW Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry to evaluate the available options. Secondly, that should the assessment framework from the NSW Inquiry prove to be unsuitable as a framework for evaluation, then an improved and refined assessment framework can be constructed in order to identify optimal resource recovery options and that this process can be successfully demonstrated using wood waste as a case study. The context of waste as an issue has shifted from local government control (pre-1970s) to state government control through the Department of Environment and Conservation. This transition followed experiments with organisations such as the NSW Waste Boards and Resource NSW, in addition to state targets such as a 60% reduction of waste to landfill by the year 2000. In addition to this backdrop of change from a government administrative perspective, there are also a suite of often conflicting drivers and constraints influencing the process of resource recovery. For example, sustainable development is a public policy driver for the integration of environmental and societal concerns, but can also constrain new innovation if competing 'status quo' utilisation options are not subject to the same scrutiny. Similarly, legislation acts as a constraint to resource recovery options by establishing license conditions, prohibiting some energy recovery options and setting recovery criteria; however legislation also acts as a driver for resource recovery options that generate renewable electricity or act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Other drivers and constraints include social, technical and economic issues and concerns in addition to environmental impacts such as emissions to air, land and water. Industrial ecology is a model for viewing system components as part of a dependent and interrelated greater whole. Within the context of Industrial Ecology, waste is a by-product of manufacture available as a beneficial input into other processes. Using Materials Flux Analysis as a tool to build a model of waste generation and utilisation, elements within the system are presented as a series of stocks (sources), technology interventions (transformation flows) and sinks (markets). The stocks or sources of materials for resource recovery are categorised as Municipal Solid (MSW), Commercial and Industrial (C&I) or Construction and Demolition (C&D) wastes. Approximately seven million tonnes of waste is generated in the Greater Sydney Region (nearly two and a half million tonnes of materials recovered for recycling and four and a half million tonnes of materials disposed of to landfill). The purpose of technology intervention is to transform the material into a product that is suited to the end market (sink). Markets are grouped according to reuse (same function and form), direct recycling (same supply chain), indirect recycling (different supply chain) and energy recovery (either as process heat, electricity or co-generation, a combination of the two). Landfill is also a potential sink for materials and in this sense can be thought of as a negative value market. The Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry provided an assessment framework for resource recovery technologies. Each technology was measured and compared against 16 evaluation criteria, resulting in a score out of one hundred. Material sorting scored the highest (81.5), incineration the lowest (50.8) with most of the biological technologies performing �well� (64.6 � 71.7) and with the landfill technologies performing 'moderately well' (60.4 - 61.4). The positive features of the Inquiry included the overview of alternative resource recovery technologies, waste generation and other issues pertinent to decision making and resource recovery. The negatives of the Inquiry arise from the inadequacies of the assessment framework, which lacked technology options, system boundary definition and requisite evaluation criteria in addition to inconsistencies in scoring approaches. By undertaking a sensitivity analysis on the Inquiry�s results, it is shown that rank order reversal results from the allocation of weightings. The improved and refined assessment framework, constructed to overcome identified inadequacies of the Inquiry�s approach, focussed on clearly identifying the problem to be addressed and the primary decision maker involved in the process; ensuring that appropriate options for evaluation were included; defining the system boundary for the assessment; selecting necessary evaluation criteria; adopting a more sophisticated system for scoring; and using a sensitivity analysis to validate the results of the resource recovery option evaluation. Wood waste was used as a case study for this second assessment methodology. Wood waste refers to the end-of-life products, failed products, offcuts, shavings and sawdust from all timber products. Approximately 350,000 tonnes of wood waste are disposed of to landfill each year. This comprises untreated timber (hard wood and soft wood), engineered timber products (particleboard, medium density fibreboard and plywood) and treated timber (predominately copper chrome arsenic). Eight wood resource recovery options are selected for evaluation within the Greater Sydney Region with a different approach to scoring that has the advantage of 'scaling up' the best performers within each attribute (highest score) while 'scaling down' the worst performers (no score). Under this evaluation, an on-site purpose built energy facility is the most preferred option with particleboard manufacture the least preferred option. A sensitivity analysis of the results reveals that the scores of each technology option are sensitive to the weightings of the decision maker. When the change in rankings is examined, it is identified that two eight wood recovery options undergo a large rank reversal. A critique of the results of the wood evaluation reveals five major flaws. Firstly the evaluation produces non-highest resource value results that are non-intuitive (and arguably misleading), for example the poor performance of reuse and particleboard against energy generation options. Secondly, the recording of a single summary score for each recovery option hides unacceptable performance levels in some criteria. For example, the top scorer of Primary Energy On-site hides the fact that such an option is likely to have no political desirability (likely public opposition to 'incineration' within the Sydney air-shed), calling into question its ability to be implemented as a solution. Thirdly there is a reliance on judgement for the scoring of options and weighting of preferences, calling into doubt the accuracy of scores. Fourthly, the rankings of recovery options by the assessment framework are sensitive to the allocation of weightings. Finally and most importantly, the refined evaluation approach suffers from the 'discrete option syndrome', the scoring of each recovery option in isolation with no ability to look at integrated systems with joint recovery options. This is pinpointed as a fundamental flaw in the process of both the Inquiry and the wood evaluation. This leads to the conclusion that the founding assertions of this thesis were false. That is to say that the assessment framework developed by the NSW Alternative Waste Management Technologies and Practices Inquiry is not suitable for use in evaluating resource recovery options. Furthermore a refined assessment framework based on this approach is also unable to identify optimal resource recovery options as demonstrated using wood waste as a case study. The results of this research points to the overall conclusion that any discrete option evaluation and assessment for resource recovery technologies that results in a single summary score for each option will be fundamentally flawed, providing no value in determining optimal resource recovery solutions for the Greater Sydney Region. A systems approach is suggested as an alternative method for the evaluation of optimal resource recovery, the starting point of which is to ask 'what is the highest resource value of the components in the material stream under consideration and how could a network of infrastructure be designed in order to allow materials to flow to their highest resource value use?' A feature of such an integrated approach is a focus on the materials composition of recovered resources, as opposed to recovery technologies, resulting in a 'fit for purpose' as opposed to a 'forced fit' style of resource recovery. It is recommended that further research and public policy efforts be made in logistics planning across the Greater Sydney Region (as opposed to a regional or local government area) in order to create network opportunities for integrated flows of materials to move toward their highest resource value.

No / This paper explores different orientations to child-centered social work as conveyed in the training materials and guidelines of Looking After Children and Assessment Framework in Australia. Canada and Sweden. 'Child centered' is shaped by contextual factors and influences social work practices. We found differences in these approaches as needs based and/or rights based and in relation to how each emphasizes the three P's Provision, Protection and Participation. Substantial differences were identified both in how references to a child-centered approach appear in theoretical frameworks, values, motives and use of concepts in training materials and guidelines, and in the instructions given as to how to apply these approaches. It appears that Australia balances needs and rights, while Canada is more needs-oriented and Sweden more rights-oriented. Swedish materials show a more explicit emphasis on participation than Australian and Canadian materials. Differences between the three countries indicate the importance of structural, contextual factors shaping orientations to child-centered practice.

Dieses Forschungspapier fasst die zentralen Ergebnisse entsprechenden Diplomarbeit zur Steuerverwaltung in Polen zusammen. Die zentrale Fragestellung lautet, wie sich diese spezifische öffentliche Verwaltungsstruktur im Zuge der Transformation und des Beitritts zur Europäischen Union entwickelt hat und inwiefern sie heute europäischen Standards entspricht. Da es der EU in dem Bereich an Kompetenzen mangelt, besteht kein einheitliches europäisches Modell der Steuerverwaltung, an dem die polnische zu messen wäre. Die Autorin nutzt das im Rahmen der Europäisierungsforschung entwickelte Konzept des Europäischen Verwaltungsraums, um die aktuelle Gestalt der polnischen Steuerverwaltung unter Berücksichtigung verbindlicher Vorgaben der EU und deren Aktivitäten im Beitrittsprozess analysieren zu können. Ob es eine spezifisch europäische Steuerverwaltung gibt, wird anhand von Daten der OECD mit einer Clusteranalyse ausgelotet werden. Schließlich wird Polens Verortung in den differenzierten Steuerverwaltungswelten ermittelt. Desweiteren analysiert die Autorin die Verbreitung des Common Assessment Frameworks in den Steuerverwaltungen in den Staaten Mittelosteuropas thematisiert. Eine eigene Umfrage bei den polnischen Finanzämtern bringt mehr Klarheit über die Nutzung des CAF in der polnischen Steuerverwaltung. Schließlich ermittelt die Autorin mittels eines semantischen Differentials das Image der polnischen Steuerverwaltung in Deutschland und vergleicht dieses mit dem Selbstbild der deutschen Steuerverwaltung. In einer Schlussbetrachtung werden die Ergebnisse der verschiedenen Untersuchungen zusammengeführt. Die Antwort der Autorin auf die aufgeworfene Frage nach dem europäischen Charakter der polnischen Steuerverwaltung ist verhalten optimistisch. / This research paper is including the central findings of the diploma thesis diploma about the fiscal administration in Poland. The central question is, how this specific public administrative structure developed in the course of the transformation process and the entry to the European Union and to what extent it corresponds today to European standards. Since the European Union has only few competencies in this field, no uniform European model of the fiscal administration exist, at which the Polish fiscal administration would be measured. The author uses the concept of the European administrative space, in order to be able to analyze the current shape of the Polish fiscal administration with special consideration of obligatory defaults of the European Union and their activities during the entry process. Whether there is a specifically European fiscal administration will be find out, on the basis of data of the OECD with a cluster analysis. Finally, Poland’s place in the different fiscal administration worlds is determined. Further the author analyzes the spreading of the Common Assessment Frameworks in the fiscal administrations in Central Eastern European Countries. Its own inquiry with the Polish tax offices brings more clarity over the use of the CAF in the Polish fiscal administration. Finally the author determines the image of the Polish fiscal administration in Germany by means of a semantic differential and compares this with the self-image of the German fiscal administration. In a final consideration the results of the different findings are connected. The answer of the author to the raised question about the European character of the Polish fiscal administration is with restraint optimistic.

This thesis describes a functional framework for developing strategic assessment at the Combatant Command level, specifically European Command. The framework establishes a functional architecture based on derived requirements and objectives according to the systems engineering process described by Dennis Buede. This thesis describes the current methodology for developing theater plans based on the national strategies established by the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition, it provides an analysis of the system stakeholders in order to define the purpose and utility of a strategic assessment from various perspectives. Based on this analysis, the requirements and functions of the system are decomposed and arranged according to a hierarchy via Vitechs CORE 8 University Edition. Finally, the developed model is tested against a notional scenario that assesses a fictional exercise according to the derived functional model, in order to demonstrate the methodology used to relate activities to strategic goals. This thesis defines the framework for conducting strategic assessments and leveraging them to maximize the impact of U.S. activities. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Current legislation, within England, states that local authorities should provide services for all those families in need, while also setting thresholds for access to these services. However, research has identified that regardless of the introduction of strategies to identify need and enhance family support, on-going barriers to services remain. This study took a social constructionist approach to explore professionals’ experiences of the use of the Common Assessment Framework form and multiagency working. Data were collected in four different local authorities in the South East of England, in two phases: phase one February 2011 to February 2012, phase two July to September 2014. Phase one was intended to focus on the experiences of both professionals and families in one Local Authority (LA). However, as a result of a difficulty in accessing families the research was refocused to professionals’ experiences and use of the CAF alone. Phase two was extended to three further LAs. Forty one professionals, from a variety of agencies, took part in semistructured interviews individually or in a group. Data were analysed utilising thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke 2006). Conclusions are from a small scale study and so cannot be generalised. However, findings suggested professional use of the CAF was dictated by local authority policy. Two issues emanated from this. Firstly, as the local authorities adopted the policy of utilising the CAF as a referral mechanism, rather than for its intended purpose, to assess needs, professionals perceived the CAF form as a referral tool, rather than an assessment tool. Secondly, the range of professionals utilising the CAF was diverse. This diversity necessitates suitable training to accommodate the various professionals and their backgrounds. However, in this study, such training was largely lacking. Additionally professionals found multi-agency working, required by the CAF process, problematic, time consuming, and onerous. However, experienced and knowledgeable professionals were seen to utilise creative ways in which to successfully navigate the ‘referral process’. A further finding of the study is that there were key differences in regard to the ways in which diverse professional groups view safeguarding for adolescents. Recommendations for future research, policy and local authority use of the CAF form have been made.

Práce se snaží reagovat na aktuální otázku, týkající se modernizace veřejné správy a s ní spojenou aplikaci metod managementu kvality ve veřejné správě. Zvláštní pozornost je věnována Modelu CAF (Common Assessment Framework), který byl vyvinut jako nástroj sebehodnocení speciálně pro veřejný sektor. V České republice byl tento model doposud aplikován především na úrovni samosprávných a ústředních správních úřadů. Vzhledem k možnosti implementovat tento model v nejrůznějších částech veřejného sektoru, se práce snaží upozornit na vhodnost využití Modelu CAF i v oblasti vzdělávání. Pro jeho snazší aplikaci ve školách jsou uvedeny i praktické příklady důkazů, které jsou důležitým podkladem pro hodnocení v Modelu.

Cíl diplomové práce spočíval v nástinu podmínek a prostředí pro implementaci systémů managementu jakosti ve veřejné správě ČR. Při objasňování tohoto cíle bylo využito východisek z dostupných literárních pramenů, praktických zkušeností s implementací Úřadu městské části Prahy 7 a také vlastního výzkumu. Systémy managementu kvality tvoří ucelené přístupy k rozvoji organizace formou obecných doporučení, jak skutečného růstu kvality poskytovaných statků či služeb dosáhnout. Aplikaci standardizovaných metod je třeba přizpůsobit individuální organizaci vzhledem k předmětu její činnosti a vytýčeným cílům. Veškeré přístupy jsou vždy pouze nástrojem a pomůckou, jenž při správném využití dokáží napomoci ke zkvalitnění a zefektivnění řízení. V současné době je implementace přístupů ke kvalitnímu řízení veřejné správy v ČR dobrovolná a každá veřejná instituce/úřad si jej může zvolit, dle vlastního uvážení. Při dostatečné publicitě a prezentaci, by v budoucnu mohly systémy managementu kvality v očích veřejnosti působit jako určitá záruka poskytovaných statků a služeb.

This thesis reports the findings of a case study into the outcomes and learning environments of students studying for a Diploma of Technology at a New Zealand Tertiary Education Institution. The primary focus of the study was to develop an assessment framework that would facilitate simultaneous assessment of the local Institute achievement-based Diploma of Technology and the competency-based assessment of a National Diploma that the local diploma subsumed. From this primary focus on assessment, the study provided the opportunity to undertake a grounded theory study of literature that impacted on the learning environment, supported the necessity to rationalise the student learning outcomes from both an academic and work skill perspective, and presented a suitable situation in which to take a fresh look at the method of grading and marking students’ assessment material. / The grounded theory study grew out of the need to condense the vast amount of literature that was gathered in the process of searching for background material to use in the building of a foundation on which to construct a dual assessment model. Although no literature was found that specifically dealt with the simultaneous dual assessment, a large amount of material was found that related to various aspects of the learning environment. Through the process of a grounded theory study, this material was condensed into categories of data that in turn were used to develop a theoretical model of an ‘ideal’ learning environment. Into this model was also added the results of a questionnaire based research study into the perceived need for diploma graduates to have a range of employability skills. This study involved a range of employers who considered themselves likely to employ a diploma graduate. Because the learning outcomes for the two diplomas covered essentially the same material yet the actual wording of the outcomes were substantially quite different, there was a need to rationalise the sets of learning outcomes for each diploma. This process led to a common set of outcomes that in turn were used as a focus for students’ learning and assessment. / Once these common outcomes had been identified, a rubric based marking/scoring system was developed so that both students and teacher could quickly grade students’ assessment material and then convert that grade into a mark. The use of the grade facilitated the assessment of achievement against a unit standard and the resultant marks satisfied the need for an achievement mark. The results and findings from the various studies were then translated into a working model that was used for two courses over one semester. Various other research methodologies were then used in order to provide some evaluation of the working model.The thesis does present some of the difficulties facing tertiary teachers in an environment that is becoming more and more of a production line business rather than a service to provide learning opportunities for students. However it also presents solid evidence that teachers can take measures to prove themselves through study and initiative and provide those focussed learning environments where students can attain the outcomes necessary for a successful career in tomorrow’s world.