The cover story for U.S. News and World Report (March 12) is titled "The Measure of Learning." Can we test what colleges teach? Academics are appalled that the government wants to try but the government is going to demand an accounting by assessing college learning with one or a number of standardized tests. "We're the best in the wolrd, give us money and leave us alone, " says Charles Miller, the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education. "The higher-ed community needs to fess up to the public's concerns."
What should a student learn in college? And whatever that is, which colleges teach it most effectively? With the average cost of private college soaring, it's a question being asked more and more. There are currently two major tools used to measure student learning. The Collegiate Learning Assessment measures critical thinking and analytical reasoning. Many school use it, but they keep the results confidential. Hundreds of schools also administer the National Survey of Student Engagement, which tracks how much time students spend on education and other activities.
In a few weeks, colleges will hear how U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings intends to move forward. Colleges, meanwhile, according to this article, "continue to search for that elusive value-added measure that can lead to better teaching."It is important that we read this.
Source: U.S. News and World Report article by Alex Kingsbury (available in the library)
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