Accountability in Higher Education

Accountability has truly moved into the world of higher education. Not only are advocates pushing for more accountability of what students are actually learning in colleges, many are looking at Harvard as the example of what to do and waiting for their move (Wertheimer, 2007). Two recent articles show how Harvard is in the spotlight of accountability and standards: “Testing Harvard” in the Boston Globe (at http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/04/22/testing_harvard/) and “Harvard Task Force Calls for New Focus on Teaching and Not Just Research” in the New York times (at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/education/10harvard.html?ex=1336449600&en=b78842d9d28a84c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss). While a move to know where students’ money is going when investing tens of thousands of dollars in higher education, the worries for what this type of focus on test results could do to higher education. Many worry that this would be the end of liberal education in that professors would be forced to ‘teach to the test’, much in the same way that is necessary in many of our K-12 schools at this time. Current and relevant issues are pushed aside in order to prep students for standardized tests. In addition, due to the huge diversity of studies going on, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, at a institution like Harvard it may be hard to find a test that gives reliable and valid results on student progress and achievement (Rimer, 2007).

Tests that test problem solving and critical thinking are being suggested, and used in some parts of Harvard, in order to assess students. While many professors and educators feel that assessing students is a good move in order to see the value added of their teaching, the potential of making the results is troublesome(Wertheimer, 2007). Advocates for public results argue that the consumer would have more information while some educators argue that tests may be misleading as progress could not be measured for all students. Instead students would just be compared to other students at their level.

The federal government has done a poor job in instituting a standards and accountability movement in the area of K-12, so I think they should concentrate on improving this before tackling higher education, if at all. Also, in agreement with interim president of Harvard Bok, the potential for pressure to be put on the University may push the administration and education to preemptively start assessing and improving their teaching. This would be a happy result as many know that Harvard is not known for their undergraduate teaching satisfaction. While consumers may need may information about what goes on inside the black box of prestigious universities, I doubt government control over a such a system will lead to great changes. Similar to what happened in many schools with NCLB, institutions will most likely fulfill the requirements in a way that fits their needs and not really change anything about the way students are educated.