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by Bob Topor, Senior Consultant
The recent report
of America's Best Colleges and Universities" by US News And World
Report reminds us that the struggle to quantify and report the impossible
dream of ranking higher educational institutions again clouds the educational
landscape. This has been a problem plaguing higher education for decades, ever since the first "comparisons" found their way to the popular newsstands. The problem of applying equitable
criteria to abstract ideas like higher What is the answer to this dilemma? It may be simpler and more apparent than we suspect! Why not evaluate higher education efforts by the results? Why not establish a methodology to assess incoming Freshmen, establish benchmarks and then evaluate graduates as they go on to apply their new findings? By the results they shall be known! By tracking individual development and progress (much as with grades) we can track and compare educational results. I asked my colleague, Dr. Moshe Engelberg, (Ph.D., Stanford) President of ResearchWorks in San Diego, for his reaction to this idea. He said "It might get kids and their parents to think in advance- why am I going to college? What do I want to achieve? And so on. Another world changing Bob idea!" An article in the New York
Times, "No Undergraduate Left Behind" suggested "a plea
for accountability in higher education. " In it, the author, Eugene
Hickok, writes "it is time for colleges to develop accurate measures
of student achievement, and of the value institutions of higher education
provide." Let's use careers, advanced degrees and professional accomplishments as ways to evaluate "quality." This would provide much fairer conclusions about individual institutional effectiveness. Many people have worked hard,
over the decades, to improve higher I think this approach would help. What do you think? E-mail
me. © 2006 Topor Consulting Group International, Robert S. Topor NOTICE: As a subscriber to this electronic newsletter, you have permission
to reproduce and use this article on your campus. |
| Robert Stanley Topor Marketing Higher Education Consultant, Author, Lecturer, Publisher (Educational Catalyst books) Retired, Stanford University Topor Consulting Group International 282 Nevada Street Marketing Higher Education e-newsletter |