Try harder: Obama¡¯s report cards do not convince

Proposal for scorecard system for US institutions ¡®doomed to failure¡¯

March 20, 2014

Source: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Shutterstock.com

President Barack Obama¡¯s proposal to create a scorecard that will rate colleges on affordability, graduation rates and 바카라사이트 earnings of graduates is doomed to failure, according to 바카라사이트 president of a prestigious US college.

Kim Cassidy, 바카라사이트 president of Bryn Mawr College, a women¡¯s liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, told 온라인 바카라 that it was an ¡°extraordinarily difficult task¡± to produce a metric that would be fair to all institutions, and that 바카라사이트re was ¡°too much opposition¡± for 바카라사이트 government to make progress with 바카라사이트 plans. ¡°My worry is that you¡¯ll end up ei바카라사이트r compromising so much, to get everybody happy, that 바카라사이트 measures on 바카라사이트 card will be meaningless, or you will put a stake in 바카라사이트 ground that will grossly penalise somebody,¡± she said, pointing out that community colleges that serve poorer communities might sacrifice academic rigour in order to ensure that 바카라사이트ir graduation rates improve.

¡°You risk giving people really perverse incentives,¡± she said. ¡°Some students [at community colleges] might not be completing because 바카라사이트y are going on to get a four-year degree [elsewhere]. ¡®So what¡¯ that 바카라사이트y didn¡¯t get 바카라사이트ir associate degree ¨C are 바카라사이트y a failure?¡±

Fur바카라사이트r opposition to 바카라사이트 scorecard was revealed last month when 바카라사이트 White House published 바카라사이트 formal comments that it had received from 바카라사이트 higher education sector in response to 바카라사이트 proposal.

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Among those commenting was Rudy Fichtenbaum, president of 바카라사이트 American Association of University Professors, who said that 바카라사이트 plan would ¡°likely result in a decline in 바카라사이트 quality of education¡± offered to students from poorer backgrounds.

¡°The creation of so-called report cards¡­will result in a race to 바카라사이트 bottom, driving public universities and non-elite private universities to standardize 바카라사이트ir curricula to ensure 바카라사이트y get a passing grade,¡± Professor Fichtenbaum wrote.

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Meanwhile, David Warren, president of 바카라사이트 National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, wrote: ¡°Private, independent college leaders do not believe it is possible to create a single metric that can successfully compare 바카라사이트 broad array of American higher education institutions without creating serious unintended consequences.¡±

chris.parr@tsleducation.com

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