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Common cause, contd.
Quote for the day:
It is hard to disagree with the argument that colleges should be held publicly accountable for the quality of education they provide and that careful assessment of what our students learn is a reasonable means of demonstrating such accountability. If these principles are applied in an intelligent fashion and with full cooperation by American colleges and universities, the report of the Spellings commission can usefully spur them in their continuing effort to improve the education they offer.
That could be ACTA talking. But it's not--it's the Modern Language Association, which has just issued a response to last year's report from the Commission on the Future of Higher Education. InsideHIgherEd.com has the details. Essentially, the MLA criticizes the Commission for ignoring the importance of the humanities to liberal education, and qualifies its support for outcomes assessment by registering opposition to testing.
ACTA shares the MLA's concern about ensuring strong humanities-based education, as shown by its reports on what English majors study, what constitutes a proper education, and what graduating seniors know about American history. And as far as testing goes, no one is arguing that this method of assessment is ideal. But at the moment, it appears to be the best we've got, and it sure beats nothing.
The IHE coverage of the MLA report stresses quibbling, argument, and general divisiveness among higher ed constituencies. But it's crucial to register the MLA's willingness to concede major points to the Commission's report, as well as to note how its concerns dovetail with those of ACTA. Higher ed reform will happen more efficiently, effectively, and peaceably if it can proceed with an awareness that the polarized culture of academic debate is getting in the way of addressing genuinely shared concerns.
Posted by acta online at March 30, 2007 08:53 AM
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