News

Government looks to standardization

The recent thrust to quantify the value of a college education has sparked heated debate across campuses nationwide and has caused some government officials to consider requiring graduates to take a college exit exam.

Aaron Brower, University of Wisconsin vice provost for teaching and learning, said the idea of college exit requirements is riding in on the coattails of the Bush administration's accountability system for elementary and secondary education. Soaring tuition rates coupled with the decrease in international reputations of U.S. schools have led the government to rethink its policies toward higher education.

"Similarly to other things going on in the Bush administration," Brower said, "[the U.S. Department of Education] is using a corporate culture and public education culture to think about higher education."

Brower said in the face of rising tuition costs, the current administration believes colleges should be held accountable for what they do or do not teach their students.

"The U.S. Department of Education thinks universities should be clear about goals and be accountable — there should be criteria and standardization," Brower said.

But Clifton Conrad, professor of education at UW, said having one national college exit exam would be highly problematic.

"It is preposterous to say one size fits all, because colleges have very different purposes," Conrad said. "There is a heck of a difference between colleges across the country."

Individual institutions, Conrad said, may require a test to examine how their own graduates are doing compared to graduates of similar schools.

"Individual colleges could begin to do some assessment to judge what their students have learned … compared to the institution's own individual goals," Conrad said.

These assessments could provide valuable feedback colleges could use to improve their programs, teaching and curricula, Conrad added.

But no matter how valuable the tests may prove, Brower said UW has never considered exit requirements for its students, nor do they plan to do so in the future.

"As a university, there is no interest or movement to go to some kind of standardized testing," Brower said. "It's not even on the radar screen."

Texas Governor Rick Perry proposed his higher education accountability system in 2004, which if passed by the state Legislature, aims to measure student achievement and would provide colleges with increased funding as their students' achievement levels improved.

Ted Royer, spokesperson for Gov. Perry, said the proposed system would not require students to pass the exit exam in order to graduate.

"Exit exams are just another factor the state can use to determine how the school is doing its job educating its students," Royer said.

The system proposed by the Texas governor, Royer said, would use the level of success measured by the exit exam to determine how much additional funding an institution should receive.

"It is important to measure achievement to ensure it is being made, [just] as it is important to measure success to make sure success is achieved," Royer said. "Funding should be given out accordingly."

Royer added an exit exam would be required for students at both two-year and four-year institutions.

Ball State University in Indiana already requires undergraduate students to pass a writing exam to graduate, according to Ball State spokesperson Marc Ransford. He said the test involves writing a three-page expository essay, and about 85 percent of those who take the test pass. Ransford said students have two tries to pass the exam and cannot graduate until they receive a passing grade.

According to BSU's website, the exam is taken after students pass required English classes. The essay aims to test students' written communication skills.

In a system similar to BSU's, the University of North Carolina system is considering requiring students to take the Collegiate Learning Assessment — a test administered to students as freshmen and again as seniors to measure collegiate learning.

Joni Worthington, spokesperson for the UNC system, said the board of governors will finish developing its voluntary performance plan by May.

"The plan would include performance measures that would demonstrate how well the university is doing in preparing students and meeting student needs," Worthington said.

Worthington said a portion of the plan calls for students to voluntarily take the CLA to measure the quality of the general skills students have gained in their college experiences.

"We want to make sure that the university is using its limited resources efficiently and effectively," Worthington said. "[We want] students to graduate with a degree that prepares them to succeed in the workplace."

Worthington said the board's plan is basic because UNC schools vary in both size and in mission. The plan would allow each institution to add its own personal touches, Worthington added.

"The 16 campuses are very different, Worthington said. "A cookie-cutter approach will not necessarily be the best approach."

Conrad said the CLA is a fairly good exam for measuring students on the national level. However, a final project is a much better way to judge students' abilities and would allow students to reflect on their college experiences.

"A culminating project or senior capstone essay [would] bring together experiences, content and intellectual skills," Conrad said. "That's what the world of higher education needs."