An article in today’s The Conversation takes up the question of why efforts at college accountability fail so often. Assessment is of course just one arm of the larger effort to hold colleges accountable.
The author identifies four basic reasons why accountability fails.
- Colleges are often subject to conflicting incentives. So one measure of accountability might be at odds with another.
- Polices can be gamed. He points to strategies that colleges use to reduce the number of student loan defaults within the three year period that the government monitors. These strategies don’t reduce the overall default rate and result in higher student debt loads, but they let the colleges look better in the metrics of accountability.
- Unclear connections. This one is actually closely linked to the problems with assessment. If a third grade teacher, who is the only teacher in class, has students who consistently underperform, one might reasonably infer that there is some link between the teacher’s performance and the students’ underperformance. In a university, where students study under dozens of different faculty in different departments, it’s difficult to identify the source of student failings or successes.
- Politics as usual. Colleges that should be held accountable for their failings often avoid the consequences of the accountability project because they have political pull.