UPenn Vice-Provost Encourages More Tests But There is a Rub.

Prof Emanuel, Vice Provost and Professor at the Univ. of Penn., has a nice article on testing in The New Republic http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114793/american-schools-need-more-testing-not-less  He has a good idea.  But will it really be testing when put into practice?  I directed his readers to my article.  Here is what I wrote.

“As someone who taught mathematics for many years at an “elite” university, I thank Prof. Emanuel for speaking out.  But here is the rub:  many administrators are loathe to make their “customers” “eat their broccoli”, no matter how important it is for the students and their education.  They will put tremendous pressure on faculty – especially untenured faculty – to provide students with “content deflation” and faux tests. (in a way that the students don’t recognize, but in a way  the faculty and administrators should recognize) This is especially true in STEM fields where content deflation encourages more majors and graduates (read more revenue and higher US NEWS rankings) but worse engineers.

I have documented just how bad this administrative (and sometimes professorial) drive to the lowest common denominator can be in an article A Tale Out of School – A Case Study in Higher Education on my blog www.inside-higher-ed.com“