I’m surprised that so many people thought the data on US college grads was not representative of the job we are doing. I find the letters that the author answered interesting in themselves.
More on American Colleges’ Standing in the World – NYTimes.com.
In any case, this is what I wrote.
Though I have taught statistics and believe in its value (I’m a former math professor.), I don’t think much data is necessary when it comes to assessing higher ed in America. Just go inside enough universities (It won’t take many, and it won’t matter how “elite”.), and you will come out quoting Bob Dylan,
“It don’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
Here is just some of what I have seen. (For details, see my blog inside-higher-ed .)
– A student who couldn’t do a standard, calculus problem (among other things) get a PhD under a “national need” grant.
– A professor at a regional state school admit that, after five years of teaching a course, he could now tell when the homework was wrong, but not always tell what was wrong. This professor wasn’t alone. I wonder where they all got their doctorates. (See my blog for the stories.)
– The math Chair and the Engineering deans at an “elite” school pressure me to make a critical engineering course a “cookbook” course. (The type of course where the students can brag that they made an A, feel smart, and not be able to do MIT level problems at all, problems my class was doing regularly.) The reason they wanted the course changed? A Dean of Academic Integrity told me he didn’t want to “discourage” students. He said that after I wrote him that students who cheated on the homework didn’t do well on the test. He told me he wanted “retention”.
American higher education is rife with this sort of thing.
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