The Online Degree Dorm Room

Engineering degree online: No Child Left Behind…in College?? - Part 1

Posted by bposton on October 21st, 2006 — Posted in engineering degree online

There have been a few news report in the past few days about how the government is trying to making colleges more accountable in how they educate their students.

I’ve been following this as best I can, but to sum up some of the opinions about this I thought I’d share with you a quote from an article I saw the other day from Eugene Hickok, who is a fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

He was also a deputy secretary of education during President Bush’s first term, so I think he knows a little about what he’s talking about

Note - this is a pretty long quote, so to save my fingers I’m gonna break it up in to 3 separate posts today.

Here’s part 1 of what he had to say:

” Like it or not, the No Child Left Behind Act passed under President Bush has transformed the conversation about American public education. The law has its flaws, but the nation has benefited from its focus on results and its willingness to confront gaps in educational achievement.
Now the administration has extended the discussion into what has long been considered sacred ground in Washington politics: higher education. Recent studies have highlighted higher education’s skyrocketing costs, uneven quality and poor graduation rates. Even more disturbing are reports that reading competency and comprehension are declining among college graduates — as if there should be any question about the reading skills of people with college degrees.
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has addressed these and other concerns by embracing reforms that could strengthen higher education and improve access and opportunities for America’s students. Among her commission’s recommendations are heightening fiscal and academic accountability, improving access to financial aid and assembling accurate data on the performance of students and institutions.
While no one seems to be saying that No Child Left Behind policies should be applied to the country’s colleges and universities, it does make sense to consider how some of the program’s underlying principles might help to ensure that higher education in America remains higher education. A college degree provides Americans with a competitive edge on the job market. But what is coming under increasing scrutiny is whether a college degree is truly proof of a college education. It is time for colleges to develop
accurate measures of student achievement, and of the value institutions of higher education provide.”
Eugene Hickok, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, was a deputy secretary of education during President Bush’s first term.

Part 2 of 3 is coming later today…