[lbo-talk] Fighting NCLB, etc.

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Fri Apr 16 08:21:41 PDT 2010


Alan Rudy wrote:
> Miles,
>
> I'm still not following. In a world where public institutions are under
> deep fiscal stress, the kinds of efficiency being demanded by those pushing
> for accountability and testing does two things... it provides metrics for
> the explicitly anti-quasi-socialist people running such institutions to
> measure who is most efficient, discipline those who are less efficient and
> intensify and speed-up the demands made on employees.
>
> The problem as every critique of progressive scientism has pointed out is
> that the definition of efficiency is fundamentally flawed. The kinds of
> programs you are accepting define efficiency in short-term fiscal and
> financial terms and measure them by deeply flawed metrics.
>
Then I'm not making myself clear. I wholeheartedly reject the idea that we should define efficiency in short-term fiscal and financial terms and use deeply flawed metrics. What I am arguing is that using resources effectively in a public institution contributes to the public good. Good assessment--not the poor practices you're excoriating--will help us more effectively carry out the mission of our public colleges and help our students learn.

--Let me give you an example. I work at a community college (my PSU email address is the result of a long-term part-time teaching gig there). Based on assessment data, we're developing a first-year experience program to help first generation college students transition from pre-college courses to college courses and successfully complete their AA degree. From the university perspective, I know getting a 2-year degree may not sound like much, but that 2-year degree will positively impact the lives of these students. Moreover, given that these students are mostly from socially disadvantaged groups, the program will allow us to allocate state resources to support the goals of social justice and social equity. (Socialist redistribution! Quick! Somebody alert Beck!)

See? Assessment doesn't have to be some nefarious scheme to waste faculty time and privatize public institutions! It depends on how we do it and how the data are used. I agree that we need to carefully monitor this assessment work and make sure it's meaningful; however, rejecting it in toto is rejecting an institutional tool that we can use to help build a more humane society.

Miles



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list