On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:21 AM, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> 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
>
>
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>
-- ********************************************************* Alan P. Rudy Dept. Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work Central Michigan University 124 Anspach Hall Mt Pleasant, MI 48858 517-881-6319