Bobbing for Bad Apples
Accreditation, Quantitative Performance Measures, and the Identification of Low-Performing Colleges
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9009601 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Klasik (0000-0003-4038-155X, George Washington University, corresponding author), Ethan Hutt (0000-0002-4044-3506, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 427-461 |
| Publication date | 2018-10-15 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-1546 • E-ISSN: 1538-4640 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00221546.2018.1512804 |
| OpenAlex | W2896437754 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 24 |
Recent trends in higher education (rising debt, school closures, increasing tuition) have increased interest in improving accountability and oversight in U.S. higher education beyond current accreditation practices. Common solutions include using quantitative measures like graduation and default rates to benchmark performance. Using historical data on accreditation actions, we compare the performance of a hypothetical quantitative evaluation system to contemporary accreditation standards in identifying low-performing schools. We find first that schools facing accreditation sanctions are, on average, also low performing on the quantitative outcomes we consider. However, if we use this average performance as a benchmark to identify other low-performing schools, then a substantial portion of the higher education sector would be implicated. These results raise questions about the capacity of a purely quantitative evaluation system to narrowly identify low-performing schools. We conclude with a discussion of the issues concerning data, equity, and other considerations for higher education accountability moving forward
Accountability · Accreditation · Actuarial science · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Equity (law · Graduation (instrument · Higher education · Identification (biology · Political science · Sanctions · Accounting · Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance · Engineering · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Higher Education Research Studies
The Measure of Merit
Measuring the Performance of the Hollow State
Information, School Choice, and Academic Achievement
School Accountability
Assessing the impact of planned social change
Called to Account
Trust in Numbers
Accountability in Higher Education
Performance Funding for Higher Education
Public University Accountability to the State in the Late Twentieth Century
Accountability in US Education
Cents and Sensibility
Accounting for Rationality
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2024 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |