Measuring educational value

Today one of the topics again was about the rating system in "The President's Plan" for Higher Education in the USA. For now, a "black box" to be opened next year. Before the start of the US 2015 school year these college ratings will be published. The states, funding public colleges, will be challenged to base their funding on these rates as they should represent the performance of the public colleges. So this is where financial student aid or state funding gets to be tied to college performance. Quit a complex issue.... Especially as it is almost impossible to define "data"  and build a matrix of the value of education.

Of course as education plays its own important role in society, and as it is receiving public funding, the performance of public institutions gets a lot of attention. But again: how to measure educational value? Data based upon past results....tied to funding raises a lot of questions. One of these questions could be: how ratings, based on past results, can lead to NEW practice. As research professor Sandy Baum mentioned to us when she quoted Albert Einstein: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Improving quality of education while cutting costs is a difficult game to play and is becoming "old practice" that has reached its limits.

A second question that could be raised on the topic of measuring the value of education is: how big is the risk that these ratings will  harm those Community Colleges that do a great job but might work in a complex community with difficult problems that also are of influence to the results of students? How can ratings help these valuable Community Colleges to "perform better" if funding is dropping? 

To quote Alberrt Einstein once again: "imagination is more important than knowledge". What if... We start imagining what we want the world to be like, and how education can contribute to that. How about getting excited about what it could be, how we can make it even better? Why not think BIG? Some nice new ideas could come from that?

What if... instead of doing the math based on old data we try picturing an "educational ambition": what position do you want Community Colleges to have, what should their contribution to individual students and society be? How can Community Colleges "make it a better world" (proudly quoting one of the ambitions of the University I work for). And what indicators could you use to indicate that an institute is heading into the right direction? How about helping institutions that need support, to face their most difficult challenges in their communities?

In fact, I guess most of the people working in education are used to thinking like this. Well... Let's  remember that, let's remember why we became educators... and build on that... We can't let go of our dreams and we can certainly talk a bit louder about our results, and of our great ability to contribute to our (local) society. Scott Jaschik of "Inside Higher Ed" reminded our studygroup about that this morning. The Community Colleges are doing great work and we can be proud about that. Get the story out there... Let's get loud!

Have a good night and wonderfull dreams!