Association of American Colleges and Universities
October 2002
Subtitled "a new vision for learning as a nation goes to college," this report from the Association of American Colleges and Universities contains a generous portion of bad advice for American higher education. Though aimed at an important, worrisome target - why do so many matriculants not make it through college? - it offers a misguided agenda for postsecondary reform that would do considerable damage to traditional standards and concepts of liberal learning. It pushes way too hard for colleges to emphasize relevance, group-work, diversity as an end in itself, globalism, premature "practicality" (e.g. "orienteering" instead of geography), a weird mix of non-judgmentalism and moralizing, and "respect for&intuition and feeling, as well as thinking." Ugh. The blue ribbon panel that produced this dog's breakfast (chaired by National Science Foundation education chief Judith Ramaley) does, however, have two good ideas: greater alignment of high school exit and college entrance expectations, and more emphasis on assessment of student learning while in college. Forget the rest. Should you want one, you can get a copy at http://www.greaterexpectations.org/pdf/GEX.FINAL.pdf.
