6 Ways Neoliberal Education Reform May Be Destroying a College Near You

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/education/6-ways-neoliberal-education-reform-may-be-destroying-college-near-you



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1) Misdiagnosing the root problems.

While peddling the massive reforms of Race to the Top, the administration convinced America of an ailment called “failing schools.” Arne Duncan warned that our students were “treading water” in international assessments. He lamented, “Too many administrators are unwilling to close failing schools.” At the center of this morass were “ ineffective teachers,” coddled by tenure and free from all accountability.

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2) Pushing accountability through perks and penalties.

In 2005, a pair of MIT professors and their colleagues designed some experiments to determine how monetary incentives influence decision-making. They had participants play cognitively demanding games with rewards for top performers. In the US experiments, undergraduate guinea pigs could win a weekend’s drinking allowance, about $50.

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3) Gaming the ratings.

There’s ample evidence that these accountability measures will fall short of stated aims. But what’s more, there’s reason to believe they’ll actively muck things up.


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4) "Saving" schools by sacrificing students.

Data-driven measures can distort school systems in more insidious ways, though. If the leading indicator for colleges is graduation rate, it’s likely some fudging and manipulation will result. Low-income students and students of color, who historically graduate at lower rates than their white and more affluent peers, will likely see fewer acceptance letters every spring.

[BelgianMadCow]

1. Just read "Not for profit" by Martha Nussbaum

about the exact same subject. Thanks for posting, I use these things to keep my better half on edge about creeping neoliberalism (she heads a college department).

[Enthusiast]

2. You mean the President has not

canned Arne Duncan and his failed education policy yet?

I would have thought by now even slow learning President Obama would have got the message by now.

[KamaAina]

3. Add students with disabilities to this list

Low-income students and students of color, who historically graduate at lower rates than their white and more affluent peers, will likely see fewer acceptance letters every spring.

Research shows that, thanks to IDEA, retention rates for students with disabilities closely track those of all students up through twelfth grade. After that, the general population's path continues tracking downward in a straight line, while ours falls off a cliff.