Hungry for Truth, Peace and Justice

USA: Obama’s Accreditation Reforms on Higher Education

HOW ACCREDITATION WORKS NOW

• A well-articulated mission that guides the entire institution’s operations
• Integrity and responsibility in the administration of the institution
• High-quality education, guided by well-articulated goals
• Sufficient faculty, staff and resources to ensure a high-quality education
• Sufficient student support, in terms of infrastructure, technology, advising and guidance to ensure a high-quality education
• A well-functioning continuous improvement system of evaluation and assessment of teaching and learning
• Sufficient institutional resources and planning to ensure effective education

• A clear mission and plan for governing and administering the program fairly and effectively
• Curriculum that teaches core competencies and values to enable students to develop requisite knowledge and succeed in the field
• Diversity is fostered and the program is inclusive
• Sufficient faculty are employed to achieve the unit’s mission for teaching
• Faculty do scholarly research and engage in professional activities that contribute to advancement of the field
• Sufficient services are provided to ensure students complete the program in a timely fashion
• Sufficient resources are employed to achieve the unit’s mission
• Faculty engage in public service for the alumni and community
• Ongoing assessment and continuous improvement are woven into the program

OBAMA’S PROPOSAL TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY

1. Reward Efficient Schools-
   Building on the requirements for financial responsibility, the President’s new accreditation plan takes the process a step further. The initiative would tie a school’s access to federal aid programs to its capability to provide an affordable and complete education. Criteria the administration has already identified as relevant to this determination may be found on the College Scorecard; the scorecard ranks schools and programs on graduation rates, costs, average amount borrowed, employment and student loan default rates.
   This plan to hold institutions of higher education more accountable is part of thePresident’s plan to strengthen the middle class.
   President Obama believes that this starts early – in preschool; studies have shown, in fact, that spending dollars on education early in life saves money in the long run. Acknowledging that most American four-year-olds do not attend a high-quality, free, public preschool, and only 10 states and Washington, D.C. provide free, full-day kindergarten, the President has proposed programs to provide this early education for low, moderate and middle-income children.
   Later in the education process, the President believes that we have not been adequately preparing students with the skills they need to obtain the available, high-quality jobs. It was recently reported that in 2012, nearly 600,000 high-quality manufacturing jobs went unfilled because unemployed workers lacked the skills to do them. To eliminate this discrepancy, the President has proposed that we fund a program to create a STEM Master Teacher Corps to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education in the public schools.
   The President has also proposed modernizing high schools with real-world learning through partnerships with employers and colleges to offer more vocational, technical and career opportunities.
2. Reform Immigration Policies-
   Another piece of the President’s plan involves common sense immigration reform. Today’s system of uneven enforcement effectively allows companies to hire undocumented workers at low wages. This pulls down wages for everybody and hurts the employment opportunities of legal residents.
   While at the high end of the employment spectrum, complex immigration requirements prevent necessary talent from entering and remaining in the U.S. to work. These hurdles often cause high-tech businesses to move part or all of their operations overseas – depriving Uncle Sam of necessary jobs and revenue. The President proposes we crack down on the hiring of undocumented workers, strengthen border security, establish a path to citizenship for millions of hard-working immigrants and streamline the immigration process for workers and families, particularly those with the high-level skills our economy needs.
3. Prioritize Veteran Reintegration-
   Finally, the President has again called for strong action to help our veterans reintegrate into American society. Wounded veterans need to have better access to physical and mental health care and military families need stronger support. In particular, programs which help veterans obtain sustainable, fulfilling employment need to be bolstered, perhaps with tax credits and public-private partnerships. Shamefully, the unemployment rate among veterans who served since 2001 was 9.9% in 2012 – 46% higher than the average unemployment rate for all Americans, which was only 6.8%.

posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 11:40 AM