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The Politics of Pedagogy: Retaining faculty authority for curriculum despite state /national impositions. Janet Fulks, ASCCC North Representative Jane Patton, ASCCC Vice President Chuck Wiseley, Chancellor’s Office. Federal Issues in Higher Education. Action : Attacks on accreditation
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The Politics of Pedagogy: Retaining faculty authority for curriculum despite state /national impositions Janet Fulks, ASCCC North Representative Jane Patton, ASCCC Vice President Chuck Wiseley, Chancellor’s Office
Federal Issues in Higher Education • Action: Attacks on accreditation • Effect: Discrediting accreditation • Action: Intrusive U.S. Dept. of Education • Effect:3rd party Testing • Effect: Implementation of Perkins
Higher Education Act • Intention of the law • to strengthen the educational resources • to provide financial assistance for students • Includes recognition standards for accreditation
Accreditation • The issues • What’s in our best interest • What is not in our best interest
Perkins • What it is • Our concerns • What could be next
External ( 3rd party) Testing • What is is • Issues for higher education
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 ‘‘(a) LOCAL CONTROL.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize an officer or employee of the Federal Government to mandate, direct, or control a State, local educational agency, or school’s curriculum, program of instruction, or allocation of State or local resources…”
U.S. Dept. of Ed. • “GPA will probably not be accepted by the department for technical skill attainment” • “Congress no longer trusts faculty assessment of student learning as an indicator of student achievement” (USDE administrator) • USDE doesn’t trust educators to control curriculum and assess learning
U.S. Dept. of Ed: “adequate assessment” includes: • Technical skill assessments • external, third-party agencies to assess national or state-identified standards State developed • National, state, or industry-developed credentialing or licensing exams • to control entry into a profession • Standardized statewide assessments of technical skills • created by state administrators for local agency use
U.S. Dept. of Ed: “adequate assessment” includes: • National/international credentialing or certification exams • e.g., ASE certification • State credentialing or licensing exam • e.g., cosmetology • Industry developed exam for occupations/specialties • e.g., Certified ExecutiveChef • Third party exam measuring technical skills • e.g., NOCTI
Implications and Concerns • 3rd party testing will become accountability for everything • Perkins is a vulnerable place to start
The effect of 3rd party testing on the institution: Limited summative information, therefore: • No improvement to the classroom • No contribution to student development • Added expense, time and administration
The effect of 3rd party testing on curriculum: Curriculum must change to the testing criteria • Loss of locally identified criteria • Loss of skills training as a measure • Homogenization • Loss of currency • Lack of local considerations • See ETS plans to drive alignment
The effect of 3rd party testing on the individual: Single type of measure • Unfair to students • WYMIWYG Testing decreases class time and costs Inaccurate scoring Racial and test bias (see NY Times articles)
Discussion Identify strengths & weaknesses of: • Accreditation • 3rd party testing
Effects of federal intrusion • Diminished Academic Freedom • Loss of faculty control of curriculum; disenfranchised faculty • Driving curriculum to meet external standards • “Corporatization” of higher education • Others?
Forging Alliances for Action • What can we do? • Local level • State level • National level • What alliances should we build?
We are not alone - H.R.4305Improving Student Testing Act of 2007 (Introduced in House) Elementary & Secondary Education (6) Multiple measures (7) Frequency of using high-quality assessments (8) design innovative State assessment systems • valid and reliable high-quality assessments • teacher-designed formative assessments • performance-based assessments • portfolio assessments (9) providing additional resources for States to encourage the use of more than high stakes standardized testing in making key decisions about students and schools • including accountability determinations, • student promotion and retention decisions • school funding decisions.
How do faculty retain the essential curricular autonomy to guarantee the quality assurance that we know depends on faculty?