Accountability Measures

Subtitled, "States rely on new "data systems" to track institutional success and student outcomes," this author concludes that it does not require "new ways of doing things" for states to do a better job of collecting data about institutional performance—models that work exist right now, they're just not widely distributed. More institutions are using what some call information analytics:

What state accountability systems don't tend to do is the one and only thing that accountability systems are ultimately for: improve colleges and universities on behalf of students and the public at large. This we know because affordability is declining, graduation rates are stagnant, and the few indicators of college student learning we can find, such as the National Assessment of Adult Literacy, are so terrifying (most college graduates aren't proficient on a test of prose literacy) that we all but pretend they don't exist.

Fortunately, there are reasons to be optimistic. While most states are not gathering useful information about teaching and learning in higher education, some are. While most states do not use the information they gather to create real incentives for institutional change, some do. If every state did nothing but adopt the best practices that already exist elsewhere, higher education accountability in America would be greatly improved. This possibility is further enhanced by the single biggest difference between 1986 and the present: the explosion in availability of inexpensive, timely and reliable information.