Institutional #1
Title: “Why Accreditation Doesn’t Work and What Policy Makers Can Do About It”
Summary: This policy paper seeks to expose the process of accreditation as inefficient, conflicted and a hinderance to the integrity of higher education.
Topic: Accrediting all Schools of Education
Category: Institutional
What is it? A Policy Paper from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Publication Information: American Council of Trustees and Alumni website, July 2007: Washington D.C.
Author: American Council of Trustees and Alumni, Lynne Munson (consultant)
Location: https://www.goacta.org/publications/downloads/Accreditation2007Final.pdf
Accessed: Feb. 8, 2009
Support:
- Congress
- Anne D. Neal, president of ACTA
- Emily Brooker, student at Missouri State University
- President of Missouri Stat University
- Council on Social Work Education
- National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Accreditation
- Adelphi University’s Education School
- New York Sun
- students at Brooklyn College
- Ed Swan, student at Washington State University
- The Secretary of Education
- The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
- Auburn University
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Hank Brown, former Senator
- David Bernstein, law professor at George Mason
- American Bar Association
- The American Law Deans Association
- The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity
- The Education Department Inspector General of 1992
- The Western Association
- David Justice, an administrator at DePaul University
- Campbell University
- Thomas Aquinas College
- President of Stanford University
- Middle States Association
- Lamar Alexander, former Education Secretary
- Dr. Martin Trow, former chairman of NACIQI
- Alan E. Guskin, former chancellor of Antioch College
- Peter Macgrath, former president of the University of Missouri
- The New England Association
- The government
- Jon Westing, former president of Boston University
This policy paper is written with the objective of persuading policy makers that the current accrediting procedures are destructive to higher education. The supporting sources are composed of an array of education authorities, governmental persons as well as journalists. Some of the sources are used to reinforce the author’s beliefs that accreditation assessments are toxic with their own negative critiques. The paper also quotes or cites incidents that express the ideals and actions of the accreditation bodies and those in support of the system. The reference of such statements and actions made by those utilizing the accreditation agencies act as a springboard for criticism in which the policy paper shows the inadequacy of the current assessment system. The strongest feature of the support is the quantity. The number of persons and organizations referenced gives strength to the argument.
Audience and Agenda: ACTA’s quarterly newsletter, Inside Academe can claim 12,000 readers. President of ACTA frequently speaks on behalf of the organization at various colleges and has addressed governmental bodies including the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education. ACTA’s target audience includes trustees, donors, policymakers and alumni. Educational institutions that are directly addressed may also be inclined to access policy papers submitted by this organization. The general public, students in particular, are indirectly targeted as the basis for the organization. ACTA is a non-profit organization that is funded by donations.
Usefulness: The position taken in this policy paper is clearly an opposing one in the topic of accrediting colleges. The paper examines all of the issues taken with accrediting agencies and effect on schools, and, consequently, its students. Many key aspects are analyzed, including funding, motivation, control, standarized criteria, and effectiveness. Instances of disastrous accreditations give life to the accusations the ACTA have put upon the accrediting process. The most valuable portion of the policy paper is on of the “Stories from the front lines” that directly addresses the main accrediting agency for schools of education, The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
Works Cited:
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ACTA’s website: https://www.goacta.org/
