Page 54 - EW April 2021

International News

UNITED STATES ity,” he says, adding that alumni are also more likely to make
Critical alumni role philanthropic donations if the institution is in the hands

of other alumni because “they know that the funds will be
well spent”.

End of public exams?

O THE DELIGHT OF CAMPAIGNERS AND SOME
parents, Covid-19 has de-popularised school-leaving
Texams. With support from the Trump administra-
tion, all 50 states cancelled accountability testing last
March, freeing 51 million public (government) school pu-
pils from the annual rigmarole. The SATS optional essay-
writing section and separate subject tests were discontin-
ued this year. The Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), an exam measuring the academic per-
formance of OECD member countries, and the National
Harvard University: alumni governance pioneer Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a nationwide
exam administered to a sample of American pupils, have
WHY ARE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES PRE- been postponed as well. With opposition building for years
EMINENT in global higher education? Previous against standardised testing in public schools, could this
explanations have included the country’s massive be the end?
economy, its enormous budget for scientific research and On February 22, the Biden administration said exams
its history of immigration. But a scholar suggests that the had to be held, but results would not be used to grade
answer could be something more prosaic: the fact that they schools. Ordinarily, the federal government obliges states to
are governed largely by their alumni. hold public schools accountable for their pupils’ test scores.
Shailendra Raj Mehta, president and director of Mica, Schools with poor results may see their budgets reduced,
an Ahmedabad (India)-based higher education institution as part of that exchange of exam results for dollars. Some
specialising in strategic marketing and communication re- states and districts have used poor results to close schools
searched the members of governing boards at leader private and fire teachers. Teachers in tough places often think this is
and public US universities and found that the majority are unfair. And Covid-19 has strengthened the point that much
predominantly made up of alumni, while several consist of what goes into a test score is, frankly, well beyond the
entirely of former students. control of teachers.
Mehta argues this is why older institutions have man- However, the Fordham Institute in a recent report warns
aged to sustain excellence over long periods of time and why that abandoning testing could be disastrous. Cancelling
newer universities build prestige quickly. Higher-ranked tests again would make it hard to know how schools fared
universities and institutions with bigger endowments gen- during the pandemic. “I would personally be in favour of
erally have a larger share of alumni on their boards, accord- more effort to get as many kids as possible tested, so that
ing to the research presented at a webinar organised by the we know what is going on,” says Cory Koedel, who co-wrote
Centre for Global Higher Education on March 2. the report. “I think some kids are probably doing ok. And
Prof. Mehta says the alumni governance model was some kids are doing really terrible. And I don’t think we
pioneered by Harvard University in 1865 as a way for the know exactly who’s who.”
institution to regain control after being managed by the leg- Others disagree. Derek Briggs of the University of Colo-
islature of the state of Massachusetts. Within ten years, its rado Boulder’s School of Education questions the benefit
endowment tripled, and it tripled again in the subsequent of testing students during these trying times. “Isn’t it rea-
two decades, he adds. sonable to assume that every student has had a suboptimal
“This is important because the control of Harvard has learning experience?… All students are going to need some
rested securely in the hands of those who know most about serious help over the next year to make up for what’s been
it and care most about it — viz, its alumni,” he says. “By con- a pretty tough year and a half,” he says.
trast, the other models of governance for universities — viz, That thought delights parents and teachers who have
control by the state, control by trusts, control by faculty and been waging war against standardised exams for years. The
control by the market – are all fraught with peril.” Opt Out movement gained national attention in 2015 when
“The prestige of the university directly reflects on its New York State participation dropped by 20 percentage
alumni. Conversely, no body of individuals is affected more points because families refused the exams. Thirteen states
directly than alumni if the university slides down in qual- received warning letters from the Obama administration

56 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2021