Florida's universities don't need a new standardized test, but they do need help addressing problems that existing accountability measures have identified.
Published June 14, 2003
First state officials decided to use the FCAT as a narrow measure of our public schools' performance. Now they are considering a similar standardized test for Florida's public colleges and universities. For several reasons, the proposed college exit exam makes even less sense than the way the state already is using FCAT.
At best, such a test would be superfluous. Nationally recognized measures of university performance abound, and many of them already indicate that Florida's institutions are struggling. Throwing another measure into the mix won't solve that problem. Instead, the university community should concentrate on crafting a cohesive plan for improvement.
Colleges and universities religiously track such measures as graduate employment rates, graduate school matriculation and performance on professional entrance exams - among many others. Schools and programs also are subjected to rigorous outside accreditation processes that identify specific strengths and weaknesses. Such measures are not foolproof, but they are solid. Even Board of Governors member Steve Uhlfelder, the primary proponent of developing a college assessment exam, acknowledges as much. Existing data, combined with student satisfaction surveys, paint an accurate picture of an institution's effect on student learning.
Maybe Uhlfelder and his allies can come up with a universal test that measures the educational progress of a fine arts major at FSU as well as a computer science major at USF. But Joseph Burke, a former university administrator and an expert on performance assessment, said researchers have tried to develop such tests for years and have repeatedly come up short. "You can't simply take the concept of K through 12 testing and move it to universities," said Burke, director of the Rockefeller Institute's Higher Education Program. A sweeping exam that tests skills gained in college will require at least another decade of research and a lot of money - time and money that Florida's schools and universities could spend in more productive ways.
The testing mania may not be helping students, but many Republican insiders are profiting from it. Neil Bush, the younger brother of President Bush and Gov. Jeb Bush, is the CEO and founder of a company that designs computer software aimed at helping students pass tests such as the FCAT. Other industry officials also have ties to Republican insiders. Uhlfelder's law firm represents the test preparation company Kaplan in K-12 matters and also represents Pearson Education, which administers the FCAT. Uhlfelder said neither company has expressed interest in a potential assessment exam for Florida's college students, and that if they did, he would drop them as clients or remove himself from the debate over the exam.
Uhlfelder should drop this bad idea instead. Our universities need to be accountable, but spending more tax dollars on testing isn't the answer. Accreditation reviews and other existing measures should continue to be used for performance assessment. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the accrediting agency to which Florida's institutions belong, produces lengthy reports cataloguing schools' strengths and targeting areas for improvement - including "evidence that graduates have attained those college-level competencies." Peer assessments of this sort are a good gauge of a university's performance.
Florida universities have not always fared well in accreditation reviews in recent years. SACS put the University of North Florida on probation in January of 2001. USF-St. Petersburg has not yet won separate accreditation from SACS. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education turned down Florida State University's medical school twice before recently offering it provisional accreditation. Many accreditation requests coming out of Florida are now viewed in a questionable light.
This largely stems from a politicized and unstable system of oversight. Gov. Bush dismantled the Board of Regents in 2000, but voters approved a constitutional amendment last November to restore a central governing board for the university system. The new Board of Governors is stocked with Gov. Bush's supporters, many of whom opposed reinstating the board. Since its reincarnation, the board has met only twice and has openly abdicated many of its powers.
Improvement of the university system should start with the board. Uhlfelder, a former regent who supported the board's dissolution, at least shows interest in improving the quality of Florida's universities. The board should follow his lead and start taking its job seriously. When they do meet, however, members shouldn't divert themselves with new exit exams and other irrelevancies. They should instead address problems that already have been identified in great detail.
