February 13, 2011

Scholars Question New Book's Gloom on Education

Doubts are raised about study behind 'Academically Adrift'

Scholars of Education Question the Limits of 'Academically Adrift' 1

David Zentz for The Chronicle

Students at California State Polytechnic U. at Pomona take the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which is central to the Academically Adrift study. Some scholars like the test, but others find it seriously flawed.

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close Scholars of Education Question the Limits of 'Academically Adrift' 1

David Zentz for The Chronicle

Students at California State Polytechnic U. at Pomona take the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which is central to the Academically Adrift study. Some scholars like the test, but others find it seriously flawed.

By David Glenn

It has been a busy month for Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. In mid-January, the University of Chicago Press published their gloomy account of the quality of undergraduate education, Academi­cally Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. 

Since then the two sociologists have been through a torrent of radio interviews and public lectures. In the first days after the book's release, they had to handle a certain amount of breathless

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