May 21, 2008

U.S. Should Look to Europe in Quest for Accountability, Report Says

A new report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy argues that the United States, in its quest for accountability in academe, could learn a lot from its neighbors in Europe.

The report, “The Bologna Club: What U.S. Higher Education Can Learn From a Decade of European Reconstruction,” examines in detail the efforts of 49 European nations to harmonize their higher-education systems. The report was written by Clifford Adelman, a former research analyst at the U.S. Department of Education who is now a senior associate at the institute.

Mr. Adelman argues that the Bologna Process, as this decade-long effort is known, offers some common-sense solutions to the struggle to define what students should be learning and to create a better pathway through the higher-education system.

He notes that while public attention has focused mainly on Europe’s development of a new cycle of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees that looks similar to our own, less obvious is the success some countries have had in clarifying the purpose of each degree, and of keeping people within the system. A vast majority of college students in Switzerland and Germany, for example, proceed to earn master’s degrees as well.

A number of European systems provide what Mr. Adelman calls intermediate credentials — akin to associate degrees in the United States — on the path toward bachelor’s degrees. The United States should look positively at the seamlessness of that system, he argues.

The report praises European efforts to define what students should learn at each step along the way: “a statement of learning outcomes and competencies a student must demonstrate in order for a degree at a specific level to be awarded.”

“This is a form of accountability,” Mr. Adelman writes, “worth our serious consideration.”

He is careful, though, to note the difficulties Europe has faced in carrying out those reforms. Only seven countries involved in the Bologna Process have completed national “frameworks” through which it defines those desired learning outcomes.

Mr. Adelman argues that Europe seems to have a more intuitive and sensible approach to defining learning outcomes, as it focuses less on measuring face time with professors than it does on gauging student workload.

“Our primary story,” he writes of the report’s purpose, “is about providing students with clear indications of what their paths through higher education look like, what levels of knowledge and skills will qualify them for degree awards, and what their degrees mean. These are road signs that are sorely lacking now.” —Beth McMurtrie

Comments

1. It’s not really called the “Bologna process,” is it? We’ve got plenty of those already.

   — UpInMichigan    May 21, 04:09 PM    #

2. Bologna likely refers to either the oldest-or among the oldest-universities in the Western World.

   — AMT    May 21, 04:18 PM    #

3. Kudos to Cliff Adelman for
   preparing this report!

   — clara m. lovett    May 21, 04:30 PM    #

4. The irony is that on the Continent the Bologna Process is considered to be a move toward the “Anglo-Saxon” model, especially the English 3-year degree. Given our long experience with articulation and transfer, we are already far closer to compatible courses than Europe. Friends in Europe say they are honoring Bologna more in the breach than reality.

   — Bruce Leslie    May 21, 04:43 PM    #

5. Yes, seconding the comments of #4. Some of the European reconstruction is based on studies of what’s right with US higher ed. Also, as the article sort of notes, the reality of the Bologna process is spotty, with some countries finding it a good fit with the existing culture and getting good traction, and others struggling to even have basic institutional numerical measures (like enrollment or demographics) let alone individual outcomes measures.

   — HIED doc    May 21, 05:19 PM    #

6. Ah I see, America should learn from what Europeans have learned from America. Bravo! This makes absolute sense to we who sense the absolute.

   — marcii    May 21, 06:14 PM    #

7. “…the success some countries have had in clarifying the purpose of each degree, and of keeping people within the system. A vast majority of college students in Switzerland and Germany, for example, proceed to earn master’s degrees as well.”

   Yes, and if American universities had free or heavily subsidized tuition for all our students, I am sure we could keep them in the system AND many would go on to earn master’s degrees too.

   — an observer    May 22, 05:55 AM    #

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