Higher Education Trends 2014

The Obama administration, state governments, and foundation funders are all pressuring colleges to shrink the time it takes for students to graduate. Two strategies that has gained attention: advancing students based on mastery, and giving students credit for work experience. 

Competency-based learning–  works best online. Students move through course material at their own pace, their test scores—not time in class—determining how quickly they move through the material. At Western Governors’ University, an online institution that pioneered this structure almost 20 years ago, students earn bachelor’s degrees two years faster than the national average. This year, the University of Wisconsin system started offering a competency-based option.

Prior learning assessment– whereby students get college credit for on-the job and military training, volunteer experience, and hobbies. Credit is usually granted through placement tests, assessments of student portfolios, or according to the American Council on Education’s recommendations. Some employers and colleges—like Starbucks and City University of Seattle—have struck up partnerships that allow employees to earn college credit for workplace training

Teacher Effectiveness

As policymakers move toward rewarding teachers for the quality of their teaching, not for factors like whether an educator holds an advanced degree, districts have to get better at assessing teacher performance. The big debate now is how closely teacher evaluations should be tied to student test performance and how closely they’re tied to teachers’ job security.

Data Privacy Concerns

This year saw the beginnings of a backlash over the collection and storage of student data, including grades, contact information, and disciplinary records.  A recent Fordham University study found that most contracts between school districts and Web-based services lack privacy protections.

Schools and colleges have data-driven software to help them track student progress. Proponents of data collection and analysis point out that federal and some state laws limit how children’s educational records can be shared. But a whole lot of parents don’t trust the government to keep data secure, or don’t trust corporations not to abuse access to information about how individual minds work.

The American Federation of Teachers believes that a recent union contract in New Haven, Conn., could show a move forward . Teachers, not algorithms, set learning targets. Teachers are assessed based on classroom observation, principal reviews, and student test scores, and are given a full year’s worth of support to improve their practice if they aren’t performing well.

Teacher recruitment matter. In 2014, expect to hear more calls for teachers who reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of students and debate over alternative teacher-training programs, particularly those aligned with charter networks.