Accountability, Assessment and Doctoral Education: recommendations for moving forward |
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| Authors: | RACHELLE L BROOKS & DONNA HEILAND |
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| Institution: | Evanston, IL., United States; The Teagle Foundation, New York, United States |
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| Abstract: | This article opens with an overview of the pressures that have led to heightened calls for accountability in higher education, both in the US and Europe. Noting that doctoral programmes have, to date, drawn minimal attention in the accountability debates, the authors note that these programmes cannot stay forever on the sidelines. Drawing on their knowledge of the American context in particular, the authors go on to outline current efforts to assess the quality of doctoral programmes in the US with attention to how these efforts respond to accountability demands. They urge the higher education community to re-shape the accountability discussion, shifting its centre from government to higher education and the institutions training doctoral students who will become faculty. Crucially, they argue that graduate programmes should train doctoral students to undertake and use discipline-appropriate assessment measurement and scholarship as part of their future work as college and university instructors. If doctoral students emerge as faculty with an understanding of how to conduct assessments for the purpose of improving student learning, they will advance not only their fields, but higher education more generally. |
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