Reauthorization of the Federal Higher Education Act and Accountability for Student Learning: The Dog that Didn’t Bark

An important feature of President George W. Bush's education policy was the promotion of accountability by requiring the collection and dissemination of data on student learning outcomes. In the case of primary-secondary education, this resulted in the No Child Left Behind act. When the Departm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Publius 2009-07, Vol.39 (3), p.506-526
Main Author: Lowry, Robert C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Accountability
Associations
Associations, institutions, etc
Bills
Central government
Central-local government relations
Colleges
Education
Education policy
Educational Policy
Federal states
Government
Higher Education
Higher Education Act
Institutions
Interest Groups
Learning
No Child Left Behind Act
Outcomes of education
Oversight
Political aspects
Societies
State colleges
State government
U.S.A
United States of America
Universities
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Summary:An important feature of President George W. Bush's education policy was the promotion of accountability by requiring the collection and dissemination of data on student learning outcomes. In the case of primary-secondary education, this resulted in the No Child Left Behind act. When the Department of Education sought to initiate a rulemaking on measuring student achievement in postsecondary institutions, this was rebuffed by Congress in 2007 and then further precluded in the 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This difference in outcomes reflects differences in policy issues, institutional relationships between federal, state and private actors, and interest group communities. As a result, explanations for the expansion of federal authority under No Child Left Behind do not necessarily transfer to postsecondary education.
ISSN:0048-5950
1747-7107
DOI:10.1093/publius/pjp010