Matters Affecting Higher Education in the United States

Matters Affecting Higher Education in the United States

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Matters Affecting Higher Education in the United States

The article, Assessing the Need for Graduate Global Education Programs in the United States, evaluates the need of global education in America based on the importance they pose. Accordingly, Bista and Saleh (2014) view this form of education as considerably significant in supplementing the learning experiences of students within higher education establishments such as colleges and universities. In overview, the failure of the United States to teach its learners on a global level threatens the nation’s ability to succeed within an international economy and environment. Hence, the calls for global education are based on the current needs of students to comprehend the global economy, environment, and culture. In addition, globalization also presents international education as a viable option for respective institutions to implement based on its relationship with other impacts such as changing educational trends, immigration, and technology.

In the second article, The Current State of Assessment Education: Aligning Policy, Standards, and Teacher Education Curriculum, DeLuca and Bellara (2013) focuses on student assessment and the implications posed by the alignment of educational standards, policies, and curricula. Despite of the significance that student assessment assumes in the context of accountability within the American public education system, the article reveals the probability of sluggish performance in learner evaluation among beginning teachers. As such, discrepancies within the overall public education system have been linked to insufficient student assessment by starting teachers. However, the impending issue cannot be solely blamed on the incompetence of teachers. Indeed, the study also illustrates the relationship of policies, standards, and course curricula with incompetent teacher assessment. Alignment and misalignment within these aspects of the American public education system also account for ineptitude among teachers in relation to student assessment.

The third article, Developmental Education Policy and Practice: Claiming our Seat and Voice at the Table, examines the change in the policy landscape of higher education and the effect it inflicts on students and the faculty. In overview, Neuburger, Goosen, and Barry (2013) look at the dull involvement of the faculty in assisting changes in policy. For them, this inactivity has resulted in the establishment of regulations and guidelines that fail to meet the needs of the students and the institutions considerably. Adding on, the article also establishes the importance that faculty assumes in determining the success of organizations of higher learning, specifically in relation to developmental education. By being capable of understanding the student environment on a comprehensive level, faculty can be highly productive in ensuring that the challenges facing developmental education are mitigated and minimized in an evolving higher learning terrain.

The general idea presented in the fourth article, Dartmouth’s Beloved Drinking Game Embodies Everything Edifying and Horrifying about Campus Life, illustrates the extent to which alcoholism is affecting the lives of campus students in numerous American colleges and universities. Using Dartmouth College, Jones and Nazaryan (2014) discuss the damning impacts of binge drinking on the students and the reputation of colleges and universities in the United States. In overview, the consumption of alcohol in most institutions of higher learning has become a significant problem in this contemporary age. With rates of sexual assault increasing in most of these institutions, it is impossible to ignore the degrading nature of America’s colleges and universities. In addition, the increasing nature of sexual assaults maintains a high correlation with increased drunkenness in these institutions further illustrating the detriments of alcoholism and sexual freedom in higher learning organizations.

The last article, Many College Career Centers Don’t Get a Passing Grade, peers into the disproportionate relationship between college students and career centers. In overview, Gaul (2014) looks at the insufficient use of career centers by college students despite the service being provided for their sole benefit. Based on the findings, most students deem the institutions as assistive and beneficial. However, a large number of them fail to utilize the services that these organizations provide in relation to the careers they seek to pursue after clearing campus. Moreover, more students would rather gain a practical sense of the careers they seek to engage in rather than gain rational advice from the career centers.

References

Bista, K., & Saleh, A. (2014). Assessing the need for graduate global education programs in the United States. Journal of International and Global Studies, 5(2), 19-39.

DeLuca, C., & Bellara, A. (2013). The current state of assessment education: Aligning policy, standards, and teacher education curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(4), 356-372.

Gaul, P. (2014, June 8). Many college career centers don’t get a passing grade. ASTD. Retrieved from http://www.astd.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2014/06/Many-College-Career-Centers-Dont-Get-a-Passing-Grade

Jones, A., & Nazaryan, A. (2014, September 11). America’s best and drunkest: Dartmouth’s beloved drinking game embodies everything edifying and horrifying about campus life. Newsweek. Retrieved from http://www.newsweek.com/2014/09/19/americas-best-and-drunkest-269866.html

Neuburger, J., Goosen, R., & Barry, W. J. (2013). Developmental education policy and practice: Claiming our seat – and voice – at the table. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 44(1), 72-79.