Academic standards

Academic standards are the benchmarks of quality and excellence in education such as the rigour of curricula and the difficulty of examinations.[1] The extension of higher education to an increasingly large proportion of the population has led to concern that this has resulted in dilution of the academic elite and so caused a lowering of academic standards.[2]

Contents

UK

In the UK, standards are maintained by inspection by bodies such as the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). The Dearing Report considered the matter in 1997 and recommended that benchmarking be used to measure and improve academic standards in higher education.[3]

USA

In the USA, regulation is at state level by bodies such as the Standards and Assessment Division of the Arizona Department of Education.

See also

References

  1. ^ Philip Adey, Michael Shayer, Really raising standards, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VGopGkTxmLkC&pg=PA1 
  2. ^ Martin Trow (13 Aug 2007), "Academic Standards and Mass Higher Education", Higher Education Quarterly 41 (3): 268–292 
  3. ^ Mantz Yorke, "Benchmarking Academic Standards in the UK", Tertiary Education and Management 5 (1): 79–94, doi:10.1023/A:1018753222965, http://www.springerlink.com/content/r350566m3xqh553p/