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Mala SinghCentre for Higher Education Research and
Information, The Open University, [email protected]
Simple Story LineContemporary higher education is
enveloped in accountability-increased reporting to range of external stakeholders
Evaluation is a policy instrument of accountability-demonstrating compliance
Quality is a code for performance, responsiveness and success in competition
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Feel-good or public good proposal?If accountability demands/evaluation
is here to stay, should Social Justice be included in evaluation systems?
USA and South Africa as examples of systems where this approach has been tried
Extending the scope of evaluation to include SJ-opportunities, limits and dangers
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Contested Issues:What is at stake?What is the measure of excellence in higher education
Who is entitled to define it and judge its achievement-by what means
Who is able to compel its demonstrability
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Social Justice in HE Evaluation Including the historically excluded-
disjunctures between legislation, policies, institutional cultures and practices
Social justice-politics of Recognition? Distribution? Transformation?
Premise-that higher education can contribute to addressing social injustice both directly and indirectly
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Setting the Scene Far-reaching changes to higher education
as learning, research and work settingImpressive massification -globally 51 m
students in PSE in 1980 to 140 m in 2006 (Teichler)
Continuing inequality and exclusion-globally 80% participation rates in HICs and 7% in LICs; nationally US 41% white, 32% black and 24% Hispanic(Altbach); SA 61 % white, 16 % black, black completion rates after 5 yrs 30 % with 56 % dropping out(Scott)
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Three Takes on EvaluationEvaluation as central part of HE-key to
‘guild authority’, credentialling, reputational hierarchies, resource allocation and rewards (Henkel)-peer review
Evaluation for social reform and monitoring social progress-US in 1960s
Evaluation as a policy instrument of the ‘evaluative state’ to ensure social accountability and stakeholder responsiveness of HE
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Evaluation and Social ReformEvaluation as a professional field in service of
social reform in the Johnson era (USA 1960s)Great Society programmes aimed at racial
injustice and poverty-evaluations of interventions in education(school curricula, health, welfare)
Approaches in evaluation studies about social justice, participatory evaluations, potential for deliberative democracy-House, Howe, Patton.
MSingh NYU 07May2009
The ‘Evaluative State’ Trends in UK/European HE in mid
eighties-shift from state control to state steering
State use of intermediary agencies to monitor performance and provide consumer information; self-regulation
Increase in private and privatised provision
Policy isomorphism in reform discourse
200 members of INQAAHE worldwideMSingh NYU 07May2009
Key Issues The rise of the ‘evaluative state’-
juridification and contractualism(Neave) Shifting power balances in the Clark
triangle of state, market and academeSystems theory-from inputs and
processes to outputs in judging HEHeightened accountability, increased
power of evaluation, continuing inequalities, social justice underserved by states and markets.
MSingh NYU 07May2009
USA and SA Evaluation Systems USA-institutional and subject
accreditation –somewhat voluntary system owned by HEIs, used for improvement and to demonstrate quality levels to be eligible for federal funds. Inclusion of diversity considerations in some systems
SA –institutional audit and programme accreditation-mandatory national system used for improvement and eligibility for programme funding. Inclusion of social justice/social transformation
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Diversity in US EvaluationMost evaluation systems look at
institutional mission but not in a directive way iro SJ
WASC Statement on Diversity and Criteria-response to changing demography of the state and its reflection in HE(1980s)
Demographic diversity-students, faculty, governing boards-from affirmative action to diversity
Curriculum, pedagogy, campus culture and experience
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Diversity in US EvaluationDiversity is a measure of quality
education-cosmopolitanism, tolerance, engagement with other cultural perspectives, preparation for world of work and civic participation-tapping human potential of all citizens
Accusations of punitiveness and social re-engineering; diversity focus about neither education nor quality
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Diversity in US Evaluation Proposition 209(1996)-no direct focus on race, ethnicity and gender in public HE
Shift from access to retention and graduation rates
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Social Justice in SA EvaluationPost 1994 reconstruction of SA society
and HE-social justice and transformationReflected in evaluation system(2004) –
criteria for institutional and programme evaluation
Demographic representivity(race, class, gender, disability) as well as social transformation-institutional culture, curriculum change, new pedagogies, new research themes and new community partnerships
MSingh NYU 07May2009
USA and SA Evaluation SystemsDifferent systems-different languages to designate a similar social concern about education, quality and inclusion
Diversity/SJ focus in criteria, training of evaluators, in the panel engagement with staff and students, in self-review and agency report and recommendations
MSingh NYU 07May2009
USA and SA Evaluation SystemsEasier to look at input measures
and measurable achievementsHow to measure SJ competencies-
no standards and indicators set for them-may help to avoid SJ fundamentalism in evaluation
SJ defined in relation to dominant contextual imperatives-no Platonic absolutes-part of democratic debate and engagement
MSingh NYU 07May2009
In search of conclusionsOpportunities-exploring the interface of excellence and inequality in HE
Inserting dialogic engagement on social justice/transformation issues pertinent to context into evaluation
Counterposing search for market competencies with broader social competencies and impact
MSingh NYU 07May2009
In search of conclusionsLimits-what educational outcomes can be measured in evaluation
Easier iro numbers-demographic diversity in governance/ student body/faculty and administrators, curriculum change
More difficult to measure iro value and worldview outcomes
MSingh NYU 07May2009
In search of conclusionsDangers-bringing state/party political agendas back into academe with no guarantees as to how evaluation findings will be used
Increasing onerousness of evaluation and burden of evidence on academics
Using SJ to withhold accreditation
MSingh NYU 07May2009
Unresolved IssuesIs SJ a constitutive component of
quality and excellence or only a framing condition?
Who can best organise HE and make it work in the public interest-states, markets or academe?
Evaluation as positivist science or hermeneutics? Will strong accountability demands be satisfied with interpretative rather than quantitative findings?
MSingh NYU 07May2009