America faces significant challenges of graduating a high number of students from the higher learning institution. Providing quality and up to date education is a significant challenge to not only America but also other countries across the world (Graham, Woodfield, & Harrison, 2013). It is also important to note that increasing the rates of graduation and education attainment levels cannot help much if the students do not learn something of lasting value from the various programs in the higher learning institutions. Over the last several years, the federal government has been focusing more on increasing the number of Americans who graduate from higher learning institutions than on improving the education system and programs that the students learn when in schools. This essay aims at identifying the current, issues, trends dilemmas and challenges that the higher education experience in America.
By concentrating more on the academic attainment levels and graduation rates from higher learning institutions, policymakers tend to forget that the content and quality of the education the learners receive have been declining over the past decades and they need to do something to help restore the quality of education. Currently, the students in higher learning institution spend much less time on their course work in comparison to other students of the same course fifty years ago. Significant reduction of time that the learners spend in class can be a clear indication that what the current students receive from the course work is significantly less in comparison to their counterparts 50 years back. Chapter 12 of the book indicates that when making decisions in the learning institutions, it is vital to ensure that there is proper stakeholder engagement because stakeholders play a significant role in suggesting the most appropriate means of addressing such challenges. It is also important to note that currently, many higher learning institutions are coming up with the best methods of engaging stakeholders in their decision-making and assessment of responsibilities, for instance, the University of North Dakota (Kuh & Ewell, 2010). It is vital to have everyone on board play a significant role in achieving a successful education program in higher learning institutions in America and other countries across the world.
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The cost of providing higher learning has been a topic of discussion because some of the learners fail to complete the program due to the high cost of school fees. Majority of the students who drop out of school will have challenges when trying to fit a competitive job market, forcing some of them to engage in criminal activities. In chapter 12, the author notes that it is essential for the higher learning institutions to conduct an assessment of the cost and benefits of the program they provide in their institution. The amount of school fee can play a significant role in determining the number of students who complete the program because it is too high, and many students will not afford to pay it hence increasing cases of dropouts from the program and the institution as well (Heyneman & Stern, 2014). The higher learning institution across the country should conduct a cost-benefit assessment of the programs they administer and ensure that they are affordable to all students to address the issue of dropout from the programs.
Data management in higher learning institutions is a common problem not only in America but also across the world (Chen & Zhang, 2014). Data management system plays a significant role in the learning institutions because it enables lecturers, students and other stakeholders to store and access essential materials in the institution. Chapter ten of the book provides some of the data management tools that some of the universities use to manage their data. WEAVE is one of the data management systems that St. John's University have been using since the year 2006, and the system plays a significant role by helping the administrators write outcomes of the assessments, as well as developing and tracking the assessments plans. It is crucial to have an efficient data management system in all the learning institutions because the system enhances the provision of educational services to the students most effectively and efficiently.
Providing transparency in what the student learns is among the challenges that many higher learning institutions experience. It is essential to enhance transparency in learning institution because it helps to identify some issues that, in one way or another is influencing the process of learning. In chapter ten, there is an example of NILOA institution where the staff manages to develop a transparency framework that helps the institution in sharing the evidence concerning the process that student goes through during the learning process. The transparency framework also plays a significant role in enabling the staff and the faculties to examine how the website communicates the assessment information (Kuh & Ewell, 2010). Use of transparency framework also plays another vital role in displaying the available options for improvement as well as regular updating of information to reflect current activities and plans that help the institution enhance the performance levels.
Admittedly, higher learning institutions are experiencing myriads of challenges and issues as they provide their educational services to the learners. Some of the challenges include expensive programs, weak data management systems and transparency issues that in one way or another compromise the provision of quality education in the higher learning institution. Conducting a cost-benefit assessment, adopting an efficient data management system and embracing transparency in a higher learning institution is essential towards attaining quality education.
References
Chen, C. P., & Zhang, C. Y. (2014). Data-intensive applications, challenges, techniques and technologies: A survey on Big Data. Information sciences, 275, 314-347.
Graham, C. R., Woodfield, W., & Harrison, J. B. (2013). A framework for institutional adoption and implementation of blended learning in higher education. The internet and higher education, 18, 4-14.
Heyneman, S. P., & Stern, J. M. (2014). Low cost private schools for the poor: What public policy is appropriate? International Journal of Educational Development, 35, 3-15.
Kuh, G. D., & Ewell, P. T. (2010). The state of learning outcomes assessment in the United States. Higher education management and policy, 22(1), 1-20.
