Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #631316 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Released on: 2005-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
While it would be easy enough to raise an alarm about the declining quality of higher education in America by trotting out horrifying statistics and disturbing anecdotes, this book thankfully spends little time doing so. Instead, Hersh and Merrow have gathered essays focusing on the root causes of the decline as well as on a range of strategies for reversing it. In this, the varied backgrounds of the contributors, from journalists and policy researchers to university professors and administrators, serves the volume well. These pieces include, among other things, a comparison of how the media covers K-12 as opposed to colleges and universities, considerations of how marketplace models have shaped undergraduate education, and a variety of high-level, philosophical approaches to reimagining the place of higher education in our society. And while all the contributors have distinctive viewpoints on the problem, one thing becomes clear throughout: the state of American higher education is a product less of policy decisions, curriculum structure or student demographics than of the values and priorities of American society. To this end, the contributors do an excellent job sketching the larger cultural and economic forces-such as materialism, job specialization, the information explosion and the near-universal adoption of marketplace values-that they see as primarily responsible for the decline of America's colleges and universities. Because of its broad focus, the book will interest a wide range of readers, from educators and policy makers to parents concerned about their children's education.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"I have never heard a single parent speculate about what value might be added by . . . four undergraduate years, other than the bachelor's degree itself . . . an essential punch on the ticket for starting off in any upscale career. The book before you is, to my knowledge, the first to confront the question head-on. All those boys and girls . . . do parents-does anybody-have any idea what happens to them in college?"--from the foreword by Tom Wolfe"Anyone who cares deeply about American higher education will read this book and feel enlightened and enraged, delighted and despondent, encouraged and in despair. A 'must read' for those interested in both good news and bad, from higher education's influential insiders and jaded outsiders."--Lee S. Shulman, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching"The decline of our once-proud colleges and universities--well documented in this book--is the bitter fruit of our ever-more ineffective K-12 education. This book makes it clear that our nation is still at risk."--E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We NeedPraise for Merrow's Choosing Excellence: "This [is an] outstanding assessment of the current state of the nation's schools...Forecast: Since most children in America attend 'good enough' schools, this book's potential market is enormous, and the author's high profile will help."--Publishers Weekly"No pre-service teacher should consider his or her professional education complete if it does not include regular viewings of The Merrow Report, the documentary series now airing on PBS and National Public Radio."--Library Journal"Merrow aims to create a smarter consumer of schools....He succeeds in that he gives parents a framework for what they should be seeking and very practical hints on evaluating schools." --Karin Chenoweth, 0Washington Post"This book points out that there's more to a school than its four walls and reputation, and more people need to be aware of all the choices that are out there."--Scholastic

About the Author
Richard H. Hersh is a Senior Fellow at the Council for Aid to Education (RAND). He is the former president of Trinity College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. John Merrow is the Peabody Award winning president of Learning Matters, Inc. He is Host and Executive Producer of The Merrow Report on PBS and NPR. He is an education correspondent for the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour on PBS.

Customer Reviews

Higher Education has NOT Declined in Quality
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Several people in my family, including me, have college degrees. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2005 from an average state university. In addition, I was awarded an associate's degree in 2002 from a school that everyone says is the easiest junior college. Also, my father received his bachelor's degree in political science from UCLA around the year 1966. UCLA did not have the level of prestige that it has today, but it was still a well respected university. Likewise, my mother completed her first year of college at UCLA and then transferred to Boston University to complete the rest of her bachelor's degree. She received her degree in sociology around the year 1968.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This book claims that higher education in America has declined in standards and quality over the past 25 years. However, based on what my parents have told me, I seriously doubt it. After they described their experiences, I have learned that the quality of higher education today is just as good if not better than it was 40 years ago.

First, higher education critics complain that the college students today receive less work compared to forty years ago, but my father telling me about his college years has made me believe otherwise. Today one can usually get by without doing any of the assigned readings, because usually the exams are mainly based on the class lectures. However, this was also true when my father went to UCLA. Furthermore, I had about the same amount of reading that he had even at the junior college. We both had about 30 pages of reading per week in each course.

Not only have I not received any less work than my parents, they told me that throughout my college career, I actually received more work than they did. At the junior college alone, I was given more writing assignments than they were. While I attended this junior college, I had a term paper in almost every class (excluding math courses) even though my father had a total of only about 3 papers throughout his entire time as an undergraduate. This is despite everyone saying that this school is easier than all the other junior colleges. In addition, at the four year university, I was required to do a major research project at the end of my senior year (called the senior thesis). I was supposed to write a 20 - 30 page paper on my research for this project. My father never had to do any project like that.

In addition to describing their college education, my father has concluded based on his experience teaching law school for the past 30 years that today's college graduates are just as educated as they were yesterday. During that period, he taught only first year students, all of whom had bachelor's degrees, and he has not noticed any change in the quality of his students over the years. This is despite the fact that college is supposed to prepare one for law school by teaching one how to think. For example, an undergraduate education is supposed to develop ones own critical thinking skills, analytical skills, etc. These skills are needed to succeed in law school. Given this and that he taught only first year students, if undergraduate education has really declined, my father would have noticed it. He has not.

Overall, this book does not seem to match up to reality. I have learned by talking to my mother and father that the quality of higher education in America today is at least as good as it was yesterday. Therefore, I know that the entire premise of this book is false. Don't waste your money buying it.

Responding to "Declining"
Education is a lot of work, lifelong to boot, and how many are up to it? It's true of our culture - but would it be any different at another time? - that the acquisitive instinct competes directly with many of the goals and ideals of the academy. Luckily in my case, parents did not expect much from me in terms of academic performance or which school to attend; virtually all expectation was self-generated. My bias is to emphasize rigorous standards at the secondary level, especially in public schools, if we want to have a successful, informed, and free people. It's decent read.

Higher Education At Risk
Excellent look at one of America's major problems for our future success on the world stage.