Dr. Jim Hite

In a recent research study (ACT, 2007), the ACT organization summarizes their view of high school graduates and the ability of these students to succeed in college. In general, ACT pins the definition of quality curriculum at high school level to two items. First, high school curricula are evaluated as they prepare students to go into the workforce. Second, high school curricula are evaluated as they prepare students to succeed in college. College level work, then, becomes a benchmark against which high school curricula is measured. Success in college is the proof that ACT offers that a given high school curriculum can be considered rigorous enough to prepare students for college.

Among college level students, administrators and faculty, then, it seems that there should be clarity in defining what exactly constitutes “college-level” work. If college curricula and course requirements set the standard and baseline for high school curricula, it seems important to determine that the coursework offered at colleges and universities is, in fact, college-level. There should be some set of guidelines or benchmarks to be followed by university faculty as they create courses and curricula, that would establish the course content and curricula as worthy of college-level effort.

Such clarity may not exist. Criteria may be inadequate to establish that college curricula meet any definition of “college-level.” In most universities, the curricula are set by monitoring the workplace and social environment, and determining the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. Further, most university faculties take into account their own favorite subjects and topics, when involved in course creation. Course and curriculum content may also be affected by what competing schools are offering. Finally, and also worrisome, is the subtle influence that student achievement has on design and development of college-level curricula and coursework. The very evidence that suggests that high school students are, by and large, not well prepared for entry into college, may also point to a strong influence on curriculum and course design at college level. Colleges may, in fact, be consciously or subconsciously subsuming the role of the high school curriculum into the so-called college-level curriculum.

Design and development, as well as implementation of college curricula are responsibilities of the faculty, who have the technical expertise in knowledge and skill areas associated with a given discipline. However, faculty may not be specifically trained in recognizing college-level from high-school level work. Furthermore, faculty may be influenced, in their decisions in curriculum design, by popular topics, by organizational emphasis on student acquisition and retention, and by the desire to increase the population of learners for a given discipline. The situation is complicated further, of course, by faculty development restrictions and budgets which may not support the kinds of personal development needed for informed faculty input into curriculum decisions. Given these variables, what is needed in order to establish that a college curriculum, at undergraduate or at graduate level, is, in fact, college-level?

ACT (2007, March). Rigor at risk: Reaffirming quality in the high school core curriculum. Iowa City, IA: Author. Retrieved January 31, 2008 from http://www.act.org/path/policy/reports/rigor.html