Is US NEWS responsible for selling bad data?

Claremont-McKenna was among the first to admit to submitting bad data.

Thanks to data made readily available by the federal government and managers of the Common Data Set (CDS)—the College Board, Petersons, and US News—college search and evaluation have become much more numbers driven than in the past.  

An entire cottage industry of websites, college guides and software products has sprung up in the wake of freely available information used to categorize, rank, or otherwise describe and market postsecondary institutions both here and abroad.

And it doesn’t take too much effort to discover key metrics such as size of freshman class, percent of in-state students, average standardized test scores, freshman retention and/or graduation rates, or relative generosity when it comes to financial aid.  

Until fairly recently, the public believed the reams of data collected, compiled, and parsed by publications profiting from the CDS was accurate and appropriately vetted prior to being sold to college-bound students and those who advise them.

In fact, the assumption of data accuracy is part of a larger fantasy that suggests prestigious colleges and universities pay little attention to and don’t care a whit about rankings.

The truth is that they do care and are willing to falsify or manipulate data in schemes designed to improve rankings and create an image not particularly grounded in reality.

In 2012, Claremont McKenna College admitted that it submitted false admissions statistics that amounted to “modest boosting” of SAT scores, which made the school appear more competitive.  This scandal was followed by a similar revelation at Bucknell University, where officials confessed to misreporting SAT and ACT averages from 2006 through 2012.

Yet despite these embarrassments, major players in CDS data collection and sales stonewalled recommendations for improving the accuracy and reliability of information provided to the public, including

• Public dissemination of a comprehensive guide with clear definitions for each data point
• Regular opportunities for college-based IT staff training (webinars, workshops etc.)
• Easily obtainable technical assistance for staff with reporting responsibility
• Assignment of administrative responsibility for certifying data accuracy
• Random data audits conducted and funded the CDS
• Clearly stated penalties for inaccurate or deliberately falsified data

But there were no immediate changes at the Common Data Set, as even the most minimal quality assurance procedures failed to be implemented by organizations making large sums of money from the statistics provided by colleges and universities.

And so, more irregularities came to light.  Emory University, followed by George Washington University, York College of Pennsylvania, Dominican University of California, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor all admitted to providing fabricated information via the Common Data Set. 

Most recently, Flagler College was forced to announce that one of its senior officials altered admissions statistics for freshmen admitted for fall 2010 through fall 2013.

Eventually, US News did act on one suggestion and began imposing punishment on colleges caught falsifying data.   

GW, York College of Pennsylvania, and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor were moved to “unranked” category in the US News guide, for submitting incorrect data that may/may not have affected their individual rankings.

When pressed about the failure to oversee a process resulting in significant profits for US News, Robert Morse, who heads the rankings, declined to take any responsibility, preferring to suggest that if a college is willing to lie to the federal government about statistics, they will lie to anyone—even US News.

“It boils down to this.  Usnews [sp] has far less power and resources than you think we have or should be able to exercise in our role,” said Morse in an email response to suggestions for improving the quality of the data product US News sells.  “We think schools have the moral and ethical responsibility to be honest in their reporting… if a school lies to all parties including the govt [sp] there is little that can be done…”

In other words, quality assurance is expensive and US News is not willing to spend the minimal amount of money it would take to ensure its product is sound.   

Morse doesn’t speak for the other huge corporate players in the Common Data Set, but given what the College Board alone makes on the deal, it seems reasonable to expect some effort on their part to ensure basic accuracy in reporting.

For the record, a survey of college admissions directors conducted by Inside Higher Ed suggests there may be more data fabrication than anyone is willing to publically admit. Asked if their institutions ever submitted false admissions data one percent of public and two percent of private admissions directors said yes.  Well over 90 percent of admissions directors believe that “others” do it.

Asked if they believed rankings producers have “reliable systems” in place to prevent this kind of fraud, 93 percent said no.

And as long as definitions are subject to interpretation, technical assistance is crowd sourced, and no training is provided, the public will continue to pay for and receive faulty information.

Tomorrow, US News releases the 2015 edition of the US News Best Colleges rankings.  The US News guidebook to colleges is set to go on sale on newsstands September 23.  

Note that both the College Board and Petersons have already used the same data to publish their guides earlier in the summer.

Big changes in store for AP®

While proposed changes for the SAT Reasoning Test have received lots of publicity and are being closely monitored by parents, advisers, test prep companies and college-bound students, the College Board’s overhaul of the Advanced Placement (AP) program hasn’t received nearly as much attention.

According to the College Board, “AP is undergoing a comprehensive redesign, revising several subjects per year.”   

In fact, some of these revisions are fairly significant insofar as high schools have had to retrain teachers and reconfigure course offerings to conform to redesigned curricula and tests.

And this is no small undertaking.  Committees of college faculty members and AP teachers collaborate to design AP courses and exams, approximately 4 million of which were administered to 2.2 million students representing more than 18,000 schools, in May 2013—the most recent numbers currently available.

On its website, the College Board outlines an ongoing five-year plan which began during the 2011-12 school year and will conclude in 2016.

Changes have already been made in most of the popular language offerings including AP French (2011), AP German (2011), AP Latin (2012), and AP Spanish (2012 and 2013).  AP Biology (2012) and AP Chemistry (2013) have also undergone significant redesign, including major alterations in curriculum and testing.

But this year, the College Board is being more ambitious than ever.  Major revisions are being made to AP Physics B as well as to AP U.S. History (APUSH).  In addition, the first of two parts of the AP Capstone™ diploma program—designed to rival the IB diploma—is being phased in at schools in the U.S., Canada, and across the world.

For the record, here is how the College Board describes the important changes to the Advanced Placement program for 2014-15:

Fees.  This year the fee for taking a single exam in the U.S., U.S. territories, and Canada will increase to $91 (various discounts are applied by different school districts).  The fee will be $121 per exam for schools outside of these areas (with the exception of DodDS schools).

Computer Science A.  The GridWorld case study will be replaced by a required lab component consisting of a minimum of 20 hours of hands-on lab experiences.  Three new AP Computer Science A labs have been designed and will be offered to teachers for this purpose.

AP Seminar.  This fall, AP Seminar will launch at more than 135 participating schools, including two in Maryland and one in Virginia, as part of the new AP Capstone™ program.  Students will be asked to examine materials like news stories, research studies, and literary works to develop arguments based on facts and communicate them through the use of various media.

Physics 1:  Algebra-Based.  AP Physics B is being discontinued and will be replaced by two separate, full-year courses, the first of which is Physics 1. The course covers Newtonian mechanics; work, energy, and power; and mechanical waves and sound.  It will also introduce electric circuits.  Note that this class is separate from AP Physics C courses, which are meant to be taught as a second-year physics classes and require knowledge of calculus.

Physics 2:  Algebra-Based.  The second of two year-long replacements for Physics B, this course covers fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, optics, and atomic and nuclear physics.

U.S. History.  The new test is designed to relieve the pressure on memorizing dates and events by emphasizing “historical thinking skills.”  Students will be asked to respond, in writing, to new short-answer, document-based, and essay questions.  Newly designed multiple-choice questions will ask students to use knowledge of content to “analyze and interpret primary and secondary sources.”

Next year, the College Board will be redesigning the AP Art History and AP European History courses for launch in fall 2015.

In the meantime, the College Board currently offers 36 Advanced Placement courses and exams ranging from Art History to World History.  More information may be found on the College Board website.

Tourism continues to trump education

Today is Labor Day.  And for better or worse, the holiday arrives very early this year—the first day of the month

For most of Virginia’s public school students, Labor Day Monday represents the last full day of vacation before the official start of classes on September 2nd.

But in Prince George’s County, students returned to school on August 26.  Frederick and Montgomery Counties, as well as the District of Columbia, started school on August 25.

And this was hardly exceptional.  Across the country, August start dates are getting to be pretty much the norm. 

For Atlanta and most of Georgia’s school districts, the first day of school was August 4.  Students in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Omaha, Nebraska began school on August 13, while students in Martin County, Florida and Palm Springs, California headed back to school on August 18.

This year, the Fairfax County Public School system (FCPS) plans to welcome 186,785 students, making FCPS the largest district in the Commonwealth and the 10th-largest in the U.S.

In other parts of Virginia, Loudon County Public Schools expects an estimated 73,233 students for 2014-15.  And the Arlington Public Schools estimates an enrollment of over 24,213—up 3.8 percent from last year and pushing hard on the peak baby boomer enrollments of the 1960’s.

But as in previous years, the priorities of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association (VHTA) trump those of the Commonwealth’s school children by keeping a lid on legislation to move up opening day to match the earlier start dates of competing school districts, both here and around the country.

In its 2014 General Assembly Legislative Report, the VHTA explains, “Labor Day continues to be one of the top legislative priorities for the tourism industry.” It goes on to gloat, “During the 2014 Session, there was a 50% reduction in the amount of proposed legislation to repeal Virginia’s current laws.”

And Governor Terry McAuliffe seems to agree.

“I don’t support changing it, making it earlier to start school,” Governor McAuliffe told the Roanoke Times in January.  “I’m very concerned about the tourism issue.”

Unfortunately, there are consequences to political positions that appear to favor tourism over education.  And many of these consequences directly affect college-bound students.

For example, the first ACT of the season is scheduled less than two weeks after school starts.  Registration for the October 11 SAT closes on September 12, complicated paperwork for at least one major science competition must be completed by September 30, and some college application deadlines come due as early as October 15.

It’s not likely that school counselors pressed with problems relating to schedules and enrollment during the first month of school are going to have time left over to discuss college lists, testing requirements, or application deadlines.

And with pre-Labor Day start dates, local private schools and school districts in Maryland have already jumpstarted the race to prepare for Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams scheduled later in the school year.

In addition, their calendars align better with local community colleges and universities for access to dual enrollment courses.  And these students aren’t constrained by school years extending so late into June that some summer programs, laboratory internships, and mentorship opportunities are out of the question.

But the post-Labor Day start is so important to tourism that the VHTA spends thousands of dollars each year lobbying the legislature and the governor’s office to keep Virginia’s students from getting back to school too early.

The theory is that keeping schools closed until Labor Day helps recreational businesses, especially Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens, by giving families more time to visit amusement parks.

It also gives country clubs and tourist attractions additional weeks before they are forced to give up student workers. Unless participating in fall sports or band, high school students will hopefully work to the last day of summer or until the pool closes for the season.

Northern Virginia school systems definitely do not love the law, which may only be circumvented by state waivers granted to school systems that “have been closed an average of eight days per year during any five of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failure, or other emergency situations.”

Of the 132 school divisions in Virginia, only 78 have been granted permission to begin classes before Labor Day, and some of those needed special legislation to grandfather their waivers into next year.

The Virginia House passed a bill last year that would have given all school divisions permission to start classes before Labor Day.  The bill received 72 votes in the House, but died in the Senate Education and Health Committee after the VHTA intervened.  Delegate Greg Habeeb has introduced another version of the bill for this year, but there is little hope it will go anywhere.

And so for now, tourism will continue to trump education in the Commonwealth.