For instance, the report looks at the participation in upper-level math and science courses to determine student preparation, but it does not look at the arts and humanities. The survey also determines affordability by looking at whether states meet the financial needs of their students, as analyzed by federal grant program calculations. But it does not look at the actual loans students take out. Nor does it pay attention to the families who might have a difficult time affording college even though they do not qualify for financial assistance. Most importantly, according to the study's authors, there was no way to compare what students actually learned in college classrooms.
Some states have good measures of what they do in their own classrooms.
But that data has not been crafted in a way that can be compared to what other states do, Doyle said. But the report's findings reflect what his group's analysis has shown, as well as the reputation of the state's college programs. I'm really not surprised at all. The study's authors intend to release another version of the report card in two years. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Dec. 1, 2000.