RAISING STANDARDS - A PROTOTYPING STRATEGY FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Public concerns about the quality of undergraduate education merit the attention of research universities. This policy analysis documents st andards of learning and teaching that fall far short of a liberal educ ation in one department. It attributes the problem primarily to factor s that obscure differences in standards, especially quantitative perfo rmance measures. And it recommends liberating small working groups of faculty volunteers to develop and distinguish courses that do raise st andards. This prototyping strategy is an alternative to the status quo , which is unsustainable, and a comprehensive, centrally-directed plan , which is impractical. It may be adapted to similar situations elsewh ere.