Achievement and Quality: Higher Education in the Arts

Evaluating Achievement and Quality

The evaluation lists that follow address issues from three perspectives that are specific to individual persons and institutions. They are areas of quality and achievement that benefit most from attention on a case specific basis. They are not readily amenable to standardization.

The three perspectives--individual, institutional, external perceptions--provide ways for institutions to review the complexities of achievement and quality. They show that achieving quality is far more than placement in a rubric or hitting a set of targets, especially if they are expressed only in mathematical terms. They indicate the necessity of being clear about priorities. It is extremely important to note that high levels of student achievement in terms of ability to produce work of high quality are not necessarily dependent on external perceptions held about the institution.

The lists and assessments based on them are not technical projects, but artistic projects; technical aspects may be important, but they are not everything. This means, for example, that one can start with any element in any list and ask questions about the relationships of that element to other elements in the same list or in other lists.

Individual

Institutional

External Perceptions

Explanatory Notes

1.  National Accreditation Standards

2.   Evaluation, Quantitative Methodologies, and Verbalization

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