An education analyst and former assistant Education Secretary who became famous for an about-face on No Child Left Behind warned college presidents Monday that changes similar to the 2001 higher education law were coming to higher education. Diane Ravitch, a professor of education at New York University, spoke to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, criticized many trends in higher education policy and President Obama’s new plan to increase college affordability. An increasing reliance on productivity and outcomes data will result in a generation of students who cannot learn or think for themselves, she warned. “The more we attempt to quantify what cannot be quantified, the more we narrow the purposes of higher education,” Ravitch said, calling on college presidents to stand up for academic freedom and resist the “accountability juggernaut.” Her remarks were met with a standing ovation — but only from part of the audience, and some did not clap at all.
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