Pointers at Glance
- As students and their families gear up for the college admissions process, many turn to college rankings systems to help make a decision.
- However, one critical factor is often ignored in these rankings which is teaching excellence, the quality of college teaching.
Emerging research suggests that courses in lower-ranked universities, on average, scored higher on student-centred teaching excellence than courses in higher-ranked universities. It’s troubling to see universities shift emphasis and funding away from teaching towards other reputation-building factors, such as marketing, to improve their college rankings.
Why Teaching Excellence Is Overlooked In College Rankings
The absence of teaching excellence from rankings is surprising, given the link between high-quality teaching and student success. Quality teaching is among the most important predictors of a wide range of college outcomes, including:
- Academic skills
- Leadership
- Civic engagement
- Moral development
- Degree attainment
- Employment.
Unfortunately, teaching excellence is often not highly valued in hiring, tenure, or promotion decisions. Administrators don’t view teaching as a way to increase enrollment or funding, further devaluing it. The kicker is that research shows that the more time faculty spend on teaching, the lower their salary. Instructors who care the most about teaching often have less job stability and work in universities with lesser resources.
Efforts to improve teaching at the university level have emerged recently, but not much will change until schools that value high-quality teaching are rewarded with the following:
- More resources
- Higher rankings
- Increased enrollments
What Families Should Consider When Choosing A University For Higher Education
Families should give strong consideration to universities where high-quality teaching is valued, even if the schools may be ranked lower. Parents should ask questions when visiting campuses, such as how much teaching counts in the tenure process, if they can sit in on a class in both general education and their child’s anticipated major, and how much of a role the centre for teaching and learning plays on campus.
Parents should also speak with faculty members in their child’s anticipated major to gauge if they feel the university supports teaching and ask students if they feel a sense of belonging in their courses and if they have experienced great teaching. Ultimately, families invest significantly in universities and deserve the benefits of high-quality teaching for their students.
In the long term, universities, organizations that rank schools, and others should work to make teaching a valued core part of their mission. Education should matter in higher education, and we must prioritize teaching excellence to fulfil the potential of higher education as an engine of learning for our democracy.
