Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education: The Civil Rights Dimension

In "Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education," leading scholars address the unforeseen impact of accountability standards on students of color and the institutions that disproportionately serve them. The book describes how federal policies can worsen existing racial inequalities in higher education and offers alternative solutions aimed to protect and advance civil rights for low-income and minority students and their colleges. This volume begins with a chapter putting higher education accountability in historical perspective and connecting it to the increasing importance of postsecondary education for upward mobility, coupled with rising barriers to minority student access and success. Based on a series of studies using cutting-edge research methodologies, the contributors suggest new ways to design and evaluate accountability policies that avoid predictable negative consequences. Written against a backdrop of unequal opportunity and racial inequality in preparation for and access to higher education, "Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education" arrives at a pivotal time in American education. Following the introduction, The Access Crisis and the Move Toward Accountability (Gary Orfield), this book contains the following chapters: (1) Obama's Accountability Efforts: A Case Study in Frustration (Gary Orfield); (2) State Accountability Policies: Can Performance Funding Be Equitable? (Nicholas Hillman and Valerie Crespín-Trujillo); (3) Accountability and the Key Role of Minority-Serving Institutions (Marybeth Gasman, Thai-Huy Nguyen, Andrés Castro Samayoa, and Daniel Corral); (4) Using Institutional Accountability Measures That Serve Diverse Populations (Sylvia Hurtado, Adriana Ruiz Alvarado, and Kevin Eagan); (5) Accountability Across the Education Pipeline: The Contribution of Unequal High Schools on College Completion (Stella M. Flores, Toby J. Park, and Dominique J. Baker); (6) Making Accountability Fair for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Anne-Marie Núñez and Awilda Rodríguez); (7) High-Stakes Accountability in the Context of Education Deserts (Nicholas Hillman); (8) The Impact of Financial Aid Limits: A View from a Leading HBCU (Willie Kirkland); (9) Student Debt Accountability and Its Unintended Racial Consequences (Sara Goldrick-Rab and Jason Houle); and Conclusion: Accountability and Racial Fairness to Advance Civil Rights--A Way Forward (Nicholas Hillman). Contains notes, a section about the editors and contributors, and an index.