Administrators in higher and secondary education

Who are today’s college students? What should they expect to get from their college education— to be prepared for a good job, of course, but even more for a rewarding career and productive citizenship? What barriers stand in the way of greater student achievement and how can they be dismantled? Which institutional practices help all students learn effectively ?

These are some of the questions that the report from the Greater Expectations National Panel attempts to answer. Starting with an analysis of the current situation, the report concludes with recommendations, many asking for action by educational leaders.

This Web version of the report offers the option of either reading the entire report (simply go to "Enter the Report") or scanning selected sections. While we recommend starting at the beginning and following the entire argument, the sections listed below may be of greatest interest to administrators at both the higher and secondary levels. Finally, return to the bottom of this page for suggestions about what you can do next (link also at the end of the report).

• Who now attends college
• Why college education is essential in today’s world
• Pressures on higher education
• Pressures on secondary education
• Barriers to student readiness for college
• Barriers to high quality college learning
• The important outcomes of college study
• The kind of education that develops skills, knowledge, and a sense of responsibility
• Liberal education and other often confused terms
• A practical liberal education
• Campus examples of good practice (see stories throughout Chapter 4)
• A learning-centered education
• Coherent pathways for learning
• The intentional college or university practices what it preaches
• Preparing students for college study
• Assessment for improved learning
• Educational change: Starting Down the Path
• Organizing principles of a 21st-century college education
• Summary of the New Academy
• Recommendations

What can you do next?

• Facilitate faculty conversations to clarify learning outcomes that will prepare students for the 21st century.
• Provide leadership and sustained resources for faculty to revise curricula into a coherent plan for learning and to learn about the scholarship and practice of effective teaching.
• Emphasize the power of practical liberal education in all internal and external communication.
• Keep improved learning at the center of decision-making and resource allocation.