"This book makes the case for assessment of student learning as a vehicle for equity in higher education. The book proceeds through a framework of "why, what, how, and now what.""--

Drawing on a large body of empirical evidence, former Harvard President Derek Bok examines how much progress college students actually make toward widely accepted goals of undergraduate education. His conclusions are sobering. Although most students make gains in many important respects, they improve much less than they should in such important areas as writing, critical thinking, quantitative skills, and moral reasoning. Large majorities of college...