academic standards

Student evaluations are a controversial method of assessing academic achievement. Recent studies have correlated high student evaluation of instructors with high grades rather than mastery of content.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/students-dont-always-recognize-good-teaching-study-finds/118274|title=Students Don't Always Recognize Good Teaching, Study Finds – The Ticker - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education|website=www.chronicle.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-16|date=2017-05-09}} Studies have also noted that students' understanding of assessment criteria can lead to enhanced learning experiences.{{Cite web|url=http://srhe.tandfonline.com/|title=Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education|last=Sadler|website=srhe.tandfonline.com|language=en|access-date=2017-05-17}}

According to a 2009 report by UNESCO, changes in the university structure in the late 20th and early 21st century have led to increasing access to or "massification" of higher education which has, in turn, resulted in both a diversification of the student population but also a general decrease in academic standards globally.Altbach, Phillip G., Liz Reisberg, and Laura E. Rumbley, "Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution. A Report Prepared for the UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education" (France, UNESCO, 2009). http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30910755/Altbach__Reisberg__Rumbley_Tracking_an_Academic_Revolution__UNESCO_2009.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1494895733&Signature=8P%2F9h78kTqQbTaKmy9VKiHaIwoc%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DTrends_in_global_higher_education_Tracki.pdf

In the UK, degree awarding bodies themselves are responsible for standards in higher education, but these are checked during inspection by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). On its website QAA defines academic standards as 'The standards set and maintained by institutions for their courses (programmes and modules) and expected for their awards.'{{citation |last=QAA Glossary |url=http://www.qaa.ac.uk/AboutUs/glossary/Pages/glossary-a.aspx#a3 |title=Academic standards |access-date=2014-03-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312224648/http://www.qaa.ac.uk/AboutUs/glossary/Pages/glossary-a.aspx#a3 |archive-date=2014-03-12 |url-status=dead }}

The Dearing Report recommended in 1997 that benchmarking be used to measure and improve academic standards.{{citation |title=Benchmarking Academic Standards in the UK |author=Mantz Yorke |journal=Tertiary Education and Management |volume=5 |number=1 |pages=79–94 |doi=10.1023/A:1018753222965|year=1999 |s2cid=195292214 }} From 1997 to 2011 this was done by code of practice and other guidelines known as the Academic Infrastructure. During 2012–13, this was replaced by the Quality Code for Higher Education, which included points about the availability of information about the learning experience to emphasize the role of the student as a paying customer of the institutions.{{citation |pages=227–228 |title=Reshaping the University |author=David Palfreyman, Ted Tapper |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0199659821}}

In the US, regulation is at state level by bodies such as the Standards and Assessment Division of the Arizona Department of Education.{{Cite web|url=http://www.azed.gov/|title=The Official Website of the Arizona Department of Education {{!}}|website=www.azed.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-16}}

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The Common Core is a group of academic standards which focus on two main subjects: mathematics and English language arts (ELA). These standards are intended to ensure mastery of information and prepare students for entry into the next grade and beyond. The core originated as a way to standardize the way students were taught from state-to-state, and also the quality of information students received. The Common Core has now been adopted by 42 states in the US.

The Common Core standards are:

• Research- and evidence-based
• Clear, understandable, and consistent
• Aligned with college and career expectations
• Based on rigorous and application of knowledge through higher order thinking skills
• Built upon the strengths and lessons of current state standards
• Informed by other top performing countries in order to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society{{Cite web|url=http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/|title=About the Standards {{!}} Common Core State Standards Initiative|website=www.corestandards.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-05-16|archive-date=2019-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115174848/http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/|url-status=dead}}

• Academic achievement
• Educational accreditation

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