Five Dimensions of Quality: A Common Sense Guide to Accreditation and Accountability

CHAPTER 4WHY IS THIS SO HARD?

The movement to define quality according to the five cultures summarized in Chapter 3 has been the backbone of regional accreditation standards for decades, and accreditors have been emphasizing the culture of evidence since at least the turn of the 21st century. Why, then, do some of the cultures remain a struggle? Why is assessment still sometimes likened to a returning plague of locusts (Dunn, McCarthy, Baker, & Halonen, 2011)? These are important questions because, in order to break through obstacles, we need to understand what those obstacles are and why they exist.

Unfortunately, there is no one simple answer. The reasons why some of the cultures of quality remain a challenge are as diverse as U.S. colleges ...