You need to be able not only to write good papers but also to conduct a thorough research, focusing on relevant
sources of academic quality.
Paraphrasing Winston Churchill's views on democracy, he says that reputational
rankings of academic quality «are the worst method for assessing the comparative quality of U.S. research universities — except for all the others.»
Policymakers have the difficult responsibility of honoring distinctive school cultures while ensuring an appropriate
level of academic quality — one educational translation of the common good.
But our evidence also suggests that a 15 - year period with little
oversight of academic quality may be too long to wait to intervene and potentially close schools that are producing subpar results.
But to critics, the rankings do little more than build on the Alliance's previous work, indicating how friendly a state is to charter schools but not enough about which is truly the best in
terms of academic quality.