Table Of ContentImproving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
Improving Measurement of
Productivity in Higher Education
Panel on Measuring Higher Education Productivity:
Conceptual Framework and Data Needs
Teresa A. Sullivan, Christopher Mackie, William F. Massy, and
Esha Sinha, Editors
Committee on National Statistics
Board on Testing and Assessment
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2012). Improving Measurement of Pro-
ductivity in Higher Education. Panel on Measuring Higher Education Productivity: Con-
ceptual Framework and Data Needs. Teresa A. Sullivan, Christopher Mackie, William F.
Massy, and Esha Sinha, Editors. Committee on National Statistics and Board on Testing
and Assessment, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington,
DC: The National Academies Press.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
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Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
PANEL ON MEASURING HIGHER EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY:
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND DATA NEEDS
TERESA A. SULLIVAN (Chair), Offce of the President, University of
Virginia
THOMAS R. BAILEY, Institute on Education and the Economy and
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia
University
BARRY P. BOSWORTH, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings
Institution, Washington, DC
DAVID W. BRENEMAN, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
RONALD G. EHRENBERG, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute,
Cornell University
PETER T. EWELL, National Center for Higher Education Management
Systems, Boulder, CO
IRWIN FELLER, Department of Economics (emeritus), Pennsylvania State
University
BARBARA FRAUMENI, Muskie School of Public Service, University of
Southern Maine
JULIET V. GARCIA, Offce of the President, University of Texas at
Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
MICHAEL HOUT, Department of Sociology, University of California,
Berkeley
NATE JOHNSON, HCM Strategists, Washington, DC
GEORGE D. KUH, Center for Postsecondary Research (emeritus), Indiana
University
WILLIAM F. MASSY, Independent Consultant, Florence, MA
CAROL A. TWIGG, National Center for Academic Transformation,
Saratoga Springs, NY
DAVID J. ZIMMERMAN, Department of Economics, Williams College
CHRISTOPHER D. MACKIE, Study Director
STUART ELLIOTT, Senior Program Offcer
ESHA SINHA, Associate Program Offcer
MICHAEL SIRI, Program Associate
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS
2011-2012
LAWRENCE BROWN (Chair), Department of Statistics, The Wharton School,
University of Pennsylvania
JOHN M. ABOWD, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell
University
ALICIA CARRIQUIRY, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University
WILLIAM DuMOUCHEL, Oracle Health Sciences, Waltham, MA
V. JOSEPH HOTZ, Department of Economics, Duke University
MICHAEL HOUT, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley
KAREN KAFADAR, Department of Statistics, Indiana University
SALLIE KELLER, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
LISA LYNCH, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis
University
SALLY MORTON, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
JOSEPH NEWHOUSE, Division of Health Policy Research and Education,
Harvard University
RUTH PETERSON, Criminal Justice Research Center, The Ohio State
University
HAL STERN, Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine
JOHN H. THOMPSON, NORC at the University of Chicago
ROGER TOURANGEAU, Statistical Group, Westat, Rockville, MD
ALAN ZASLAVSKY, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical
School
CONSTANCE F. CITRO, Director
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
BOARD ON TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
EDWARD HAERTEL (Chair), Jacks Family Professor of Education and
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Stanford University
GARY CHAMBERLAIN, Louis Berkman Professor of Economics, Harvard
University
MARK DYNARSKI, Researcher, Pemberton Research, LLC
DAVID J. FRANCIS, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished
Professor, and Director, Texas Institute for Measurement, Statistics and
Evaluation, University of Houston
JOAN HERMAN, Director, National Center for Research on Evaluation,
Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles
MICHAEL KANE, Messick Chair in Validity, Educational Testing Service
SHARON LEWIS, Director of Research, Council of Great City Schools
ROBERT MARE, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los
Angeles
DIANA C. PULLIN, Professor, Boston College
ANN MARIE RYAN, Professor of Psychology, Michigan State University
BRIAN STECHER, Senior Social Scientist, Education Program, RAND
Corporation
JOHN ROBERT WARREN, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of
Minnesota
MARK WILSON, Professor of Policy, Organization, Measurement, and
Evaluation Cognition and Development, University of California, Berkeley
REBECCA ZWICK, Distinguished Presidential Appointee, Research and
Development, Educational Testing Service
STUART ELLIOTT, Director
vii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Improving Measurement of Productivity in Higher Education
Acknowledgments
The work of this panel has been immeasurably assisted by the insight and
counsel of numerous colleagues. In particular, we wish to acknowledge the
reviewers. This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen
for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with pro-
cedures approved by the Report Review Committee of the National Research
Council (NRC). The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and
critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report
as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards
for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review
comments and draft manuscript remain confdential to protect the integrity of the
deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review
of this report: Julian Betts, Department of Economics, University of California,
San Diego; William G. Bowen, President’s Offce, Andrew W. Mellon Foun-
dation; Pat Callan, President’s Offce, Higher Education Policy Institute, San
Jose, California; Charles T. Clotfelter, Center for the Study of Philanthropy and
Voluntarism, Duke University; Don E. Detmer, University of Virginia School of
Medicine; David N. Figlio, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern Univer-
sity; Brent R. Hickman, Economics Department, University of Chicago; Michael
McPherson, President’s Offce, The Spencer Foundation; B. Don Russell, Jr.,
Department of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University; and Burton A.
Weisbrod, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.
The review of this report was overseen by Greg Duncan, distinguished pro-
fessor of education, University of California, Irvine, and Charles Manski, Board
of Trustees professor in economics, Northwestern University. Appointed by the
NRC’s Report Review Committee, they were responsible for making certain that
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