In the world of education, more than frequently we run into politicians, administrators, colleagues, and parents discussing “articulation”. Of course, they don’t discuss this concept using this nomenclature and more often than not limit themselves to strictly “horizontal articulation”. This, you see, is the backbone of US educational reform at the K-12 level. We discuss the nation’s performance in regards to other industrial nations, comparing institution to institution at cross-sectional levels (horizontal articulation), and push for standardized tests and assessment in an attempt to shore up vertical articulation, that is, insure that the nation defends itself at specified local or international benchmarks.
Despite the fact that we have been discussing horizontal articulation and proposing measures to improve vertical articulation for years at the K-12 level, this pedagogical concern is frequently absent from the Higher Education playing field. The very existence of prestigious/private schools and academic scholarships, underscores accepted differences in vertical articulation in Higher Education. Said or done, students who place higher on the playing field initially start their careers at different institutions.
Vertical articulation, nonetheless, is important and needs to be discussed in Higher Education, especially within the public domain. It should not remain unspoken in a period of budget reductions that tend to move towards centralized decision making.
In the PASSHE system, we need to confront questions steeped in the principles of vertical articulation. Does state-wide centralization take into account vertical articulation? Can one state-wide decision regarding a program’s articulation, for instance, language studies, be considered justifiable if applied system-wide? Are the students from each PASSHE school qualifiably the same in terms of proficiency and preparedness? Can one centralized inter-campus program, which depends on distance-Ed delivery, meet each institution’s needs in terms of appropriate local vertical articulation? How does PASSHE take into account discrepancies in vertical articulation (local differences)?
For years, discrepancies in vertical articulation between the K-12 and university level have plague programs of study. If a program is not articulated well, then it either fails to retain or attract students. If this is so, then why doesn’t low enrollment or low graduation rates raise more of a concern about articulation than a call for technology enhanced centralization within the PASSHE administration?
