USNWR Staff: Baylor Skews Rankings Data
US News & World Report staff have accused the Baylor University School of Law of repeatedly submitting misleading data in rankings surveys, Inside Higher Education says.
The allegations center around data supplied by Baylor on first-year students' LSAT scores and grade point averages. USNWR research staff cite three cases in recent years where Baylor officials gave 'misleading' information. In two cases, researchers noticed the discrepancies and corrected them before the rankings went to print. This year, however, Baylor's submissions were questioned only after the rankings were published.
Baylor holds the 51st spot in this year's USNWR rankings. Critics say it should be ranked about 58, based on more accurate data.
Baylor officials are accused of skewing the GPA and LSAT data by omitting statistics for first-year students who begin law studies in the spring or summer. Baylor allows students with less competitive GPA and LSAT scores begin classes early in the year. Students with stronger numbers start classes in the fall. By reporting data for only the fall intake, Baylor inflates the median statistics for the entire first-year law class.
Baylor officials say they did nothing wrong, and that they submit the same data to USNWR that they do to the ABA. USNWR director of data research Robert J. Morse told IHE that he and his staff will monitor Baylor data more closely in the future and "make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
Source: "False Rank," by Rob Cappricioso - Inside Higher Education, June 28, 2006
The allegations center around data supplied by Baylor on first-year students' LSAT scores and grade point averages. USNWR research staff cite three cases in recent years where Baylor officials gave 'misleading' information. In two cases, researchers noticed the discrepancies and corrected them before the rankings went to print. This year, however, Baylor's submissions were questioned only after the rankings were published.
Baylor holds the 51st spot in this year's USNWR rankings. Critics say it should be ranked about 58, based on more accurate data.
Baylor officials are accused of skewing the GPA and LSAT data by omitting statistics for first-year students who begin law studies in the spring or summer. Baylor allows students with less competitive GPA and LSAT scores begin classes early in the year. Students with stronger numbers start classes in the fall. By reporting data for only the fall intake, Baylor inflates the median statistics for the entire first-year law class.
Baylor officials say they did nothing wrong, and that they submit the same data to USNWR that they do to the ABA. USNWR director of data research Robert J. Morse told IHE that he and his staff will monitor Baylor data more closely in the future and "make sure that it doesn’t happen again."
Source: "False Rank," by Rob Cappricioso - Inside Higher Education, June 28, 2006
posted by AllStarEssays at 9:26 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home