University will 'validate' students, lower academic standards

In hopes of improving success rates for low-income, "racially minoritized" and first-generation students, the University of Nebraska Kearney will focus on emotional support rather than academic excellence, writes Gregory A. Brown on the Martin Center blog. The new “Ecological Validation Model for Student Success” tells professors to set expectations and assign grades based on "students' socioeconomic status or identity group."

"While supporting students is essential," Brown writes, "genuine support must rest on high expectations and consistent standards, not selective exceptions that excuse underperformance."

The “Ecological Validation Model for Student Success” is described as “rooted in the belief that students come to college with assets, strengths, and capabilities,” which should be nurtured. However, there's no focus on the "need to build new ones essential to academic and professional success," writes Brown. As a professor of exercise science in the Kinesiology and Sport Sciences department, he knows that building strength requires effort.

I note that students are described as "at promise," a phrase used to replace "at risk." That positivity could mask the fact that some students, despite their assets, strengths and capabilities, have serious academic challenges. They may have trouble reading academic texts, writing research papers, understanding advanced math or keeping up in college history, economics and political science classes.

In theory, the model is based on the successful Thompson Scholars Learning Community (TSLC), which supports a small number of low-income and first-generation students at University of Nebraska campuses, writes Brown. Thompson Scholars, chosen via a competitive admissions process, benefit from "extensive academic support, including specialized general-education courses, dedicated advising, structured study groups, high expectations, and a strong peer network." The program, well-funded by private donations, "emphasizes rigor and structure."

The Ecological Validation Model tries expand the boutique program "to the entire student body without preserving its academic expectations or funding levels," writes Brown. "Most notably, the new model promotes the negotiability of core academic requirements —deadlines, attendance, and grading — based primarily on whether a student is low-income, first-generation, or a racial minority."

For example, professors are "urged to consider students’ cultural expectations regarding time management" when deciding whether to enforce due dates for assignments and attendance policies. Students can ask for grades to be raised "based on personal circumstances rather than academic performance."

The model "risks reinforcing harmful racial and ethnic stereotypes," writes Brown. It is likely to harm the students it wants to help by teaching them to "justify underperformance rather than overcome it."

All students should have the opportunity to develop accountability, resilience, time management, and content mastery — qualities essential for lifelong success. Lowering standards in the name of equity isn’t compassionate; it’s condescending.

Universities should offer tutoring, counseling and mentoring to all students, he writes. Faculty and staff should help students access these resources, regardless of their race, identity or socioeconomic status. But don't tell students they can't meet the same standards as their more advantaged classmates.

"Student success," as judged by degrees awarded, no doubt will rise as standards fall. But once UNK graduates try to find a job, they'll find their degrees aren't worth much.

Many UNK students come from lower-income families. About 12 percent are Hispanic; very few are black or Asian-American. Most students are female, and the most popular major is elementary education. The university also turns out quite a few of the state's school counselors and psychologists. Do school districts care if new employees require ecological validation? Maybe not.

UNK is not alone, Brown concludes. Across the country, colleges and universities are replacing intellectual rigor and personal responsibility with emotional validation, identity-based accommodations, and vague notions of “belonging.”