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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Given the things you like about Reed, you might also want to consider other liberal arts schools that focus on undergraduate education. USNews has such a list, based on reputation (Reed ranks at #16):

1. Carleton
2. Amherst
3. Agnes Scott
3. Bowdoin
3. Davidson
6. Grinnell
6. Swarthmore
8. Bates
9. Colorado College
9. Pomona
11. Macalester
11. Wellesley
13. Bryn Mawr
13. College of Wooster
15. Middlebury
16. Berea
16. Reed
16. Smith
19. Kenyon
19. Spelman

etc. (https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/undergraduate-teaching)[/quote]

As a Williams grad, I'm stunned at how low the College is in undergraduate teaching (23rd).  Haven't looked at the methodology for the ranking, but I hope Williams is trying to see if they have a real problem which can be addressed.[/quote]

Real problem ?

Undergrad teaching is probably the best at community colleges and at the least selective schools. Why ? because the students need to be spoon fed since many are not motivated to engage in deep intellectual thought.

For intelligent, motivated students, disruptive, thought-provoking guidance is far more important than having a PhD hand feed material to students.[/quote]

Good teaching is NOT spoon feeding students. It is engaging them in opportunities for critical thinking and growth. [/quote]

I agree & I understand. But I suspect that the ratings & rankings are based upon how "nice" profs are & how easy-to-understand a prof makes the material seem to be.[/quote]

It's based on reputation: "In the spring and summer of 2022, U.S. News & World Report asked top academics to name the schools they believe have faculty with an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching... The lists, organized by U.S. News ranking categories, include the colleges that received the most nominations. They are ranked in descending order based on the number of top-15 nominations they received. Schools had to receive seven or more nominations to be ranked." (https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/undergraduate-teaching-methodology)[/quote]

As we all have read repeatedly over the years, these type of opinion surveys are about as unscientific as a survey can be. Many "top academics" and "top administrators" have admitted to a lack of knowledge about other schools and a willingness to sabotage competitors by responding in a way that ranks peer competitor schools much lower than the surveyed academic believes that those schools should be.[/quote]

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