The target article seems to provide yet another illustration of the classic "It don't make no nevermind" principle in statistical analysis. In particular, relatively simple measures appear to do approximately as well as more complex measures do, even including indicators that represent nonlinear transformations of the simpler measures. The authors…

Peter Wylie is a man of many contradictions: a statistician and a storyteller, an introvert who loves an audience, and a self-described data geek with a passion for his work and the people it helps. Wylie is one of the pioneers of predictive modeling, the statistical analysis that uses data to drive educational institutions and nonprofits toward…

The "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of colleges do not affect institutions equally; the schools impacted most are those that have the most to lose because they benefit from, even rely on, the rankings for prestige and visibility. The magazine relies on the rankings for substantial sales revenues, and has garnered considerable power…

The way in which faculty reward is linked to faculty evaluation is examined. It is contended that faculty reputations continue to be important to instructional images and professional advancement of the individual and are dominant in many systems of faculty evaluation. The contradiction when faculty are evaluated on the basis of performance and…