Although they have been developed for a variety of purposes, classification systems for tertiary or postsecondary education institutions offer a foundation for recognizing diverse institutional missions in policy, research, and practice. Diverse missions, in turn, are important to achieving broad societal goals of educating an increasingly diverse array of learners, contributing to scientific, technological and professional development, and addressing increasingly complex social issues in an increasingly interconnected global community. After reviewing the purposes and consequences, intended and unintended, of several popular classifications, this article addresses the potential for current or future classification systems to promote and support institutional differentiation. Specifically, we consider how appropriately designed classifications can properly recognize mission differentiation and assess the future prospects for contextualizing performance and accountability assessments through the lens of classification.

中文翻译：

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考虑到不同的任务：分类系统是否有助于对机构绩效进行有意义的评估？

尽管它们是为各种目的而开发的，但高等教育或高等教育机构的分类系统为识别政策、研究和实践中的不同机构使命奠定了基础。反过来，多样化的使命对于实现广泛的社会目标非常重要，即教育越来越多样化的学习者，促进科学、技术和专业发展，以及在日益相互联系的全球社区中解决日益复杂的社会问题。在回顾了几种流行分类的目的和后果（有意和无意）之后，本文讨论了当前或未来分类系统促进和支持制度差异化的潜力。具体来说，