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Conclusion |
| The evolving national conversation regarding higher
education’s academic outcomes, buttressed by data showing significant proficiency gaps for college graduates, make clear that the call for better
measurement of learning outcomes cannot be evaded. At the same time, university leaders are eager for tools that strengthen their instructional programs,
and unfolding advances in value-added measures offer prime opportunities for doing so. Failing to take advantage of these opportunities may leave higher
education vulnerable to “one size fits all” solutions that yield little useful information or do little to advance states’ human capital
needs.
Accountability for learning outcomes has evolved considerably, but the United States’ competitiveness in the global higher education market demands
better information about its product. Resisting the call for more robust learning assessment means ignoring an opportunity to significantly strengthen
the postsecondary pipeline and implies a willingness to settle for something less than first place in the race to build human capital. National organizations,
accrediting agencies, state policymakers, and campus and system leaders must push forward in this area to ensure that the nation remains a world leader
in higher education. |
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Appendix A: Resources |
American Council on Education and the Association for Institutional Research. The 2001 report, Measuring Quality: Choosing Among Surveys
and Other Assessments of College Quality, provides a guide to 27 national assessment instruments and services.
airweb.org/images/measurequality.pdf
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Focused on the quality of undergraduate liberal education, AAC&U supports several
assessment initiatives, including the Project on Accreditation and Assessment. This project aims to influence revisions of accreditation standards to place
greater emphasis on student achievement and has worked to build consensus among regional and national accreditors and higher education associations on outcomes
for, and methods of, assessing liberal learning.
aacu.org/issues/assessment
Collegiate Results Survey (CRS). CRS, designed by Robert Zemsky at the University of Pennsylvania, measures the contributions institutions make
to the academic achievement and subsequent lives of their graduates.
stanford.edu/group/ncpi/unspecified/students_parents_toolkit/cri.html
Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA). The Council for Aid to Education, in partnership with RAND, has undertaken the CLA project, an initiative
to assess the quality of undergraduate education by measuring the value added or the institutional contribution to student learning.
cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm
National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI). NCPI at Stanford University (Calif.) has conducted research on assessment of student learning
and its relationship to public accountability systems and regional accreditation. In 2004, NCPI officially concluded its activities, but research findings,
publications, and toolkits remain available on the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research website.
stanford.edu/group/ncpi/index.html
National Center on Public Policy and Higher Education. When the National Center produced its first national report card on higher education in
2000, it brought national attention to the fact that there were no available data to grade states on student learning. The 2004 edition of Measuring Up
presented, for the first time, data on student learning from a five-state pilot conducted by the National Forum on College-Level Learning.
highereducation.org
National Forum on College-Level Learning. The National Forum developed a model to measure across states what college students know and are able
to do. Results of its five-state pilot study make it possible to assess both the intellectual capital available to states and the contributions their colleges
and universities collectively make to it. (Pilot states were: Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, Oklahoma, and South Carolina)
collegelevellearning.org
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE, headquartered at Indiana University, measures empirically confirmed “good practices”
in undergraduate education—behaviors by students and institutions that are associated with desired outcomes of college. Project DEEP (Documenting
Effective Educational Practice) at the NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice takes this a step further, identifying practices of successful
institutions and using this information to help institutions increase student success.
nsse.iub.edu/index.cfm |
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Appendix B
State/System Level Assessment of College-Level Learning:
Selected Findings from a SHEEO/AASCU Survey 1 |
Arkansas
State policy requires a rising junior test for all students (ACT CAAP). Since 2001, institutions have been permitted to develop alternative assessment
plans, including sample-based approaches, as long as they assess student achievement in writing/English, math, general education science, and critical thinking
or reading.
Colorado
The state has implemented performance contracts that require institutions to work with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to develop a universal
assessment of the “value added” of each institution’s general education curriculum.
Florida
Students in all public institutions are required to pass the College-Level Academic Skills Project (CLASP) achievement test to receive an associate’s
degree or be admitted to upper-division status. The test consists of four subtests: essay, English language skills, reading, and mathematics.
Georgia
All public four-year and two-year institutions currently use NSSE/CCSSE.
Kansas
The legislature requires the Kansas Board of Regents to contract with institutions for performance funding. All institutions must address the goal to “Improve
Learner Outcomes” but there is no standardized instrument or measure.
Kentucky
Public institutions are required to administer NSSE/CCSSE biannually to help measure the state’s progress in preparing college graduates for life
and work in Kentucky. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education has requested funds to administer the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and ACT
WorkKeys in 2008.
As part of performance funding, institutions select one indicator that accounts for 20 percent of the overall calculation of their performance funding allocation.
Northern Kentucky University and Western Kentucky University have selected NSSE as their choice variable for measuring performance.
Maryland
The Maryland Higher Education Commission requires institutions to report on five student learning outcomes in their outcomes assessment reports: written
and oral communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, technological competency, and information literacy. These
are the competencies identified in the Middle States’ accreditation process.
Minnesota
Graduates of colleges and universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System participate in a follow-up survey that includes questions
designed to assess whether their programs prepared them for employment in their career areas.
Missouri
Missouri has a Consortium on Measuring Value Added Student Learning that began a formal relationship with CAE/Rand last year. During year one, 23 institutions
used the CLA; 17 are using it for year two. Information will be used by the state coordinating board to inform state-level assessment policy.
New York
The State University of New York (SUNY) is in the process of implementing a system-wide assessment of general education and academic majors across its 64
campuses.
North Carolina
All public four-year institutions currently conduct a graduate/alumni survey and use NSSE.
North Dakota
Public institutions administer the NSSE/CCSSE, the ACT alumni survey, and a locally-initiated employer satisfaction survey.
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education require that public institutions conduct assessment at entry, mid-level (or general education), exit (program
outcomes), and student satisfaction and report these annually. Institutions have flexibility to “develop criteria and select assessment mechanisms.”
Oregon
The Oregon University System conducts a graduate survey every two years. Surveys of employer satisfaction are under development.
Pennsylvania
All universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education administer an alunmi survey on student satisfaction and level of preparation. About
half use NSSE.
Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Board of Governors requires all public four-year and two-year institutions to adopt NSSE/CCSSE for periodic assessment and reporting.
The Board has required all public institutions to have outcomes assessment in place in all degree programs and in general education by 2008.
South Carolina
All public two-year institutions administer ACT WorkKeys.
South Dakota
The ACT Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) is used by all public four-year institutions in the state, as is NSSE. A state-developed Information
Literacy exam, required as part of the System General Education Requirements, is in the pilot stage.
Tennessee
Assessment of general education has been a component of Tennessee’s performance funding program for many years. Institutions can choose the Academic
Profile, California Critical Thinking Skills Test, or College BASE for foundation testing. Institutions also administer an Enrolled Student Survey, Alumni
Survey, and Employer Survey.
Texas
All public institutions use ACT CAAP, as well as the Texas Higher Education Assessment. Each institution in the UT system participates in NSSE and CLA.
Vermont
The Vermont State Colleges assess graduation standards in writing, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, and oral communication. Colleges in the
system design their own assessments for the common system-wide standards.
Virginia
Each public institution creates a plan to assess competency in written communication, information technology/literacy, scientific reasoning, quantitative
reasoning, oral communication, and critical thinking. The plans are reviewed by staff at peer institutions in the Commonwealth and the staff of the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
West Virginia
The WV Higher Education Policy Commission has provided funding support for institutions interested in using CLA, but there is no mandate to participate.
Seven institutions currently participate.
Wisconsin
All public institutions (not including the technical college system) use NSSE/CCSSE. Four-year institutions administer the ACT Alumni Survey.
Wyoming
The state’s community colleges survey employers of their graduates biannually. Survey data are used to ascertain employer satisfaction with graduates’
skills and abilities as they are applied on the job.
The Community College Commission mandates the use of the AACC Core Indicators of Effectiveness. Several community colleges use the CAAP tests to assess
critical literacy skills as part of their assessment plans. Additionally, several use internal measures and other instruments to demonstrate critical literacy
skills. |
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| 1 Source: State Higher Education
Executive officers/American Association of State Colleges and Universities Inquiry on Assessment of Student Learning, February 2006 |
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