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Measuring College Learning Responsibly

Stanford University Press

Contents

Figures and Tables..........................................................................viPreface.....................................................................................viiiAbbreviations...............................................................................xv1 Assessment and Accountability Policy Context..............................................12 Framework for Assessing Student Learning..................................................83 Brief History of Student Learning Assessment..............................................214 The Collegiate Learning Assessment........................................................445 Exemplary Campus Learning Assessment Programs.............................................706 The Centrality of Information in the Demand for Accountability............................1027 Accountability: A Delicate Instrument.....................................................1218 State Higher-Education Accountability and Learning Assessment.............................1339 Higher-Education Accountability Outside the United States.................................16110 Learning Assessment and Accountability for American Higher Education.....................183Notes.......................................................................................211References..................................................................................217Index.......................................................................................231

Chapter One

ONE MEASURE OF THE IMPACT of a National Commission Report is that it stirs debate and changes behavior. Most such reports, however, come with great fanfare and exit, almost immediately, leaving hardly a trace. The report of former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings' Commission on the Future of Higher Education-A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education-is an exception to this rule (www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/ hiedfuture/reports/final-report.pdf). It spurred and continues to spur debate; it has demonstrably changed behavior.

This chapter sets the policy context for the quest to assess undergraduates' learning and hold higher education accountable. What follows is a characterization of the Spellings Commission's recommendations and those of professional associations for a new era of accountability, along with academics' critiques of the proposals. The chapter then sketches some of the major issues underlying assessment and accountability and concludes with a vision of a new era in which learning is assessed responsibly within the context of an accountability system focused on teaching and learning improvement, while at the same informing higher education's various audiences.

Spellings Commission Findings and Recommendations

While praising the accomplishments of American higher education, the Spellings Commission said that the "system" had become complacent. "To meet the challenges of the 21st century, higher education must change from a system primarily based on reputation to one based on performance. We urge the creation of a robust culture of accountability and transparency throughout higher education" (p. 21). The Commission considered "improved accountability" (p. 4) the best instrument for change, with colleges and universities becoming "more transparent about cost, price and student success outcomes" and "willingly shar[ing] this information with students and families" (p. 4).

The Commission found fault with higher education in six areas; the three most pertinent here are:

Learning: "The quality of student learning at U.S. colleges and universities is inadequate and, in some cases, declining" (p. 3).

Transparency and accountability: There is "a remarkable shortage of clear, accessible information about crucial aspects of American colleges and universities, from financial aid to graduation rates" (p. 4).

Innovation: "Numerous barriers to investment in innovation risk hampering the ability of postsecondary institutions to address national workforce needs and compete in the global marketplace" (p. 4).

Student learning was at the heart of the Commission's vision of a transparent, consumer-oriented, comparative accountability system. Such a system would put faculty "at the forefront of defining educational objectives ... and developing meaningful, evidence-based measures" (p. 40) of the value added by a college education. The goal was to provide information to students, parents, and policy makers so they could judge quality among colleges and universities. In the Commission's words (p. 4):

Student achievement, which is inextricably connected to institutional success, must be measured by institutions on a "value-added" basis that takes into account students' academic baseline when assessing their results. This information should be made available to students, and reported publicly in aggregate form to provide consumers and policymakers an accessible, understandable way to mea sure the relative effectiveness of different colleges and universities.

The Commission was particularly tough on the current method of holding higher education accountable: accreditation. "Accreditation agencies should make performance outcomes, including completion rates and student learning, the core of their assessment as a priority over inputs or processes" (p. 41). The Commission recommended that accreditation agencies (1) provide comparisons among institutions on learning outcomes, (2) encourage progress and continual improvement, (3) increase quality relative to specific institutional missions, and (4) make this information readily available to the public.

Higher Education Responds to the Commission's Report

At about the same time that the Commission released its report, higher-education associations, anticipating the Commission's findings and recommendations and wanting to maintain control of their constituent institutions' destinies, announced their take on the challenges confronting higher education. In a "Letter to Our Members: Next Steps," the American Council on Education (ACE), American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Association of American Universities (AAU), National Association of In de pen dent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) enumerated seven challenges confronting higher education (www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section?Home&CONTENTID?18309 &TEMPLATE?/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm):

Expanding college access to low-income and minority students

Keeping college affordable

Improving learning by utilizing new knowledge and instructional techniques

Preparing secondary students for higher education

Increasing accountability for educational outcomes

Internationalizing the student experience

Increasing opportunities for lifelong education and workforce training

Perhaps the most astonishing "behavior change" came from AASCU and NASULGC. These organizations announced the creation of the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA). Agreeing with the Spellings Commission on the matter of transparency,...