High Focus, High Impact:Charting Intentional Pathways for

New Student Success

AAC&U Institute on High-Impact Practices and Student Success

Burlington, VermontJune 14, 2011

Carol Geary Schneider

A Guiding Vision for Inclusive Excellence and

Student Success

Contemporary

Compelling

Transparent

Achieved

Two National Dialogues about Student Learning in College

“Underserved Student Success” – U.S. Success

American Capability

Our Challenge:

Merging the Two Dialogues

Creating a Compelling Guiding Vision

Fulfilling the PromiseEven in the Midst of Economic Contraction

The National Dialogue on “Student Success” – U.S. Success

Economic need for higher levels of skill and knowledge

But the U.S. has lost its international leadership in college completion

Most of our growth in enrollment comes from underserved communities

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment by Race

Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 2006. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, no. 158 (2005)

Twenty-Five to Twenty-Nine Year Olds

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment by Family Income

Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 2006. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, no. 158 (2005)

8.6%

Markers of “Student Success”

Enrollment

Persistence

Successful Transfer

Degree Completion

The Emerging Dialogue on American Capability

Three Locations:

On Campus

EmployersAAC&U – Connecting Educators and EmployersLumina Foundation – The Degree Qualifications

Profile

The World Itself is Demanding More…

Disruptive Global and Social Change

Diversity as a Daily Reality

Epochal Choices Facing U.S. Citizens– e.g., Sustainability, Inequality, Energy,

Education

Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions

Productivity Is Now Tied to Learning…

Half Life of Industries, Companies, Jobs, and Skills Decreasing

Today's Students Will Have 10-14 Jobs by the Time They Are 38

50% of Workers Have Been With Their Company Less Than 5 Years– 25% Less than 1 Year

Breadth, Depth, & Applications of Academic Preparation Are Expanding

DOL-BLS

The Growing Demand for Higher Order SkillsSource: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index

Employers Are Raising the Bar

91% of employers say that they are “asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past”

90% of employers say that their “employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past.”

88% of employers say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.”

88% of employers agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past”

Source: “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Associates, 2010)

Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success

and Earnings

“Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students’ development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities…”

Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown UniversityCenter on Education and the Workforce

2000-2005 – Greater Expectations

A National Dialogue About Goals and Effective Practices in College Learning

2005-2015 – Liberal Education and America’s Promise

(LEAP) A Ten-Year Effort to Make

Excellence Inclusive

Preparing Students for Twenty-First Century Realities

The National Discussion About the Quality of Learning—and Whether Students Are Actually Prepared for

These New Realities—Is Accelerating

LEAP Frames That Dialogue

The Essential Aims and Outcomes

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

Intellectual and Practical Skills

Personal and Social Responsibility

Integrative Learning

Liberal Education is the Key to American Capability

Markers of Liberal Education and American Capability

Evidence that Students Can Apply the Essential Learning Outcomes to

Complex, Unscripted Problems – and Real-World Settings

How Well Are Graduates Achieving the

Essential Learning Outcomes?

20

Employers Evaluate College Graduates’ Preparedness In Key

Areas

TeamworkEthical judgmentIntercultural skillsSocial responsibilityQuantitative reasoningOral communicationSelf-knowledgeAdaptabilityCritical thinkingWritingSelf-directionGlobal knowledge

Meanrating*

7.06.96.96.76.76.66.56.36.36.15.95.7

*ratings on 10-point scale: 10 = recent college graduates are extremely well prepared on each quality to succeed in entry level positions or be promoted/advance within the company

Very well prepared

(8-10 ratings)*39%38%38%35%32%30%28%24%22%26%23%18%

Not well prepared

(1-5 ratings)*17%19%19%21%23%23%26%30%31%37%42%46%

Global Knowledge and Skills

- Less than 13% of college students achieve basic competence in a language other than English

- Less than 34% of college students earn credit for an international studies class; of those who do, only 13% take more than four classes

- Less than 10% of college students participate in study abroad programs

- Between 5 and 10% of college students meet all criteria for global competence

Clifford Adelman, “Global Preparedness” of Pre-9/11 College Graduates: what the US Longitudinal Studies Say,” Tertiary Education and Management 10 (2004): 243

Knowledge in the Arts and Sciences

First-generation students take fewer courses than others in mathematics, science, social studies, humanities, history, foreign languages, or computer science.

From National Center for Education Statistics, First-Generation Students in Postsecondary Education: A Look at Their College Transcripts. (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2005).

ETS Reports the Following on Intellectual Skills:

Seniors “proficient” in critical thinking 8%

Seniors “proficient” at level 3 writing 10%

Seniors “proficient” at level 3 math 10%

NSSE 2009 Reports on Personal and Social Responsibility

Limited*Gains:

Understanding people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds 43%

Developing a personal code of values and ethics: 40%

Contributing to the welfare of your community 50%

* Some/very little

Findings from Academically Adrift

45% of students did not demonstrate significant improvement in their writing or critical thinking skills during their first two years of college (based on CLA results)

36% of students did not significantly improve on these outcomes

over 4 years of college

Half of all students report taking five or fewer courses requiring 20

pages of writing in the previous semester

On average, students spend only about 12-14 hours per week

studying – not 2 or 3 hours for each hour in class

Findings of limited learning gains replicated in Wabash Center

study (using CAAP-CT scores)

Sources: Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa Academically Adrift (SSRC, 2010); Arum, Richard, Jospia Roksa, and Esther Cho, “Improving Undergraduate Learning: Findings and Policy Recommendations from the SSRC-CLA Longitudinal Project,” (SSRC, 2010); Pascarella, Ernest T., Charles Blaich, et al. “How Robust are the Findings of Academically Adrift,” Change (Taylor and Francis, May/June 2011).

Additional Findings from Academically Adrift

Those scoring in the top 10% (more than 1.5 standard deviation growth) on CLA include students from all backgrounds and students from a wide array of institutions

When students report that their faculty have high expectations,

students learn more – as measured by CLA score gains.

When students take courses that require more reading and writing,

students learn more – as measured by CLA score gains.

Students focusing their studies in humanities/social science and

science/math courses learn more – as measured by CLA score gains.

Sources: Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa Academically Adrift (SSRC, 2010); Arum, Richard, Jospia Roksa, and Esther Cho, “Improving Undergraduate Learning: Findings and Policy Recommendations from the SSRC-CLA Longitudinal Project,” (SSRC, 2010); Pascarella, Ernest T., Charles Blaich, et al. “How Robust are the Findings of Academically Adrift,” Change (Taylor and Francis, May/June 2011).

The Essential Aims and Outcomes

Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

Intellectual and Practical Skills

Personal and Social Responsibility

Integrative Learning

Liberal Education is the Key to American Capability

Our Challenge

Merging the Two Dialogues

Creating a Compelling Vision that Makes Inclusive Excellence the Key to “Student Success”

Supporting Student Success and Inclusive Excellence

Access/Persistence

The Essential Learning Outcomes

High Impact Practices

Accountability for Assessments That Focus and Deepen Essential Learning

High Impact Practices:

What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter

by George D. Kuh

(LEAP report, October 2008, www.aacu.org)

The Crucial Role of High-Impact Educational Practices

First-Year Seminars and Experiences 

Common Intellectual Experiences

Learning Communities

Writing-Intensive Courses

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

“Science as Science Is Done”/Undergraduate Research

Diversity/Global Learning

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

Internships

Capstone Courses and Projects

0.50

0.55

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

0.90

0.95

1.00

-2 -1 0 1 2

Educationally Purposeful Activities (standardized)

Pro

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bily

t o

f R

etu

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African American

White/Caucasian

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on the Probability of Returning for the Second Year of College by Race

**From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

-2 -1 0 1 2Educationally Purposeful Activities

(standardized)

Fir

st-y

ear

GP

A

ACT 28 ACT 24 ACT 20

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on First Academic Year GPA by Pre-College Achievement Level

*From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

-2 -1 0 1 2

Educationally Purposeful Activities (standardized)

Fir

st-y

ear

GP

A

HispanicWhite

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on First Academic Year GPA by Race/Ethnicity

**From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

38%

54%

48%

63%

65%

68%

73%

69%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Latina/o Respondents Other Respondents

Percentage Graduating "On Time"

(i.e., in 2006-07)

None 1 HIP 2 HIPs 3 or more HIPs

[V = .109 (.094)][V = .255 (.007)]

Impact of Participation in High-Impact Practices on Percentage of Senior NSSE Respondents Graduating on Time, by Racial and Ethnic

Background

Source: Does Participation in Multiple High Impact Practices Affect Student Success at Cal State Northridge? by Bettina Huber (unpublished paper, 2010).

Do High-Impact Practices Foster Essential Learning Outcomes?

Five High-Impact Practices: Research

on Learning Outcomes, Completion,

and Quality Lynn Swaner and Jayne Brownell

(AAC&U, 2010)

The Good News

High Impact Practices

Do Foster Gains on

Essential Learning Outcomes

Practices that Put Students’ Learning

at the Center

High Engagement (Peers, Mentors, Unscripted Questions)

High Effort (by Students)

High Reward (for Learning)

Mixed NewsParticipation rates (%) for seniors in selected HIPs by race

Source: “Assessment of High-Impact Practices: Using Findings to Drive Change in the Compass Project,” by Ashley Finley, Spring 2011 forthcoming issue, Peer Review.

60

50

40

30

20

10

Charting Intentional Pathways for Student Success

Give Students a Compass and Roadmap – and

Educators TooSHARED Responsibility for Essential Learning Outcomes

New Focus on Practices that Foster Persistence AND Learning

Scaffold High Impact/High Effort Practices Across the Curriculum

Thematic Learning CommunitiesCollaborative ProjectsUndergraduate ResearchCommunity-Based LearningInternships – Supervised and EvaluatedSenior Projects

Engage the Departments

General Education – Necessary But Not Sufficient

Every Major Plays a Crucial Role in Students’ Achievement of the Essential Learning Outcomes

Map the Pathways from Two-Year to Four-Year Study

The Lumina Degree Profile – in Brief – Provides a Template of Competencies Required for the

Award of Degrees

Lumina Degree Profile

Three Degree Levels: Associate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s

Framed as Successively Inclusive Hierarchies of “Action” Verbs to Describe Outcomes at Each Degree Level

Intended as a “Beta” Version, for Testing, Experimentation, and Further Development Beginning This Year

Organization of the Degree Profile

Five areas of learning

Specialized knowledge

Broad, integrative knowledge

Intellectual Skills

Applied Learning

Civic Learning

Across All These Areas and Levels

Students’ Actual Work Becomes

the Focus of Educational Attention

The Degree Profile Shifts Our Collective Attention to What Students Actually Do:

Research, Projects, Papers, Performances, Creative Work… Applied Learning!

The Degree Profile Invites Faculty and Staff

to Focus on…

Intentional Assignments that Develop Competence Integrative Milestone Performances that Provide

Evidence of Competence and of Students’ Ability to Tackle Complex Questions and Problems

When the Curriculum is Focused,Assessment Can Draw from High

Impact Practices

For example: the papers, projects, exhibits, research, internships, capstones, etc. that the Degree Profile emphasizes

The Proof is in the Portfolio – and Institutions That Are Rich in High

Impact Practices Are Poised to Lead the Way

In Sum: Students Need to Know the

Outcomes the Degree Represents – and Why They Matter

Students Also Need to Know that Their Best Work is Expected

And Their Actual Work is the Most Important Evidence We Have About Whether They Can Integrate and Apply Their Knowledge to New Contexts and New Challenges

An Accountability Framework Worthy of Our Mission

Shared Goals – That Build American CapabilityHigh Impact Practices that Support Essential

Learning Outcomes and CompletionDisaggregated Data – That Shine a Light on

Underserved Students’ Progress and Achievement

Students’ Best Work – Sampled and Synthesized For Public Reporting

Campus-Wide Commitment – and Capacity – to Use Our Evidence to

Support Essential Learning And Inclusive Excellence

This is Our Crossroads Moment…

Making Excellence Inclusive is Fundamental to Our Future