strengthening student success conference october 7 – 9, 2009 assessing and improving student...

Strengthening Student Success Conference October 7 – 9, 2009

Assessing and Improving Student Learning

throughout Student Services

Presenters from Sacramento City College:Kimberlee Beyrer, M.Ed. – Student Leadership and

Development Coordinator Gwyneth Tracy, Ed.D. – DSP&S Coordinator &

CounselorRichard Erlich, M.Ed. – Counselor/Transfer Center

Director


Presentation Overview

1. Three perspectives on assessing student learning in 3 different Student Service units

2. Aligning unit level SLOs to Student Services Program Learning Outcomes (ProLOs)

3. Aligning Program Learning Outcomes and General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs)

4. Questions from Audience


Student Leadership and Development

History:

- SLD did not evaluate or assess when I started in Fall 1999

- I started small and kept it simple: I asked, “What does my department do?”

- I clearly defined SLD’s mission and goals


Relevant Questions

Next I considered relevant questions:– Why do we need to assess our program?– What specifically needs to be assessed? Will

the outcomes be useful and meaningful?– Who will be assessed and who will see the

data?– When will all this happen? What will the timeline

for data collection be and who will be responsible?

– How will we assess and how will we analyze, report, and use the data?


Taking Action

Answering the relevant questions gave me direction as I began to take action:– Research and use of resources– Creation of tools– Implementation of first Leadership Assessments

in Fall 2004– Updated tools to reflect the Social Change

Model of Leadership and began use last year Reference or base tools off of credible and

supportive literature in your field


Benefits

All of these tools offer benefits:– Status check with your mission and goals– Clear link to division and college goals– Informs current and future practices– Evidence of credibility


Leadership AssessmentsA hybrid-quantitative & qualitative

measures:– Fall or pre-test: used to educate and empower

learners and teachers, creating a more intentional educational process

– Spring or post-test: used to determine the level of self-assessed improvement as a result of involvement in SLD programs and activities

– Advisor assessment: the Advisor’s assessment of their students’ improvement over the past year as a result of involvement in SLD programs and activities

– Outcomes report


Student Learning Outcomesfor

Disability Services and Programs for Students (DSPS)


Student Learning Outcome #1

At completion of meeting with a DSPS counselor, students will be able to self advocate for their accommodations on campus in classrooms and in counseling sessions.


Quantitative measures:

Instructor notification letters and Proctored testing usage

If a student makes the effort to complete a Service Request to generate an instructor letter, we believe he/she is demonstrating self-advocacy and taking action to obtain necessary and appropriate accommodations which indicate also that he/she already met with a DRC counselor or LD specialist at some point to have the accommodations identified and approved.


Instructor Notification Letters

If a student makes the effort to come by and actually pick up the letters it is another step of self-advocacy which indicates their intention of using their accommodations. There are times a student may put in a service request for accommodations, but not follow through. At that point, they have stopped advocating for their needs and accommodations that would support them in academic success.


Proctored Testing Use

This indicates full self-advocacy. The student has applied for accommodations and picked up the letters and actually delivered the letters to instructors to receive these accommodations. Additionally they had to make appointments with the proctoring center, indicating a higher level of commitment to their success and self-advocacy.


Qualitative Measures

Survey students to find out why they did not pick up instructor letters and why they did not use approved proctored testing.

Survey instructors to assess students’ self advocacy when delivering instructor notification letters.


Data Analysis

Instructor Letters Proctored TestingYear Students

Approved Students

Used%

Used

2007 515 307 60%

2008 448 278 62%

Year Student Request Letters

Student Letters:

No Pick-Up

% Student Pick-Up

2007 539 152 72%

2008 528 194 64%


Data Analysis (cont).

Qualitative Analysis Themes

Students did not pick up instructor letters:1. Forgot2. Confused about process3. Chose not to use or dropped class

Students did not use proctored testing:1. Did not know they could2. Felt did not need extra time

Instructor interviews:Students self advocated, turned in letters, established rapport and/or discussed accommodations


Conclusion and Next Step Increase number of Instructor Notification Letters

picked up by Students Increase number of students who use their

accommodation of proctored testing Implement evaluation of SLO # 2:

Students will be able to assess current and potential job-related skills, plan for long-term career growth, and obtain comprehensive job-seeking strategies taking into consideration accommodations at work and self-advocacy skills at work.


Transfer Center

SLO#1: Build in their capacity for engaging in personal, academic, and career development.

Academic planning was chosen to assessStart small and gain experience with

assessment


Assessing Student Learning in Academic Planning

- Recognize, choose, and plan using General Education pattern for Associate Degree

- Recognize, choose, and plan using Associate Degree majors

- Recognize, choose, and plan using CSU General Education Breadth pattern and/or IGETC

- Recognize, choose, and plan using Articulation agreements for majors found on ASSIST


Insert Counselor Rubric


Assessment Method, Results, & Conclusions

Pre-Post DesignN = 56 studentsStatistic – t test – comparison of means for

pre/post measuresResults significant at p< .000Conclusion – Students were evaluated as

demonstrating increased understanding of academic planning content


Improvements

One perspective is not enoughCreate a measure for students’ assessment

of their learning pre/post

Benefits- Would provide another perspective

to compare with counselor’s

- Can track counselor and students’ assessments over time

both individually and aggregated


Student Services Program Learning Outcomes (ProLOs)7 Theme Areas Identified (See Handout)19 learning outcomes – (See Handout)3 year discussion across Student ServicesAdopted by Academic Senate - May 2008Administrative support provided release timeSLO Advisory Group – Subcommittee in Academic

SenateEach Student Service Unit aligned their SLOs with

Student Services Division ProLOs in Program Review


General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs)

GE Learning Outcome Development Process

Steps in GELO “theme” development- College-wide workshops with Instruction, Student Services, & Student collaboration

- Task group development of specific SLOs for each of 7 GELO “theme” areas


GELO Theme Areas

Communication

Quantitative Reasoning

Depth & Breadth of Understanding

Cultural Competency

Information Competency

Critical Thinking

Life Skills and Personal Development


Alignment of Student Services ProLOs and GELOs (See Handout) Institutional alignment of learning outcomes that

facilitates mutual collaboration between Instruction and Student Services on meeting common learning

outcomes Promotes creating and developing learning

assessment methods that can be mutually shared between Instruction and Student Services on common learning outcomes


Audience Questions


Contact Information

Kimberlee Beyrer

[email protected]

Gwyneth Tracy

[email protected]

Richard Erlich

[email protected]

strengthening student success conference october 7 – 9, 2009 assessing and improving student...

Documents

student leadership

student learning outcomes

student services presenters

field slide

students dsps slide

leadership assessments

relevant questions

activities outcomes