What the Heck is Going on with Assessment and Accountability?

MSCHE Student Learning Assessment InstituteSeptember 2009

Linda Suskie, Vice PresidentMiddle States Commission on Higher Education

3624 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19104Web: www.msche.org E-mail: LSuskie@msche.org

The US Accreditation “System”

• Regional accreditors– All require liberal arts foundation– Oldest, strongest reputation

• National accreditors– Colleges without liberal arts foundation

• Specialized accreditors– Mostly programs, not colleges

• State licensure

• All accreditors voluntary, membership-controlled• Students can receive Federal financial aid only if they attend a

college accredited by a Federally-recognized accreditor.

1965 Higher Education Act (HEA)

• Title IV funds go only to colleges accredited by Federally recognized accreditors.– Pell, SEOG, Trio, Migrant grants– Federally-insured student loans

• Accreditors must comply with HEA criteria to be recognized.

1980s and 1990s

• HEA reauthorization– 1986: First outcomes

assessment language– 1998: Assessment

language strengthened– Regional accreditors

rewrote standards to emphasize assessment of student learning outcomes

• “Learning-centered” movement– 1980s: Movement—

and assessment movement—began

– 1995: Barr & Tagg’s seminal article in Change published

2000s: Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)

• Developed by Rand• Published by Council for the Advancement of

Education (CAE)

2007: Commission on the Future of Higher Education(“Spellings Commission”)

• Chaired by Charles Miller• Concluded

– College graduates are less well-educated• Based on National Assessment of Adult Literacy

– Accreditors look at inputs, not outcomes• Recommended

– Comparable assessments– Value-added assessments

Today: A Changing World

• Higher ed’s historic lack of interest in economy, efficiency, & effectiveness

• Higher ed’s historic reticence…arrogance?• Shifting public policy

– Higher education is more a private than public good.– More cost shifted to student

• Broadening market for higher education– Most well-paying jobs require post-secondary education– Students & families want

• Better pay, not necessarily a richer education• Assurance they’ll get their money’s worth

How to Stop the Madness?

Point to Existing & Forthcoming Public Resources

• College Navigator (USED)• College Board• Education Trust• USA Today/NSSE• US News & World Report• Kiplinger’s• Barron’s• Washington Monthly

• College Portrait (NASULGC/AASCU)

• U-CAN (NAICU)• Transparency by Design

(President’s Forum of Excelsior College)

• National Association of System Heads

Recognize that Every Measure of Institutional Effectiveness is Imperfect

• Retention & graduation rates• Published instruments• “Comparable” measures• Value-added measures

Tell the Story of Your Institution’s Effectiveness to Your Key Audiences

• How do you define a successful student?

• What (systematic) evidence do you have that students meet your definition of success?

• How effective are you in ensuring that your students achieve their goals in a timely fashion?

• All in 25 words or less!

• Transparent, easy to find