David C. Paris, Executive Director New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability Professor of Government Hamilton College Zaneeta E. Daver, Associate Director New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability Keeping the Focus on Quality

WEBINAR: WHAT YOU SEE

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WEBINAR GOALS 1.Answer the question, Why is keeping the focus on quality important? 2.Introduce the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning & Accountability 3.Discuss Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education 4.Explain how to become a member of the Presidents’ Alliance

PRESSURE ON HIGHER EDUCATION Two questions you should always ask… The history question: How did we reach this point, come to consider a problem or proposal? What were people thinking…? The conceptual/political question: What is the problem for which this (policy, proposal, organization…) is an appropriate response or even a solution?

A BIT OF HISTORY WHY THIS, WHY NOW?:. the Feds A golden age (sorta) in American higher education ( ): expansion, opportunity/meritocracy, fiscal support, political deference, and self-regulation via accreditation. Growing dissatisfaction ( ): cost/waste, ideological antagonism, constrained finances/tax resistance, new demographics, questions about quality…..Pew survey-- “crisis of confidence”? Reauthorizations as occasions for criticisms, possible regulation.

The Spellings Commission report (2006): A Nation at Risk goes to college and flirts with No Child Left Behind (testing, testing). Raising the question of quality. A narrow escape - Lamar Alexander and his warning, “If colleges and universities do not accept more responsibility for assessment and accountability, the federal government will do it for them.” Quality as a central concern: key to persistence and completion, cost and access— meaningful degrees and the value proposition. Legitimate questions of quality, stewardship, and authority, “Are Students Learning?” (they might not be). What should “WE” do? Who are “WE” anyway? A BIT OF HISTORY WHY THIS, WHY NOW?:. the Feds

WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONDED? structure and culture

WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONDED? a decentralized, diverse, diffuse industry

WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONDED? autonomy among and within institutions (academic freedom, collegial governance )

WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONDED? THE GANDHI PROBLEM: CUI BONO? Reporter: What do you think of Western civilization? Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONDED? professional definitions and two kinds of doctors

THE PROFESSORS’ PROFESSION? AAUP 1940 “Statement of Principles,” self-regulation and tenure: the academic as judge/scholar and appropriate professional norms. What kind of profession are we now? The scholar and teacher in a future of mass higher education? The need for norms appropriate to our profession as it is now and will be. The need for norms that focus on the quality of student learning. A (teaching) profession with assessment and accountability as paths to professionalism.

SO WHY HAVEN’T “WE” RESPONED? Not enough “we”—too much pluribus, not enough unum, concerning quality and accountability. Lack of common understandings in the profession around the teaching role and its relationship to evidence—privatized, fragmented instruction and assessment. Inevitable tensions between conflicting demands, assessment vs. accountability. THUS The temptation to regulate via or apart from accreditation. Who governs “us”?

KEEPING THE FOCUS ON QUALITY What are “we” going to do about the threat of regulation and the demands for assessment and accountability (quality assurance)? January-May 2008: AAC&U and CHEA publish and promote the publication, New Leadership for Student learning and Accountability: A Statement of Principles, Commitments to Action. October 2008-March 2009: Now what? Who’s “we”? Creating an Alliance to answer the question, “Are students Learning?”

THE ALLIANCE The New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability leads the higher education community in calling for voluntary efforts to gather, use, and publicly report evidence of student learning at U.S. colleges and universities. Members of the Alliance’s board of directors lead organizations that represent thousands of colleges and universities.

READ, SHARE, DISCUSS & USE Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education provides colleges and universities with a framework for using evidence- based improvement to improve student learning. By following the guidelines, a college or university can establish an institution-wide assessment plan that will allow them to demonstrate the quality of the degrees it offers and reaffirm the value of graduating from the institution. Committing to Quality is endorsed by 33 national higher education organizations that represent thousands of colleges and universities. More than 15,000 copies have been distributed and it is available for free on the Alliance’s website.

COMMITTING TO QUALITY Is your institution setting ambitious goals?

COMMITTING TO QUALITY Is your institution gathering evidence of student learning?

COMMITTING TO QUALITY Is your institution using evidence to improve student learning?

COMMITTING TO QUALITY Is your institution reporting evidence and results?

MAKE A PUBLIC COMMITMENT The Presidents’ Alliance for Excellence in Student Learning and Accountability is a group of more than 100 college and university presidents who believe that it is important to ensure that college degrees reflect a high level of student achievement. Institutions commit, by establishing yearly Action Plans and reporting on progress, to improving strong assessment and accountability practices so that they are fully integrated into the culture of their campuses.

PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE Encouraging excellence in undergraduate education in preparation for work, life, and responsible citizenship as a core commitment of your institution. Recognizing the need to establish, strengthen, and integrate assessment practices that support continuous improvement of student learning. Being a part of collaborative initiative that will work towards improving the higher education system by influencing thinking and positively changing practices nationally.

PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE Commitment Text As a member of the Presidents’ Alliance for Excellence in Student Learning and Accountability, my institution commits to improve significantly its assessment of, and accountability for, student learning outcomes. The faculty and administrators on my campus recognize the need to establish, strengthen, and integrate assessment practices that support continuous improvement of student learning in order to ensure educational excellence. As a member of the Alliance, I will also take leadership on these issues to help organize and mobilize the higher education community in ways that influence thinking and positively change practices nationally.

PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE Commitment Text Excellence in undergraduate education in preparation for work, life, and responsible citizenship is a core commitment for my institution, and for that reason the leadership, faculty, and administrators at my institution commit to: Make continuous improvement of student learning assessment and student learning a priority on our campus. Establish new and strengthen existing assessment practices, as indicated in our Action Plan, in order to integrate student learning assessment into the culture of our institution. Use assessment findings when making decisions about educational improvement efforts. Join the appropriate reporting template for our institutional type and/or participate in externally benchmarked data collection processes. Work with the New Leadership Alliance for Student Learning and Accountability to share and publicize our work. In this spirit, I am pleased to join the Presidents’ Alliance for Excellence in Student Learning and Accountability.

PRESIDENTS’ ALLIANCE Steps to becoming a member 1.Assign a liaison. 2.Create a profile in our online Membership and Reporting System. 3.Complete an institutional profile. 4.Complete an audit of your institution’s current efforts. 5.Complete an Action Plan which describes what your institution will commit to improving over the next year. The Action Plan includes setting goals for improvement over the next 12 months and describing the steps that will be taken to accomplish those goals. 6.Submit a commitment Form signed by the institution’s CEO.

LOOK FOR FUTURE INITIATIVES Self-assessment Tool How good is your institutional assessment process? Certification Recognition for an excellent institutional assessment process. Universal Reporting Template The next generation of current templates that all institutions can use.

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