Life After VSA: An Update

Oklahoma Association of Institutional Research and Planning Fall 2009 Conference

October 23, 2009

Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)

Initiative for public universities to supply basic, comparable information on the undergraduate student experience to important constituencies through a common web report – the College Portrait.

Sponsored by APLU & AASCU. Funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education.

VSA Goals

• Provide a useful tool for students during the college search process • Assemble information that is transparent, comparable, and understandable • Demonstrate accountability and stewardship to public • Measure educational outcomes to identify and enhance effective educational practices

Multiple Audiences

•

Prospective students and families

• High school, community college counselors • Policymakers and elected officials • Campus faculty and staff • Accrediting associations, institution and state boards • Taxpayers and public-at-large

VSA Participation

• 329 institutions from 49 states and Puerto Rico, including 7 from Oklahoma (10/05/09) • 63% of 520 APLU & AASCU institutions • 250+ College Portraits posted on

www.collegeportraits.org

VSA Context

• Perceived lack of useful and transparent data preventing institutions from demonstrating accountability and contribution to public good (

Spellings Commission

) • Policymakers and employers demand evidence of educational outcomes – particularly broad transferable skills

A Community Effort

• Concept outlined in APLU white papers, refined through feedback from members • Strengthened by AASCU endorsement • Structure developed by task forces presidents, provosts, student affairs, IR – 82 members from 70 institutions – Input from associations and larger HE community

Result: College Portrait

Free web report that communicates user-friendly, consistent information about college campuses.

• Student & Family Information • Student Experiences & Perceptions • Student Learning Outcomes

www.collegeportraits.org

Student & Family Information

• Institution description, highlights • Student characteristics • Cost of attendance, net cost calculator • Success & progress rate • Degree programs, class sizes • Post graduation plans

Introduction to Campus Community Campus Defined Buttons Menu links take users to each section and data element

Success & Progress Rate

 Developed as alternative to IPEDS graduation rate  Focuses on student success in higher education system  Tracks student progress across 2-year and 4-year institutions using NSC data  New cohort query available to all Student Tracker users

Student Experiences & Perceptions

• Selected senior responses from one of 4 surveys: NSSE, CSS, CSEQ, UCUES • Snapshot of student experiences on campus within 6 common areas – group learning – interaction with faculty – institutional commitment – active learning – diversity experiences – student satisfaction

6 Common Constructs Selected responses from Seniors

Student Learning Outcomes Learning gains in critical thinking, analytic reasoning, written communication measured at institution level Reported in a common format using CAAP, CLA or MAPP

Student Learning Outcomes Test Validity Study

Funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE).

Background

• VSA measures value-added for student learning outcomes of critical thinking and written communications.

• VSA offers a choice of three tests of student learning outcomes: CAAP, CLA and MAPP. • Testing companies agreed to adopt the same value-added methodology and reporting format, controlling for entering student quality.

• Validity study needed to ensure that the three tests produced consistent scores.

Methodology

• Students take each of the three tests.

• 13 tests administered to 1,100+ students at 13 universities • 13 tests components of CLA, CAAP, MAPP – 4 tests of critical thinking – 2 tests of reading – 2 tests of mathematics – 4 tests of writing – 1 test of science

Participating Universities

• Alabama A&M • Arizona State • Boise State • California State Northridge • Florida State • MIT • Trinity College • University of Colorado Denver • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor • University of Minnesota, Twin Cities • University of Texas, El Paso • University of Vermont • University of Wisconsin, Stout

Conclusions

• Validity and reliability are high across tests and should not affect choice of measure • Factors affecting adoption: – Acceptance by students, faculty, administrators or other policy makers – Trade-offs in cost, easy of administration, etc – Utility of the test for other purposes such as supporting campus activities and services or providing guidance on improving learning • Thus VSA will continue to permit universities to choose to use either CLA, CAAP or MAPP.

Final Reports

Two reports are available on the VSA website: http://www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm

1. The complete (and technically complex) Test Validity Study full report 2. An interpretative report for VSA participating schools can be found at

P e t e r D

HART RESEARCH

A S S O C I A T E S

How Should Colleges Assess & Improve College Learning?

Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge

Key findings from survey among 301 employers Conducted November 8 – December 12, 2007

for

24 Employers Find College Transcripts Of Limited Use In Evaluating Potential How useful do you find the college transcript in helping you evaluate job applicants’ potential to succeed at your company?

Not sure 4% Very useful 13% Not useful 33% Fairly useful 16% 34% Just somewhat useful

Assessments’ Effectiveness In Ensuring College Graduates Have Skills/Knowledge Very effective Fairly effective Supervised/evaluated internship/community-based project where students apply college learning in real-world setting

69%

83% Advanced comprehensive senior project, such as thesis, demonstrating student’s depth of knowledge in major & problem-solving, writing, and analytic reasoning skills 79%

46%

Essay tests to evaluate level of problem-solving, writing, and analytical-thinking skills

35%

60% Electronic portfolio of student’s college work, including accomplishments in key skill areas and faculty assessments

33%

56% 25 Multiple-choice tests of general content knowledge

7%

32%

26 Assessments’ Usefulness In Helping Employers Evaluate College Graduates’ Potential Very useful Fairly useful Faculty supervisor’s assessment of applicant’s student internship/ community-based project applying college learning in real-world setting

40%

67% Sample of applicant’s student senior project and overview of faculty assessment of the project

30%

Electronic portfolio of applicant’s college work, including accomplishments in key skill areas and faculty assessments 61%

30%

56% Applicant’s score on essay test to evaluate level of problem-solving, writing, and analytical-thinking skills

23%

54% Applicant college’s score showing how the college compares to others in advancing students’ critical-thinking skills

14%

36% Applicant’s score on multiple-choice test of general content knowledge

6%

29%

An obvious place to begin: Tell The Students What They Are Expected to Accomplish

The Power of Rubrics for Assessing Learning • Help guide students around learning expectations • Help guide faculty • Reinforces assessment for learning • Places individual faculty judgment within national shared experience • Can build up from course level to institutional reporting needs AND down from general to specific program/course context

[email protected]

Open

edpractices.org

• A website open to everyone in higher education – Free to join, easy to sign up – openedpractices.org

• A library of sorts…a site where a collection of rubrics (and other best practices) can be: – Stored – Shared – Tagged • Built with open source software to share knowledge and best practices openly

VALUE Process

• Develop criteria from rubric collection • Each rubric development team member wrote a row of performance descriptors for one criteria • Draft rubric then discussed and debated, edited and transformed • Testing and feedback – e-Portfolios

VALUE Project

http://www.aacu.org/programs/VALUE

Voluntary Framework of Accountability

• Initiative to report comparable information on community college • Use measures better suited to community colleges • Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education • Sponsored by American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), College Board and Association of community College Trustees

Oklahoma

• Encourage participation in VSA • Participate in Achieving the Dream • Revise Assessment Policy • Use measures in Brain Gain funding

Dr. Debra L. Stuart Vice Chancellor for Educational Partnerships [email protected]

405-225-9168