the intersection of assessment, accreditation, and accountability: faculty unite! teeanna rizkallah,...
TRANSCRIPT
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
The Intersection of Assessment, Accreditation, and Accountability: Faculty Unite!
Teeanna Rizkallah, Ph.DChair, Assessment and Educational Effectiveness
Committee (CSUF)
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Some definitions….
• Assessment – Enhancing student success through program evaluation
• Accreditation – Incentivizing program development through self-study
• Accountability – Demonstrating program effectiveness to external stakeholders
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Accountability….
Accountable to who?• Students• Alumni• Community• Funding sources– Private– Public
Accountable for what?• Quantitative
measurements– Enrollments– Access– Retention– Graduation rates
• Qualitative– Personal and social
growth
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Accountability….
What level of accountability?• Description• Explanation• Justification
Who should provide the account?
What are the consequences of providing an account?
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Accountability….
Competing goals (academic)• Increasing access to
underrepresented groups• Innovative (i.e.,
experimental) pedagogies• Research & external grants
competition• Improved performance
regardless of student preparation
Competing goals (external)• Elected leaders• Oversight boards and
agencies (i.e., accrediting bodies)
• Students & parents• Ranking systems• Competition against new
educational systems (MOOCs; for-profit education)
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Assessment….
Student achievement must be measured on a “valued [sic] added” basis that takes into account students’ academic baseline when assessing their results. This information should be made available to students, and reported publicly in aggregate form to provide consumers and policy makers an accessible, understandable way to measure the relative effectiveness of different colleges and universities.- US Department of Education, Commission on the Future of Higher Education (2005)
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Assessment….
But…isn’t assessment about enhancingstudent success through program evaluation?
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Accreditation….
Public/private accrediting was considered• Too private• Too process oriented• Too little interested in bottom line competencies
Recommendation: “A more transparent, outcomes-based, and accountable accreditation system based on student performance.”
- US Department of Education, Commission on the Future of Higher Education (2005)
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Accreditation…
But…isn’t accreditation about incentivizing program development through self-study?
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Indicators of quality
Five Dimensions of Quality (Suskie, 2015)
1. Relevance2. Community3. Focus and aspiration4. Evidence5. Improvement
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Indicators of quality
Relevance• Integrity
– Put students first– Meeting the needs of key
stakeholders – Keep our promises– Serve the public good
• Stewardship– Ensure the college’s health– Deploy resources effectively– Deploy resources efficiently
Community• People
– Respect– Communication– Collaboration– Collegiality
• Leadership– Focus on college’s best
interests– Interactive leadership– Ongoing development
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Indicators of quality
Focus and aspiration• Purpose
– Who are we (as a college)?– Why are we?
• Goals and plans– Where are we going?– How will we get there?
• Successful students– Who are they?– Where are they going?– What helps them learn?
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Indicators of quality
Evidence• Gauging student success
though measurements• Choosing measurements
that are useful• Setting and justifying
(defining) targets for success
• Sharing evidence with stakeholders (transparancy)
Improvement• Recognize and celebrate
successes• Use evidence to
– Enhance program quality– Deploy resources effectively– Refine goals and targets
• Value community– Value efforts to change– Don’t overvalue perfection– Regroup and reflect
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
And finally…
DOCUMENT IT!and OWN IT!
Faculty can and should control assessment efforts, especially those that lead to accreditation, to ensure input into the accountability conversation!
XIX Assessment Conference - CSUF
Sources….
• Drisko, J.W. (2014). Competencies and their assessment. Journal of Social Work Education, 50, 414-426. DOI: 10.1080.10437797.2014.917927
• Feingold, R.S. (2013). Vision in an age of accountability. Quest, 65(4), 385-393. DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2013.834832
• Hoffman, E. (September 2013). Ratings, quality, and accreditation: Policy implications for educational communications and technology programs in a digital age, 57(5), 47-54. DOI: 10.1007/s11528-013-0691-8
• Rabovsky, T. (2014). Support for performance-based funding: The role of political ideology, performance, and dysfunctional information environments. Public Administration Review, 74(6), 761-774. DOI: 10.111/puar.12274
• Rasmussen, P. and Zou, Y. (2014). The development of educational accountability in China and Denmark. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 22(121). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v22.1693
• Suskie, L. (2015). Five dimensions of quality: A common sense guide to accreditation and accountability. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.