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Many of the articles, research pieces and white papers listed below have been or will forthcoming be published in book form or in a variety of magazines, journals, and anthologies. As such, we wish to recognize the support of these publications through the Collegiate Learning Assessment Publications and Projects list. CLA ResearchThe Contribution of the Collegiate Learning Assessment to Teaching and Learning Holistic Tests in a Sub-score World: The Diagnostic Logic of the CLA Multiple Drafts of a College’s Narrative The Collegiate Learning Assessment: Facts and Fantasies (2007) Conceptual Framework An Approach to Measuring Cognitive Outcomes Across Higher Education Institutions The Search for Value-Added: Assessing and Validating Selected Higher Education Outcomes CLA in the NewsNo Gr_du_te Left Behind Colleges, Accreditors Seek Better Ways to Measure Learning The Group Approach Should College Students Be Tested to Hold Institutions Accountable for Student Learning? Panel Explores Standard Tests for Colleges What Does College Teach? Life Isn’t a Multiple Choice Question Faster, Better, Cheaper: The Iron Triangle of Higher Education Assessment Measure by Measure What Now? What Can We Do Once We Have the CLA Results? AssessmentHow the CLA Differs from No Child Left Behind Characteristics of hand and machine-assigned scores to college students’ answers to open ended tasks Assessment Versus Accountability in Higher Education: Notes for Reconciliation A Brief History of Student Learning Assessment For the June 1, 2006 PowerPoint presentation on this topic, click here. A Test of Leadership: Higher Education's Need to Reclaim Learning and Accountability FacultyRecreating the Faculty Role in University Governance For High School AssessmentTeaching to a Test Worth Teaching To Assessing Critical Thinking, Analytical Reasoning, Problem-Solving and Writing in High School Background and ContextGiven a higher education system facing skyrocketing cost increases, huge state budget cuts and rapidly falling retention and graduation rates, it is not surprising that both the public and the state legislatures have renewed their demand for accountability and assurances of higher education quality. Despite widespread agreement that student learning is at the core of the mission of all institutions of higher education, most measures of quality are based solely on factors that are at best indirectly tied to the institutional contributions to student learning. Current approaches to determine quality depend primarily on "input" variables (such as SAT scores, endowment level), "output" variables (such as student satisfaction measures or self-reports), or rankings by college and university presidents. (See also Marc Chun's literature review of higher education assessment efforts.) There has been no quality of learning metric that has been widely used as a benchmark for institutional efficacy; without an assessment regime focused on quality in terms of student learning, an accountability movement focused on input and budget factors will increasingly fill the vacuum to the detriment of higher education. Moreover, we believe it is imperative that the academy itself take the lead in the assessment of quality if it is to regain its rightful leadership and credibility and avoid the political micro management now seen in the K-12 high-stakes testing movement. The CLA focuses on student learning, and equating institutional quality with the "value added" of overall improvement in student skills. Most observers agree that an "educated" college graduate ought to have knowledge and skills, as well as be able to use these to address situations they will face given the complexities of modern life, as well as to continue learning throughout life. We therefore take as our starting point the elements that all higher education institutions share -- namely, that all students, regardless of major or professional ambition, should be proficient in critical thinking, analytic reasoning and written communication skills. The implementation of the project rests on two key points. First, assessment should be based on the institution (rather than the student) as the unit of analysis. Second, assessment should be based on the value-added provided by colleges and universities. If institutional quality is determined solely by the students' scores on entrance examinations, there is no measure of what students actually learned; similarly, if student ability is only measured upon graduation, there is no way to determine the students' relative growth while enrolled. It is only by contrasting what students know and are able to do when they start college with what they know and are able to do when they finish that it is possible to assess the learning that actually occurred while in college. Thus, the goal of the CLA project is to demonstrate the contributions institutions make to student learning and to provide institutions with information about how their contributions compare to those of other colleges with similarly situated students. As a result, this assessment can serve as the basis for evaluation of the progress of the institution and individual programs and majors in contributing to student learning. To explore the technical merits of this approach to measuring student learning, CAE completed a feasibility study in which the CLA measures were administered to 1,365 students from 14 colleges and universities. The feasibility study provided empirical evidence that led to four key conclusions: (1) the measures can validly assess value added; (2) the measures could be used reliably with the institution as the unit of analysis; (3) the measures could be effectively machine-scored; and (4) the measures were found by students to be interesting and engaging. |