The Other 85 Percent

Trends in higher education: Accreditation, Assessment, Transparency, and Consumer Information

March 23, 2009 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Inside Higher Ed, college degree, distance learning, elearning, higher education, online education, online learning, online university

There has recently been a lot of activity to create new institutes, alliances, and proposals about the assessment of learning outcomes and accreditation.  See

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/23/assess
and
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/01/28/accredit

Note that some of the same folks were involved in both the accreditation and the learning assessment efforts.  And these are individuals and organizations that have long provided higher education leadership.  It is encouraging that there is such interest in learning outcomes assessment.  But, it is not clear just what the ultimate agenda is for these new assessment organizations, nor where higher education seeks to go with accreditation. 

I would hope that the focus on learning outcomes assessment comes with a commitment to transparency and providing consumer information.  That is what some of us are trying to do with our participation in Transparency by Design. It is not clear to me that our efforts are welcomed by the folks creating the new organizations, or if we would be considered as the “others who will set up systems that could damage higher education.”  But I am sure we will find out.

As for accreditation, this topic is likely to get some attention in the coming months as the Department of Education engages in negotiated rulemaking to prepare regulations related to the newly amended Higher Education Act.  There is a team that will deal with accreditation issues.  I will participate as a negotiator on that team.  It will be an interesting experience and I look forward to engaging in the negotiations during the months of March, April and May.

Mike

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