The Other 85 Percent

The call for higher education accountability is not going away

September 14, 2009 | Filed under: Capella, Capella University, Mike Offerman, The Other 85 Percent, Transparency by Design, college, college degree, distance learning, elearning, higher education, online education, online learning, online university

Despite the comments that follow this article, the expectation that higher education is accountable to the people who fund it and to whom it serves is not going to go away. No matter how much some folks try to diminish those who call for accountability or those who try to meet that demand, there is a rightful expectation that colleges and universities become transparent about the learning outcomes they do or do not produce. And, that they use what data they produce to continuously improve their performance.

While the Education Sector reports deals with state colleges and universities, and how effectively each state assesses learning outcomes, all colleges and universities need to assess learning outcomes. Some time ago, I reported on the efforts of colleges and universities that serve adults at a distance to assess learning outcomes, and use these and other data to better inform adults seeking a college to attend. The institutions engaged in this effort have worked, in partnership with WCET, a part of the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE), to develop a Web site to deliver information on learning outcomes and other consumer information. Since the initial post about Transparency by Design, the original 12 institutions have been joined by American InterContinental University and Colorado Technical University. And, we partnered with WCET, which serves as the aggregator and publisher of data from the participating institutions on a Web site – www.collegechoicesforadults.org – that is not intended for marketing, but rather for consumer information.

The type of information on the site parallels the information that Education Sector recommends that the states use. Some of the information is not be included yet because institutions are still collecting the data, which will be added to the site as it becomes available. For example, the site will eventually include National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data, Measurement of Academic Progress and Proficiency (MAPP) data (this is similar to the CLA data that Education Sector mentions), and other data similar to the Voluntary System of Accountability, that is a system used only by public colleges and universities.

In addition, the site has been designed to include institution-specific information on intended program learning outcomes, how these are measured, and how well graduates demonstrate that they have achieved these intended outcomes. This is the major innovation on this site. We feel it is critical to report how well adult students have learned their major area of study. We will also include common questions each institution has asked alumni and current students’ satisfaction with their school and program.

Transparency by Design is different from what the Education Sector calls for because we are going to report our information and outcomes directly to our consumer, the adult student. However, the spirit is the same. We seek to better inform the consumer and let the consumer make judgments about how well we are performing. We also intend to use what we learn to improve both our institutional performance and to continuously improve our efforts with Transparency by Design.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

Mike

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