Assessment of College-Level Learning Overview

The Assessment of College-Level Learning initiative strives to improve the quality of learning at our institutions as we expand our capacity to serve more Students. College-level learning measures are key indicators in the Council's accountability system. The development of student learning measurements offer the ability to track the postsecondary system's contribution to the educational capital of the state and make comparisons against national benchmarks and other states. Performance of undergraduate students on statewide learning assessments and the performance of college graduates on licensure and graduate school entrance exams are key indicators of progress and provide solid evidence about the performance of the system, and are benchmarked, where possible, against appropriate standards.   Student learning measurements allow institutions to improve learning and support services, extend access, and increase their capacity to serve students and employers.  Improved undergraduate student learning ensures that more graduates are prepared for careers and graduate and professional programs 

Kentucky led the nation in the development of a program to assess college-level learning and was one of the five pilot states in the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education's "Assessing College-Level Learning" initiative.  Kentucky then joined the four other states for the 2004 report, participating in the National Forum on College-Level Learning, to provide state leaders with comparable information on college-level learning. The Council provided statewide coordination for the National Forum on College-Level Learning and included volunteer institutions from the four-year independent institutions. Results of the five-state pilot may be found at the Learning Update page at: http://measuringup.highereducation.org/default.cfm. 

We have been funded by the state to continue to develop an ongoing assessment in Kentucky. Though the CLA was used in the pilot we have decided and have institutional agreement to use the ACT CAAP as our direct learning assessment combined with results from the National Survey of Student Engagement  (NSSE) and the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), licensure exam pass rates, and student participation/scores on competitive exams like the GRE, MCAT, and LSAT. 

The ACT Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) was chosen because it provides measures of general education program outcomes.  It will be administered at four-year institutions in 2008 and two-year institutions in 2009. Standardized test modules scores in writing, reading, math, and science provide can be compared to similar institutions and controlled for the academic ability of the university's students. Scores can also be linked to ACT scores or Compass placement test scores to demonstrate educational gains in general education subjects. The CAAP Linkage Reports are a standardized assessment model to provide evidence of accountability for student learning. http://www.act.org/caap/index.html.

The CAAP also features two modules that are of importance to the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA) initiative, the critical thinking and writing essay modules are among the core learning outcomes in the VSA.  The VSA is a voluntary initiative for four-year public colleges and universities that was developed through a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), to provide information on the undergraduate student learning experience through measuring educational outcomes to identify effective educational practices that are taking place at the institution; and reporting those outcomes in an accessible, understandable, and comparable way to the public as a means to demonstrate accountability and stewardship to public. Kentucky has five institutions participating in the VSA initiative.  To learn more about this initiative go to http://www.voluntarysystem.org/index.cfm.

The baseline data collected in the previous pilot and results from the CAAP administration will help Kentucky set statewide goals for improvement in college student learning as part of its accountability system.  The state level accountability for college-level learning initiatives are positioned as a way to help institutions respond to increasing pressures for evidence of performance from the state, regional accreditation groups, and other external constituents.