Effective Communication of Student Learning Assessment ......The ‘Excavated’ Narrative 3 campuses with 20 off campus sites Exceptional Licensure Pass rates ... This report gets

11/2/2018

www.learningoutcomesassessment.org 1

Effective Communication of Student Learning

Assessment: Telling Our Stories Better

Ereka Williams, Associate Dean-College of Education, Fayetteville State University & NILOA Coach

Gianina Baker, Assistant Director, NILOA

www.learningoutcomesassessment.org 1@NILOA_web

National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)

NILOA’s mission is to discover and disseminate effective use of assessment data to strengthen undergraduate education and

support institutions in their assessment efforts.


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www.LearningOutcomes

Assessment.org

Session OverviewIn this session, we will…

Equip attendees with resources and examples to better share narratives around assessing student learning on their campus Highlight examples from the field Facilitate a discussion on how to move from current reporting and transparency efforts toward more effective communication

What are you hoping to get out of the session?


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What better way than to start with a story?


Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.— Hannah Arendt

Story of XYZ Community CollegeThe Internal Narrative

Successful SACSCOC visitProgress on meaningful outcomesProgress on Planning for ImprovementSupport for outcomes/assessment processAttention toward best practices, VALUE rubrics, exposure for faculty and unit leaders

Strong internal management processes for tracking, monitoring, decision makingPositive engagement with faculty, unit leaders, staff across the institutionPrior to visit – Not a great deal of interunit visibility/accessibility of unit based assessment

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Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

— Hannah ArendtStory of XYZ Community CollegeThe External Narrative (Public)

Polished SitePrograms/Units VisibleAcademic Affairs represented & accessibleStudent affairs represented & utilitarian Office of Research

� Defined, Directory, a few ‘how to’ webinars on assessment for faculty/unit leaders

� SACSCOC & Reporting excerpts

Story of XYZ Community CollegeThe ‘Excavated’ Narrative

3 campuses with 20 off campus sitesExceptional Licensure Pass ratesExceptionally high Employer Satisfaction Among comparison group (N=18) highest percentage of African American and Latino womenFull Time Retention rates ahead of comparison groupHighest first time, first degree completion rates for African American and Latino womenHighest overall graduation rates for full time, first time degree/certificate seeking undergrads

Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.

— Hannah ArendtI wanted to let you know that everyone was so pleased with your NILOA Coaching

session! I think your position as a department chair lended a lot of credibility in the eyes of our reporters because you were "one of them."

We have plans to achieve a number of changes in the coming semester based on this visit. We plan to post our help O&A documentation on both our website and Compliance Assist. It currently goes out to new reporters via email.

We will update our department’s website to make it more user-friendly based on user feedback. We are evaluating making all O&A Reports available to all O&A Reporters. I'm personally very excited about that one!

We will do a professional development session to introduce data resources in September. And we plan to use our data to better tell our story of Latina/Black Women’s success, our increase in graduation rates, and using our data in our external advisory committee meetings.

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Reflection Questions

Why do we do assessment?

What is the value and purpose of engaging in student learning?

What does assessment mean to your institution based on your history, values,

mission, educational priorities, and student population?


ValueInstitutions of higher education are increasingly asked to show the value of attending, i.e. impact in relation to cost; employment – what is the value of a degree and what does it represent in terms of learning?Public and policy makers want assurance of the quality of higher educationRegional and specialized accreditors are asking institutions to show evidence of student learning and instances of use


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Why are stories important?NILOA national survey of provosts

NILOA policy statement

Excellence in Assessment (EIA) Designation


Finding from NILOA’s Survey of Provosts 2017

“Effectively communicating

information about student learning

remains a target of opportunity for

assessment work.”

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“We are not that great as an industry at explaining what we do, how our institutions run, and the great value we provide to students and communities.

I think the biggest gap is in outsiders understanding student learning. We can provide all the assessment results or data we like, but if others cannot interpret them accurately there is no benefit to transparency or accountability.” ~Provost

“This is something we struggle to accomplish. First, there is the need for constituents to become familiar with and understand the student learning outcomes identified by the institution and why they are important, how they are measured, and what we learn from the results, as well as what improvements were made in response to the results.

This is not easy to communicate in “sound bites,” and merely communicating outputs such as employment rates and beginning salaries does not serve as a proxy for student learning and quality of programs. We can, for instance, communicate the results of our annual assessment of the general education program,

but we need to find ways to help the general public make meaning of the results.” ~Provost

Communication Finding

Effectively communicating information about student learning remains a target of opportunity for assessment work. Institutions provide limited publicly

available information on assessment activities on their websites. Yet, what was more important to

provosts was not what to share, but how to share information.

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Example


Purpose: To provide Deans and Chairs a list of faculty members that are receiving means below 3.50 on specific course evaluation questions. This report gets sent along with a similar report displaying all of their faculty means as it compares to the department as a whole.

Potential/Desired Uses: Used for faculty feedback; tenure and promotion dossier’s. Also, if desired by the faculty member,used in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning.

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1. Develop specific, actionable learning outcomes statements.

2. Connect learning outcomes with actual student demonstrations of their learning.

3. Collaborate with relevant stakeholders, beginning with the faculty.

4. Design assessment approaches that generate actionable evidence about student learning that key stakeholders can understand and use to improve student and institutional performance.

5. Focus on improvement and compliance will take care of itself.

5 Principles of Local Practice

Excellence in Assessment (EIA) Designation


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Reflective QuestionsWhat story is the institution (or instructor) telling with the information, or lack of information, on your website? Is the story clear to a variety of audiences?Are there conflicting stories being presented?Who is the institution telling the story to OR which audiences are you trying to be persuasive?What is the argument being made to each audience?Who is involved in locating evidence, selecting evidence, and engaging with evidence to make meaning for the institution and the story?What organizational structures and processes support the review of evidence to include in the institutional story?How does the institutional culture, mission, and goals inform the story presented?What evidence and elements are most important to tell the story? Where are there gaps and what additional evidence is required to tell a different story?


ConsiderationsWays to get started

Where is your institution in this process?

Engaging stakeholdersPositioning your institution in the assessment process


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QuestionsEmail us: [email protected]

National Institute for Learning Outcomes AssessmentUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign51 Gerty Drive, MC-762Suite 196Champaign, IL 61820

Assignment Library: www.assignmentlibrary.orgDegree Qualifications Profile: www.degreeprofile.orgNILOA Website: www.learningoutcomesassessment.orgJoin Our Email List: goo.gl/DDU56q


@NILOA_web @LearningOutcomesAssessment

Documents

Effective Communication of Student Learning Assessment ......The ‘Excavated’ Narrative 3 campuses with 20 off campus sites Exceptional Licensure Pass rates ... This report gets