The Quality Imperative:New Vision, New Markers,

New Accountability

Raising the Bar: Preparing Utah College Students for Life, Work, and Responsible Citizenship

Salt Lake City, UTApril 14, 2010

Carol Geary Schneider

Agenda

The National Dialogue on Student Success and the Quality of Learning

Preparing Students to Succeed and Contribute – In the Economy and In Our Democracy

Utah’s Role as a Leader in the National Effort to Define – and Meet – 21st Century Standards for Educational Quality and Success

Two National Dialogues about Student Learning in College

“Underserved Student Success” – U.S. Success; Utah Success

American Capability

Our Challenge:

Merging the Two Dialogues

Creating a Compelling Guiding Vision

Fulfilling the PromiseEven in the Midst of Economic Contraction

Dialogue #1 – U.S. Success: College Completion and

Graduation Rates

The Demand for College Level Skills Is Going Up

By 2018, 63% of all jobs will require postsecondary education (vs. < 30% in 1975)

The Supply of College Educated People Is

Falling Short

The U.S. used to lead the world in the % and # of college degrees

But the college completion rate has leveled off at 40%

Completion rate for younger people (25-40) is 10th in the world

Economists estimate that by 2025, the U.S. will be

16 million college-educated workers SHORT of employer demand

The potential for growth in college enrollment now comes

mainly from groups historically underserved by higher

education:minorities; adult learners; immigrants; low income families and individuals

Bachelor’s Degree Attainment by Family Income

Source: U.S. Department of Education, The Condition of Education 2006. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, no. 158 (2005)

8.6%

With Demand Rising, and Supply Falling, College Access

AND Completion Have Become National and State Priorities

In This Context, the Markers of “Student Success” Are:

EnrollmentPersistenceSuccessful TransferDegree and Certificate Completion

But a SECOND Dialogue on “Student Success” Is Starting

to Emerge

This Dialogue Addresses the Quality of Learning – or “American Capability”

The Emerging Dialogue on American Capability

Two Locations:

On Campus

EmployersAAC&U – Connecting Educators and EmployersLumina Foundation for Education – Engaging

Policy and Educational Leaders

2000-2005 – Greater Expectations

A National Dialogue About Goals and Effective Practices in College Learning

2005-2015 – Liberal Education and America’s Promise

(LEAP) A Ten-Year Effort to Make

Excellence Inclusive

AAC&U’s Work on Preparing Students for

Twenty-First Century Realities

Utah was an important partner in Greater Expectations –

AND, is now a partner state in LEAP

The Capability Debate

There is a demand for more numbers of college educated workers.

There also is a demand that those educated workers have higher levels of learning and knowledge.

US Economy Defined by Greater Workplace

Challenges and DynamismEvery year, more than 1/3 of the entire US labor

force changes jobs.Today's Students Will Have 10-14 Jobs by the Time

They Are 38.50% of Workers Have Been With Their Company Less

Than 5 Years. Every year, more than 30 million Americans are

working in jobs that did not exist in the previous quarter.

DOL-BLS

The Innovation Challenge

“My company lives and dies on our ability to innovate and to create the new products and processes that give us an edge in this very competitive global economy. ESCO needs people who have both a command of certain specific skills and robust problem-solving and communication skills.”

Steven Pratt

CEO, ESCO Corp. and

Chair of the Oregon Business Council

Employers Are Raising the Bar 91% of employers say that they are “asking employees to take on

more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past”

90% of employers say that their “employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past.”

88% of employers say that “the challenges their employees face are more complex than they were in the past.”

88% of employers agree that “to succeed in their companies, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge than they did in the past”

Source: “Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (Hart Research Associates for AAC&U, 2010)

Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success

and Earnings

“Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students’ development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities…”

Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown UniversityCenter on Education and the Workforce

The New Markers of American Capability

Evidence that Students Can Apply the Essential Learning Outcomes to

Complex, Unscripted Problems – and Real-World Settings

The National Discussion About the Quality of Learning—and Whether Students Are Actually Prepared for

These New Realities—Is Just Beginning

LEAP Frames That Dialogue

Narrow Learning is Not Enough!The LEAP Essential Learning OutcomesKnowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural

WorldFocused on engagement with big questions, enduring and contemporary

Intellectual and Practical SkillsPracticed extensively across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance

Personal and Social ResponsibilityAnchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges

Integrative LearningDemonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

Employers Strongly Endorse the LEAP “Essential

Learning Outcomes” – And They Urge New Effort to Help

All Students Achieve Them

Balance of Broad Knowledge and Specific Skills Preferred

Which is more important for recent college graduates who want to pursue advancement and long-term career success at your company?

Broad range of skills and knowledge that apply to a range of fields or positions

In-depth knowledge and skills that apply to a specific field or position

BOTH in-depth AND broad range of skills and knowledge

“Raising the Bar: Employers’  Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn” (AAC&U and Hart Research Assoc. 2010)

How important is it for colleges and universities to provide the type of education

described below?

This particular approach to a four-year college education provides both broad knowledge in a variety of areas of study and more in-depth knowledge in a specific major

or field of interest. It also helps students develop a sense of social responsibility, as well as intellectual

and practical skills that span all areas of study, such as communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, and a demonstrated ability to

apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings.Source: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

How important is it for colleges and universities to

provide this type of education?

Less/not important

Fairly important

Very important

Not sure

Business Leaders

76% of employers would recommend this type of education to a young person they know.

Source: How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

Higher Level Liberal Education Skills and Abilities

=

Higher WagesData from Georgetown University

Center for Education and the Workforce

Center on Education and the Workforce

The Salary Premium for Liberal Education Outcomes

From a federal database analyzing qualifications for 1,100 different jobs,

there is consistent evidence that the highest salaries apply to positions that call for intensive use of liberal education capabilities, including (random order):

Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

WritingInductive and Deductive Reasoning

Judgment and Decision Making

Problem Solving

Social/Interpersonal Skills Mathematics

Originality

Utah’s Challenge

Merging the Two Dialogues

Creating a Compelling Vision that Makes the Essential Learning Outcomes the Key to “Student Success”

Helping Students Achieve the Essential Learning Outcomes

Preparing Students to Succeed and Contribute

Support for Access and CompletionThe Essential Learning OutcomesHigh Impact PracticesAccountability/Assessments That

Focus and Deepen Essential Learning

High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter

by George D. Kuh

(LEAP report, October 2008, www.aacu.org)

The Crucial Role of High-Impact Educational Practices

First-Year Seminars and Experiences 

Common Intellectual Experiences

Learning Communities

Writing-Intensive Courses

Collaborative Assignments and Projects

“Science as Science Is Done”/Undergraduate Research

Diversity/Global Learning

Service Learning, Community-Based Learning

Internships

Capstone Courses and Projects

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on the

Probability of Returning for the Second Year of College by Race

**From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

2.00

2.25

2.50

2.75

3.00

3.25

3.50

3.75

4.00

-2 -1 0 1 2

Fir

st-y

ear

GP

A

Educationally Purposeful Activities (standardized)

ACT 28

ACT 24

ACT 20

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on First

Academic Year GPA by Pre-College Achievement Level

*From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

Impact of Educationally Purposeful Practices on First

Academic Year GPA by Race/Ethnicity

**From Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008)

Do High-Impact Practices Foster Essential Learning Outcomes?

Outcomes of High Impact Practices for Underserved Students:

A Review of the LiteratureLynn Swaner and Jayne Brownell

(AAC&U report, 2008, www.aacu.org/meetings/diversityandlearning/DL2008/Resources

)

The Good News

High Impact Practices

Foster Gains on

Essential Learning Outcomes

The Sobering News

First Generation Students Often Miss Out

What Next?

Refuse to Accept Narrow Programs and Blinkered Learning

Make the Essential Outcomes Matter, From School Through College

Make High Impact Practices Expected Rather than Optional

What Next? (Cont.)

Build Portable Assessments that Show What Student Can Do With Their Learning

Use Outcomes, Practices and Assessments to Focus and Deepen Student Learning – Building Capacity; Preparing for Success

Engage the Schools on Outcomes and Practices

Develop Clear Frameworks for Expected Progress—on All the Essential Outcomes—From School Through College, Two-Year and Four-Year

Set Quality Standards – for the Essential Outcomes – at Each Level

Make Sure that Students Are Doing “High Impact” Work and Projects—ALL the Time

Invest in Assessments that Show What Students Can Do with Their Learning– New Technologies Will Be Key

Make Outcomes Matter Across General and Major Programs

Involve the Departments and Faculty

General Education – Necessary but Not Sufficient

Use the Outcomes to INTEGRATE General Education with Majors

The Lumina Foundation has launched a significant “TUNING” project to involve key disciplines in

defining outcomes and quality levels for their students.

Building on earlier work in the state, UTAH faculty are leaders in the

TUNING project.

Build Portable Assessments That Show What Students

Can DO With Their Learning

Make high impact practices expected for all students – in general education and in majors

 Once students are engaged in high impact/high effort practices – such as research, internships, senior projects  

 The best evidence about learning gains will be IN the portfolio

E-Portfolios Are Valued By Employers – and Can Be

Sampled and Synthesized for External Accountability

Utah is uniquely poised to create a state-wide degree

framework that links schools, general education AND majors to help all Utah students achieve the

Essential Learning Outcomes, wherever they start their studies,

and wherever they finish.

A Quality Framework for Utah

Shared Learning Outcomes – That Build American Capability

High Impact Practices that Support Essential Learning Outcomes

Disaggregated Data – That Shine a Light on Underserved Students’ Progress and Achievement

Students’ Best Work – Assessed and Synthesized For Public Reporting

National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and Graduates’ Work Readiness

AAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (in 2006, 2007, and in late 2009) to interview employers (C-level suite executives and, in 2009

additional human resource professionals) whose companies report that hiring relatively large numbers of college graduates

Findings are summarized in the following reports:

How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s

Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)

How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning? Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge (AAC&U, 2008)

Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U, 2010)

See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research