2007 Annual Meeting
THE REAL TEST:
Liberal Education and Democracy’s Big Questions
Pre-Meeting Symposium
Wednesday, January 17, 8:30 a.m. – 4:15 p.m.
The Politics of Accountability: A Real Test for Higher Education
What we have learned over the last year makes clear that American higher education has become what, in the business world, would be called a mature enterprise: increasingly risk-averse, at times self-satisfied, and unduly expensive. It is an enterprise that has yet to address the fundamental issues of how academic programs and institutions must be transformed to serve the changing educational needs of a knowledge economy. It has yet to successfully confront the impact of globalization, rapidly evolving technologies, an increasingly diverse and aging population, and an evolving marketplace characterized by new needs and new paradigms.
-- From "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education"
(Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings)
Today, more than ever, higher education operates within a national climate of intensified debate about assessment of student learning outcomes and accountability. Yet something fundamental is missing in these debates. As AAC&U noted in its public response to the Spellings Commission:
By neglecting to discuss the outcomes that matter in a twenty-first century education and by calling nonetheless for standardized tests to assess achievement, the commission’s report effectively delegates all details about the level and quality of college learning outcomes to testing agencies.
The Politics of Accountability: A Real Test for Higher Education is a timely opportunity for the academy to collectively describe—and publicly promote—a vision of college learning that is worthy of a great democracy. It is also a call for higher education to seize the lead in advancing needed educational change to provide the most important learning outcomes for today’s world.
Participants will explore whether and how higher education will set the parameters–goals, studies, and practices–for assessment of student learning outcomes. Sessions will describe the promising assessment practices that already exist, the emerging research on the efficacy of these practices for student learning, and ways to translate higher education accountability and assessment language into the realm of public policy.
Symposium participants will discuss the following questions:
- What is the range of positions that higher education associations, accreditation agencies, and institutions are adopting vis-à-vis the call for deepened accountability?
- Can we take advantage of the visibility and momentum of the Spellings Commission to continue to emphasize the need to focus on important liberal education outcomes?
- What are the appropriate actions to ensure that discussions about higher education, learning outcomes, and accountability result in deeper learning? Who will lead these initiatives? Why has progress been slow on campuses and what can we do about it?
- How do we transform this intense debate into fruitful ways to foster the kind of learning graduates actually need for work, life, and active citizenship?
Schedule of Symposium Events
8:30 – 8:45 am
Welcome
Terrel Rhodes, Vice President for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, AAC&U
8:45 – 9:00 am
The Politics of Accountability: An Update
Debra Humphreys, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs, AAC&U
9:00 – 10:30 am
Plenary I
Is the Pressure Off? A Call for Leadership
Carol Schneider, President, AAC&U;
Lee Shulman, President, The Carnegie Foundation for the Improvement of Teaching;
David E. Shulenburger, Vice President for Academic Affairs, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)
Moderator: Debra Humphreys, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs, AAC&U
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
Plenary II
Assessment and Accountability on Campus
David Caputo, President, Pace University; David Aday, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of SACS Reaccreditation Project, College of William and Mary
Moderator: Ross Miller, Director of Programs, Office of Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, AAC&U
12:15 – 1:45 p.m.
Luncheon Roundtables
2:00 – 3:15 pm
Concurrent Sessions
Designing the Tests: What Do We Know and When Do We Know It?
George Kuh, Director, Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Indiana University; Marc Chun, Research Scientist, Council for Aid to Education; Michael Nettles,
Senior Vice President, PERC, Educational Testing Service
Moderator: Ross Miller, Director of Programs, Office of Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, AAC&U
Accreditation and Accountability
Judith Eaton, President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation; Barbara Wright, Associate Director, Western Association of Schools and Colleges
Moderator: Terrel Rhodes, Vice President for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, AAC&U
3:30 – 4:00 pm
Plenary Session III
Islands of Innovation: The Learning Potential of Assessment
Peter Ewell, Vice President, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS)
Peter Ewell is Vice President of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), a research and development center founded to improve the management effectiveness of colleges and universities. Dr. Ewell’s work focuses on assessing institutional effectiveness and the outcomes of college, and involves both research and direct consulting with institutions and state systems on collecting and using assessment information in planning, evaluation, and budgeting. He is author of six books and numerous articles on the topic of improving undergraduate instruction through the assessment of student outcomes.
4:00 – 4:15 pm
Closing Comments
Terrel Rhodes, Vice President for Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment, AAC&U
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