2. What we will cover Framing the issue What we learned from the BRIC Initiative Making the connection Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 2
3. Who is the rp Group? Putting our work in context Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 3
4.
5. Provides research, evaluation, professional development, and technical assistance services that support evidence-based decision-making and inquiry
6. Work is defined and conducted by community college practitionersBuilding Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 4
7. The impetus for our work What is getting between data and action Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 5
8. When evaluating your outcomes, make sure you are focusing on the right data. 6
9. Retention Rate Success Rate 1999 2008 20 year trend for institutional outcomes What does that tell us about the usefulness of these metrics in setting institutional strategies? Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 7
10. Much of what is needed to support good decision making is beyond the grasp of institutional databases. 8
11. Potential First Time Student Successful Completion Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 9
12. Attends Lecture Series Leverages Learning Center resources Books in stock at Bookstore Placement Test Prep Effective degree audit Financial Aid Support COMPLETION PROGRESS CONNECTION ENTRY Effective Orientation Clean petition process Join club / participate in student Govt Potential First Time Student Completes SEP Successful Completion Library Orientation Good impression from campus visit Effective Early Alert program Talk to Univ. Rep / Employer User-friendly application process Powerful learning experience in classroom Connecting with faculty outside classroom Get accurate perception from HS counselor Meet with college outreach professional Faculty Letter of Recommendation / intro to network Intrusive Counseling 10
13. Data do not speak for themselves. 11
14.
15. Answers are not always immediately apparent, so skilled facilitation may be needed to dig out the deeper meaning.
16. Multiple perspectives and types of information are often needed to make sense of individual data points.! Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 12
17. what can we do? What we learned from the BRIC initiative Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 13
18. BRIC’s on-campus support helps colleges improve internal practices. Technical experts who are community college practitioners Focus on discrete practices such as program review Opportunities for dialog Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 14
19. Colleges wanted to reform processes to make them simpler and provide more useful information. 15
23. Comprehensive Assessment Report Examples http://www.rpgroup.org/resources/comprehensive-assessment-reports-best-practice-examples-around-country Resource Compendium on Assessment http://www.rpgroup.org/resources/assessment-strategies-and-models-help-tell-story Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 17
24. Creating space and time to talk allowed good ideas to be put into action 18
25. Get conversations goingusing inquiry guides. Assessing Student Learning Outcomes Using an Equity Lens to Assess Student Learning Assessing Student Services Outcomes Maximizing the Program Review Process Assessing Non-credit Student Learning Outcomes Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 19
26. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. 20
27. What this means for you How can you improve your SLO and program review processes? Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 21
28.
29. Pair up with someone and share your ideas.Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 22
30.
31. We need to create time and space for conversation that engage a wide range of people in analyzing information and developing action plans.
32. We can use existing mechanisms for research, planning, and assessment rather than building additional processes.Building Stronger Systems for SLOs and Program Review – September 2011 23
33. Find Out More The RP Group Website www.rpgroup.org Rob Johnstone, Senior Research Fellow rjohnstone@rpgroup.org Priyadarshini Chaplot, Project Coordinator pchaplot@rpgroup.org 24
Editor's Notes
Just bounce off it – use it as a transition
Very brief-just explain that we are practitioners like you.
Just bounce off it – use it as a transition
Point out that most of our data collection is focused on accountability. But the kinds of numbers we are required to report may not shed light on why numbers don’t change, and what is causing them to stay consistent despite all the positive and negative pressures and efforts.
Just stay here long enough for people to take in the message.
(Don’t stay here long) Point out that this we often think of the path to success as linear.
Remind people that a student’s pathway has many twists and turns, and that our fundamental data collection systems along the way, like program review or SLOs, can help us to understand how students are doing on this journey.
Point out that everyone knows this. Handing someone a program review report or a stack of SLO results doesn’t tell us what is working or not working.
Don’t talk off the bullets- tell a brief story about an instance where it was the act of discussion that helped practitioners figure out what was important in the numbers.
Just bounce off it – use it as a transition
Spell out what BRIC stands for—this is an RP Group has an initiative to help colleges make better use of the data they have. Explain that as part of this initiative, we provided support at 15 colleges to help them improve internal processes. Stress that we had practitioner teams (like you two) come in and that our focus was on having the college identify and develop appropriate systems. No two projects were alike. Give an example of the kind of work each of you did. Explain that LACCD will underwrite similar projects for interested colleges in the district (contact Yasmin Delahoussaye at the district if you are interested).
Point out that one of the things that we learned through our technical assistance projects is that while specific solutions varied by college, the types of problems that were being addressed were similar. Most colleges had processes that were too cumbersome to be sustainable and often focused more on compliance-type metrics rather than on information that would enable practitioners to make improvements in how they teach and support students.
Many colleges wanted us to answer definitively what ACCJC wanted. We can’t give you any more information than what is in the rubric, but we believe that if you have a process that is meaningful (meaning you determine what information will help you make decisions), sustainable (meaning simple, realistic, and reasonable to maintain), and consistent (meaning that it is implemented in a systematic enough fashion to allow for comparison and alignment with institutional goals), that should address what the rubric is describing. Show the Baltimore County report on how SLOs were used to make improvements in a chemistry course by clicking on the link.
The example just given is part of a series of examples that the RP Group compiled on SLO assessment and program review processes that are sustainable and authentic. These are available at the following weblinks.
Point out that many of the solutions that the colleges implemented were their own ideas. The initiative was often successful because it created an opportunity for a broader cross-section of people to meet and explore their ideas. Part of the problem is that, with the budget crisis, there are few spaces where people from across the college can examine what is and is not working and develop a cohesive plan for what to do about it.
Explain that as part of BRIC, we created 9 discussion guides (such as those listed in the bullets) that point out effective ways to accomplish SLO and program review-related tasks, with a series of questions that you can use to assess and develop approprite systems at your own college.
If we view SLOs and program review as for compliance only, we may pour valuable time into activities that leave us exhausted rather than illuminated. Describe a way that you saw an existing review mechanism change in the colleges that you worked with and the positive affect this had on the people who were involved.
Let them know that we are going to take a few minutes to discuss how these ideas apply to the participants’ practice.
Give directions, then set them loose.
Give a recap of key messages.
Let them know that Rob and Priya are the contacts for more information about BRIC.
