Download or read book An Examination of the Relationship Between Accreditation and Learning Outcomes Assessment Standards in English Language Programs written by Julia R. Cayuso and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the passage of the Accreditation Act of 2010, accreditation has been required in order for English language programs to enroll international students on student visas. There is one specialized accrediting agency in the U.S. authorized to accredit such programs: the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). That agency issues specialized/programmatic and institutional accreditation awards. Accreditation decisions by CEA were examined for possible relationships between three variables: accreditation type (programmatic or institutional), accreditation award length (1- or 5-year), and findings of compliance with a set of seven standards related to learning outcomes and assessments. Data were evaluated using log-linear models followed by odds ratio comparisons. Analysis demonstrated a significant interaction between accreditation type and length of award and between findings of compliance on standards related to learning outcomes and assessments and length of award. Awards of programmatic accreditation tended to be for longer periods of time than awards of institutional accreditation. Higher levels of compliance with standards were related to lengthier awards of accreditation. Results of the study indicate that whether the institution as a whole was evaluated for accreditation or a unit within an institution was under review, findings of compliance with standards related to learning outcomes and assessment were not significantly related. Results underscore the importance of learning outcomes and assessment of these outcomes as vital to the accreditation process and as markers of quality. The results of this study are useful to intensive English programs as administrators prepare to seek accreditation and meet the accreditation standards.

Download or read book Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education written by Olga Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-22 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a comprehensive overview of current, innovative approaches to assessing generic and domain-specific learning outcomes in higher education at both national and international levels. It discusses the most significant initiatives over the past decade to develop objective, valid, and reliable assessment tools and presents state-of-the-art procedures to adapt and validate them for use in other countries. The authors highlight key conceptual and methodological challenges connected with intra-national and cross-national assessment of learning outcomes in higher education; introduce novel approaches to improving assessment, evaluation, testing, and measurement practices; and offer exemplary implementation frameworks. Further, they examine the results of and lessons learned from various recent, world-renowned research programs and feasibility studies, and present results from their own studies to provide new insights into how to draw valid conclusions about learning outcomes achieved in various contexts.

Download or read book Examining the Evaluation of Student Learning in the Context of Accreditation written by Kelsey Sellgren Kyne and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Overview and Problem of Practice The evaluation of student learning in higher education is of interest to many stakeholders including students, faculty, higher education administrators, employers, governmental entities, and accreditors. Despite this interest, many institutions struggle to successfully facilitate the process of evaluating student learning. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is one of seven regional accreditors in the U.S. whose member institutions are required to demonstrate their compliance with the standards of SACSCOC at regular intervals. One of these standards relates to the evaluation of student learning and reads, "The institution identifies expected outcomes, assesses the extent to which it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of seeking improvement based on analysis of the results in student learning outcomes for each of its educational programs." The problem of practice (PoP) central to this dissertation in practice (DiP) is that member institutions consistently struggle to demonstrate their compliance with this standard at the time of the off-site decennial review. The SACSCOC reaffirmation classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019, saw non-compliance rates with this standard of 60%, 59%, and 61%, respectively. Purpose, Study Design, and Research Questions The purpose of this DiP is to identify and analyze approaches used by SACSCOC member institutions seeking to demonstrate their compliance with the assessment standard. Within the context of an exploratory model, I conducted a document analysis of a sample of ten SACSCOC member institutions' narratives in order to understand how they sought to demonstrate their compliance with the assessment standard. I developed the following four research questions to address the PoP. i. What approaches do institutions take to define goals for student learning? ii. What guidelines do institutions put in place to navigate assessment activities? iii. How do institutions report using the data collected in the assessment process to drive improvements? iv. What evidence do institutions provide that demonstrates assessment is part of the institution's culture, and not an exercise done strictly for accreditation purposes? Findings Each research question yielded major findings which will be summarized here. Regarding research question 1, I found that one way all ten of the sampled institutions organize their assessment work is to create an institution-wide schedule of assessment that delineates key activities and deadlines. The major finding related to research question 2 is that there is significant variation both across and within institutions with respect to the specific instruments (e.g., written exams, surveys) used when conducting assessment. A primary finding related to research question 3 is that institutions commonly adjust academic supports (e.g., embedded tutoring) in response to data collected in the assessment process. Regarding research question 4, I found that all ten institutions incorporate assessment into its operations in ways that are not strictly for compliance purposes (e.g., listing learning outcomes in the catalog). Implications The present study fills a gap in the literature by helping to describe the approaches institutions use to facilitate the assessment of student learning within the context of an accreditation review. The findings also deviate from existing literature in two critical ways. First, none of the sampled institutions reported using a pre/post assessment as identified by Shavelson (2010). Second, unlike the CAOs in Kuh and colleagues' research (2014), major changes reported by the sampled institutions related to changes in academic supports (e.g., embedded tutoring). Recommendations I have developed recommendations for both practitioners and researchers based on the findings of this study. For practitioners, my primary recommendations are to work toward a) developing a predictable schedule of assessment within their institutions, b) ensuring faculty are an integral part of the assessment process, and c) working with internal and external stakeholders to integrate assessment into the fabric of the institution. Thinking of future directions for research, the present study could be built upon by gaining access to institutions' compliance status, as determined by SACSCOC in order to evaluate the effectiveness of their assessment approaches. The current study provides a description of approaches used by institutions who are attempting to demonstrate their compliance with the assessment standard, but it is not able to speak to the resulting determination of compliance by SACSCOC. Another potential direction for future research involves examining the gains in student learning measured by the assessment process. While the present study is unable to address those gains, it may be possible to do so by obtaining the supporting documentation that accompanies the narratives and/or conducting interviews with institutional personnel.

Download or read book Resources in Education written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 836 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Toward Useful Program Evaluation in College Foreign Language Education written by John Marvin Norris and published by Natl Foreign Lg Resource Ctr. This book was released on 2009 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume reports on innovative, useful evaluation work conducted within U.S. college foreign language programs. Each case is reported by program-internal educators, who walk readers through critical steps, from identifying evaluation uses, users, and questions, to designing methods, interpreting findings, and taking actions.

Download or read book Handbook on Measurement Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education written by Charles Secolsky and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-03-22 with total page 989 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education provides higher education administrators, student affairs personnel, institutional researchers who generate and analyze data, and faculty with an integrated handbook of theory, method, and application. This valuable resource brings together applied terminology, analytical perspectives, and methodological advances from the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation to facilitate informed decision-making in higher education. Special Features: Contributing Authors are world-renowned scholars across the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation, including: Robert E. Stake, Trudy W. Banta, Michael J. Kolen, Noreen M. Webb, Kurt Geisinger, Robert J. Mislevy, Ronald K. Hambleton, Rebecca Zwick, John Creswell, and Margaret D. LeCompte. Depth of Coverage includes classroom assessment and student outcomes; assessment techniques for accountability and accreditation; test theory, item response theory, validity and reliability; qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods evaluation; context and ethics of assessment. Questions and Exercises follow each Section to reinforce the valuable concepts and insights presented in the preceding chapters. Bridging the gap between practice in higher education with advances in measurement, assessment, and evaluation, this book enables educational decision-makers to engage in more sound professional judgment. This handbook provides higher education administrators with both high-level and detailed views into contemporary theories and practices, supplemented with guidance on how to apply them for the benefit of students and institutions.

Download or read book Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts written by James Flood and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011 with total page 938 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of Research on Teaching Literacy Through the Communicative and Visual Arts, a comprehensive overview of research on this topic, extends conceptualizations of literacy to include all of the communicative arts (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing) and the visual arts of drama, dance, film, art, video, and computer technology.

Download or read book Insights in Leadership in Education 2022 written by Margaret Grogan and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-02-23 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Increasing Learning Development s Impact through Accreditation written by William J. Rothwell and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-09 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a guide to the process of accrediting training programs, sets out how to achieve consistent measurement of the results of training, and explains why accreditation is critical for capturing and developing today’s workers’ skills, aiding retention, and boosting strategic organizational credibility with millennials. Workplace and executive training is a multi-billion dollar industry and yet an enormous percentage of that budget is spent on programs that have never been rigorously examined to ensure that they are fit for purpose and deliver value for the money. If you’re signing off on that budget, or asking your people to spend time on training programs, shouldn’t that concern you? Training accreditation offers vital quality assurance, ensures global consistency of results and delivers accountability for learning and performance outcomes. Apart from delivering better results and greater ROI, organizations can differentiate themselves from their competitors in the employment marketplace by offering accredited proprietary training. After all, digital natives, and indeed all of today’s most talented potential employees, expect (and increasingly demand) the high quality, engaging and transferable employee development that only accredited programs can deliver. Aligning with the standards set by the International Association of Continuing Education and Training (IACET) – today’s premier accreditation body for training programs – the authors offer principles for quality program structure, delivery, and improvement needed to achieve accreditation. They share practices used by high quality training program managers today, covering business alignment and program administration along with the planning, design, delivery and evaluation of learning systems.

Download or read book Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes in Higher Education written by Yasemin Kırkgöz and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume offers research-based studies on English for Specific Purposes in higher education from across the world. By drawing on international studies, the book brings together diverse ESP practices and aspects of relevant issues in the development of ESP programs, teachers and learners in a coherent fashion. There is a growing need for undergraduate students to develop their proficiency of ESP skills and knowledge in the increasingly globalized world. Knowledge of ESP is an important factor in subject matter learning by students, and also closely related to the performance of university graduates in the relevant sectors. Careful planning and efficient implementation are essential to ensure the quality of the language learning process. For a variety of reasons, it proves difficult to maintain ESP instruction in higher education. These reasons include the incompetence of teachers, lack of materials for that specific context, as well as lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop their skills. The chapters in this book, taken from a wide variety of countries, shed light on the diversity of current practices and issues surrounding ESP.

Download or read book What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume III written by MaryAnn Christison and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-10-25 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed for pre-service and novice teachers in ELT, What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volumes I, II, and III are companion textbooks organized around the key question: What do teachers need to know and be able to do in order to help their students to learn English? Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of Volume III explores the contexts for ELT curricula; explains key processes in curriculum design; and sets out approaches to curricula that are linguistic-based, content-based, learner centered, and learning centered. Organized around the three pillars of teaching—planning, instructing, and assessing—chapters in the second edition are updated to include current research and theory to meet the needs of today’s teachers, and feature new or revised vignettes and activities. New chapters help teachers understand both the technological and multilingual approaches that learners need to succeed today. The comprehensive texts of this series are suitable resources for teachers across different contexts—where English is the dominant language, an official language, or a foreign language; for different levels—elementary/primary, secondary, university, or adult education; and for different learning purposes—general English, workplace English, English for academic purposes, or English for specific purposes.

Download or read book Register of Educational Research in the United Kingdom 1992 1995 written by and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest volume of the Register of Educational Research in the United Kingdom lists all the major research projects being undertaken in Britain during the latter months of 1992, the whole of 1993 and 1994 and the early months of 1995. Each entry provides names and addresses of the researchers, a detailed abstract, the source and amount of the grant(where applicable), the length of the project and details of published material about the research.

Download or read book Current Index to Journals in Education written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 1026 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Aspects of Language Development in an Intensive English Program written by Alan Juffs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-03-02 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While there is much in the literature on ESL development, this book is the first of its kind to track the development of specific language abilities in an Intensive English Program (IEP) longitudinally and highlights the implications of this particular study’s findings for future IEP implementation and practice and ESL and SLA research. The volume draws on many years’ worth of data from learners at an IEP at the University of Pittsburgh to explore selected aspects of language development, including lexical, grammatical, speaking, and writing abilities, in addition to placement assessment practices and student learning outcomes. A concluding chapter points to the ways in which these findings can be applied to decision making around IEP curriculum development and the future role of IEPs in higher education more broadly. With its focus on students in IEP settings and the concentration on data from students evaluated over multiple semesters, this volume offers a unique opportunity in which to examine longitudinal developmental patterns of different L1 groups on a variety of measures from the same learners and will be key reading for students and researchers in second language acquisition, English for Academic Purposes, language education, and applied linguistics.

Download or read book How Accreditation Influences Assessment written by James L. Ratcliff and published by Jossey-Bass. This book was released on 2001-04-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the shift in accreditation from standards to student learning outcomes, and institutional and programmatic requirements to demonstrate student outcomes increasing; this volume offers timely perspectives and research on the latest developments in accreditation and assessment. The authors-accrediting agency officials, campus leaders involved with accreditation and assessment, and higher education researchers -- discuss six salient new directions in accreditation and assessment process that together offer effective ways to enhance student, faculty, and institutional learning. Examples of working accreditation programs include new methods of distance-education program assessment, an institutional accreditation self-study at the University of Vermont, and the Urban Universities Portfolio Project, a national study involving six urban universities who are using electronic portfolios to provide public access on student learning outcomes. The authors also present an initial review of accreditation and assessment backgrounds, changing standards, and underlying issues, as well as a survey of more than twenty written accreditation policies, making this volume a valuable resource for anyone planning or conducting an institutional self-study as a vehicle for change and renewal. This is the 113th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Higher Education.

Download or read book Resources in Education written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 1112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Curriculum Development and Assessment Guidelines for the National Standards Project written by Sungdai Cho and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2018-07-26 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is designed to make public the detailed work that has been developed for the Korean National Standards Project in two areas, namely curriculum development and assessment guideline. The first part of the book provides basic information on Korea and the Korean language, together with its structure and aims. Part Two discusses the four levels of curriculum currently present in high schools and colleges. The third section consists of assessment guidelines to the four levels available in college education. The entire framework offered here is based on the 5Cs principle (specifically Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Connections, and Communities) promoted by American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, with more fine-tuned specifications of standards for each aspect.