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Meeting Higher Education's Access and Completion Challenge: Navigating Policy,
Politics, and the Professoriate
Meeting Higher Education's Access and Completion Challenge: Navigating Policy,
Politics, and the Professoriate
Art ColemanArt ColemanEducationCounsel LLCEducationCounsel LLCWashington, D. C. Washington, D. C. [email protected]@educationcounsel.com
Debra Humphreys Debra Humphreys Association of American Colleges and UniversitiesWashington, D.C.Washington, [email protected] [email protected]
Michelle CooperMichelle CooperIHEPIHEPWashington, D.C.Washington, [email protected] [email protected]
College Board Colloquium January, 2011
Delray Beach, FL
Presentation Overview
Session Objectives:
Provide an overview of key national policy, political and academic issues, trends and projections relevant to higher education's ability to meet 21 st Century demands—all as a foundation for discussion about key action-oriented strategies to consider.
Session Outline:
I. Policy: The National and Federal Landscape
II. Politics: Federal and State Developments and Trends
III. Academe: Key Points for Discussion
IV. Questions and Answers
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I. Policy
The National Policy Context: Goals…
The President's Bold Goal: Have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020.
Why?
Economic Competitiveness
Citizenship Experiences and Skills
Expanded Opportunity
How?
Reframing the conversation—access and completion
Unprecedented Federal Investment in Major Reform Drivers
Movement Around Higher Education Accountability
4
The National Policy Context: The Drivers…
A National Focus on College and Career Readiness, with Major Systemic Implications (without action, there's a train wreck coming…)
Common state standards/Assessment consortia
P-20/Systems reexamination and action (e.g., articulation agreements)
A Period of Federal Action, Reflection, and Action: The Swinging Pendulum of Reform:
Stimulus Funding: RTTT, I3, etc.
Driver of major policy reform regarding TLE, data systems, etc.
ESEA reauthorization in the wake of NCLB
Budgets! …with a focus on financial aid/Pell; for-profit accountability
The International Picture: Shifting Tides
Concerns about U.S. competitiveness
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College and Career Readiness Policy Frame
Common Core Standards
Adopted by 41 states—with major projected impact in postsecondary education
Significant work regarding assessment consortia
Key questions regarding Congress and ESEA reauthorization
Major systems focus
Data Systems
P-20 Lens
Continuing key questions on accountability
Transparency, student growth and disaggregation of data.
Increased focus on "the bottom 5 percent" of schools.
Teacher and Leader Effectiveness
Key questions on ways to link data to measures of teacher accountability
Huge implications for colleges of teacher education
Reforms and Innovations
Increased focus on charter and autonomous schools with Race to the Top.
Elementary and Secondary Education: Key Developments and Trends
6
Heightened attention on access and completion agenda, with increasing focus on accountability and the "return on the dollar."
Accountability points of focus include:
Transparency/Data
Federal Financial Aid
• For-profit institution focus: The genie out of the bottle?
Outcomes
• Assessing Results—for what purposes?
• Reporting Results—what results?
Chairman Kline: The Department should ensure consumers have access to meaningful measures of student outcomes, including graduation rates, persistence rates, and in-field job-placement rates.
Postsecondary Education: Key Developments and Trends
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Congressional Work Incomplete: Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations
Left unresolved, a nearly $6 billion Pell Grant shortfall.
Pressures for the New Congress
The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
The House of Representatives Republican Pledge to America.
Movement to ban earmarks.
State Budgets
To balance 2011 budgets, states had to address gaps totaling $125 billion in 46 states.
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Across the Spectrum: Budgets
Key Points of Policy Focus and Action
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Key Areas of Federal/National/State Focus
• Systems Capacity and Alignment , Especially Data
• Teacher & Leader Effectiveness
• Investments in Systems/ Underperforming Districts & Schools
• Investments in Community Colleges, etc.
• Continuing Investment in Financial Aid
• Promotion of Accountability Focus
• Cost-cutting
Point to…
Higher Education's Vital Role
1. System Coherence and Connectivity. Support aligned standards, curriculum, assessments, data systems…coherence, as a basis for gauging results!
Community College Connections
• K-12 Connections. Enhance teacher/leader education and related K-12 support; and Invest in underperforming districts.
• Direct Student Support. Early counseling ; and financial support for low-income families; etc.
• Cost-cutting
The Bottom Line: Sustained, Systemic Change….
II. Politics
The Federal and National Landscape Election Overview
House
Republicans add at least 60 seats to take control of House.
New breakdown: 239 R to 189D.
Senate
Democrats keep control of Senate, but lose six seats.
New breakdown 53 D to 47 R to 2 Ind.
Governors
Republicans gain control of 8 additional governors mansions.
New breakdown 29 R to 20 D to 1 Ind.
State Legislatures
Republicans now control 54 legislative chambers.
Democrats have 38 and one is tied.
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K-12: ESEA on hold until Republican caucus consensus emerges and transition logistics completed, but remains important objective.
Higher Ed: Intense for-profit scrutiny diminishes, but completion rate concerns linked to Pell/loans expand across higher ed.
Budget: Future education budgets held flat, state/local bailouts end, and new programs unfunded.
Possible Republican Committee Leadership: John Kline (MN)/Ed & Labor and Denny Rehberg (MT)/Labor HHS Ed Appropriations.
Possible Democratic Committee Leadership: Miller (CA)/Ed & Labor and Rosa DeLauro (CT)/Labor HHS Ed Appropriations.
House Education Outlook
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K-12: Bi-partisan ESEA negotiations continue, but new committee members face steep learning curve.
Budget: Future education budgets held flat, state/local bailouts end, and new programs unfunded.
Higher Ed: For profit scrutiny remains.
Possible Committee Leadership: Tom Harkin (IA) expected to continue to chair HELP and Labor, HHS, Ed Appropriations. Mike Enzi (WY) expected to remain HELP Ranking Member. Republican Ranking Member on Labor HHS, Ed Appropriations TBD.
Senate Education Outlook
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The U.S. Supreme Court: Who's Who…
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GINSBURG STEVENS SOUTER BREYER O'CONNOR KENNEDY REHNQUIST SCALIA THOMAS
2003
GRUTTER MAJORITY (2003)GRATZ MAJORITY (2003)
SEATTLE S.D. MAJORITY (2007)
2011
GINSBURG KAGAN SOTOMAYER BREYER ALITO KENNEDY ROBERTS SCALIA THOMAS
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Federal Law Evolves, Clarifies…
Three Decades of Admissions-Related U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
ConstitutionalConstitutional
AdmissionsIndividualized
Review
U. of Michigan
Law Policy (2003)
Harvard Undergraduate
Policy (1978 and 2003)
AdmissionsPoint
System
U. of Michigan Undergraduate
Policy (2003)
UnconstitutionalUnconstitutional
AdmissionsQuota
System
U. of Cal-Davis Med.
School Policy (1978)
Seattle/ Louisville S.D.
Plans (2007)
K-12 Student
Assignment
Single-Sex Admissions
VMI Admissions
Policy (1996)
Public Reaction ► State Policy Change onRace- and Gender-Conscious Preferences
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(BTW: Evidence…Part of the Policy Equation)
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Demographic Projections
Source: WICHE
Contribution to the Nation's Change in Total High School Graduates Relative to 2004-2005, by Region
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Demographic ProjectionsComposition of Public High School Graduates in the US -- By Race/ Ethnicity, 2004-2005 (Actual); 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 (Projected)
Source: WICHE
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Demographic ProjectionsComposition of Public High School Graduates in the US - By Race/ Ethnicity, 2004-2005 (Actual); 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 (Projected)
Source: WICHE
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Demographic Projections
Source: WICHE
Composition of Public High School Graduates in the US - By Race/ Ethnicity, 2004-2005 (Actual); 2009-2010 and 2014-2015 (Projected)
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Demographic ProjectionsCumulative Percent Change in US Public School Graduates -- Relative to 2004-2005 by Race/Ethnicity
Source: WICHE
The U.S. Pipeline…
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Prepared by Jobs for the Future (November 2008 presentation). Source: Goldberger Susan. Doing the Math: What It Means to Double the Number of Low-Income College Graduates, Minding the Gap. Harvard Press & Jobs for the Future: Cambridge, MA, 2007
For Every 100 Low-Income Students Who Enter High School…
The U.S. Pipeline…
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65 Graduate from High School…
The U.S. Pipeline…
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41 Enroll in College…
The U.S. Pipeline…
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And 11 Graduate College…
Education Distribution Across Household Income:A New Reality
Source: The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 2010
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Postsecondary Degree Attainment:Ages 25-64 by Population Group
Source: Lumina Foundation for Education, A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education,
201028
The Growing Demand for Higher Order Skills
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Source: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index
Employers’ Top Priorities For Student Learning Outcomes In College
70%
70%
71%
75%
75%
79%
81%
89%
% saying two- and four-year colleges should place MORE emphasis on helping students develop these skills, qualities, capabilities, knowledge
Effective oral/written communication
Critical thinking/ analytical reasoning
Knowledge/skills applied to real world settings
Analyze/solve complex problems
Connect choices and actions to ethical
decisionsTeamwork skills/ ability
to collaborateAbility to innovate and
be creativeConcepts/developments in
science/technology 30
Expecting students to complete a significant project before graduation that demonstrates their depth of knowledge in their major AND their acquisition of analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills (62% help a lot)
Expecting students to complete an internship or community-based field project to connect classroom learning with real-world experiences (66%)
Ensuring that students develop the skills to research questions in their field and develop evidence-based analyses (57%)
Expecting students to work through ethical issues and debates to form their own judgments about the issues at stake (48%)
Source: Raising the Bar (AAC&U, 2010)
Employers Assess the Potential Value of Emerging Educational Practices
% saying each would help a lot/fair amount to prepare college students for success
84%
81%
81%
73%
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III. Academe: Key Points for Discussion
Access and Completion: Key Areas of Policy Focus
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Compliance:
Federal and
State Law/
Accreditation
Educational Soundness:
Valid
Effective
Scalable
Systems Alignment
Clear
Goals & Objectives
Political Will & Stakeholder
Support
cc
*© EducationCounsel, 2010
Access and Completion: Flawed Policy Assumptions
• Top “diversity” issue is increasing the number of minority students graduating from somewhere
• Narrow training is enough for workplace success
• Success=more grads in less time with less debt
• Accreditation system can handle quality assurance if accreditors just “got tougher”
• Earning credits=learning (all credits and learning experiences are of equal quality—or “good enough”)
• If you graduate, you’ve had the educational experience you need and achieved all the most important outcomes
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Three Propositions To Frame Our Conversation
Federal, State, System and Institutional Policies Must:
1. Promote rigor in systemically aligned academic standards that are relevant to meet 21st Century demands—inclusive of focusing on learning outcomes measurements calibrated to new economic and civic demands (outcomes rather than just outputs).
2. Fully serve all students in their quest for postsecondary education—with a particular focus on minority/first-generation/low-income students, and with the necessary academic, financial, and counseling infrastructures and support that will promote access and college completion.
3. Ensure that academic quality and student learning isn't sacrificed in the name of numbers and outcomes-driven pressures.
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Getting It Right: Key Issues
How to align and connect higher education policy with global and democratic aims of education?
How to increase the numbers of graduates while also increasing the skills, knowledge and cross-cutting capacities of those graduates?
In the overarching "accountability, accountability, accountability" conversation, how to ensure clarity with respect to: accountability for whom, by whom, based on what, at what cost, with what benefits and consequences?
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Clear
Goals & Objectives
Getting It Right: Key Issues
How can/should the common core standards movement affect college admissions…and efforts to expand access?
Can effective outcome measures be effectively established (and if so, how)…
…while preserving the diversity of higher education institutions and their ability to meaningfully pursue distinct missions?
…in ways that will meaningfully and validly reflect the quality of institutional instruction and corresponding student learning?
…based upon valid assessments of student achievement of the full set of essential learning outcomes—knowledge, skills, responsibilities, integrative and applied learning?
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Educational Soundness:
Valid
Effective
Scalable
Getting It Right: Key Issues
To meet the 21st Century challenges associated with enrollment decisions, do federal/state rules need to change?
In light of the evolution of the issue of accountability for higher education, what is the proper role for accreditors?
Should the process and substance of accreditation change to better align with accountability policy directions—and if so, how?
E.g., Public reporting of data and findings?
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Compliance:
Federal and
State Law/
Accreditation
Getting It Right: Key Issues
What are the proper roles for the federal and state governments with respect to requirements, incentives and funding? And how do those parameters vary among public, private, and private/for-profit institutions?
With respect to both access and completion
How can we incentivize the right practices and avoid incentivizing the wrong ones (e.g., tracking into low-quality programs)?
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Systems Alignment
Getting It Right: Key Issues
How should we address the growing question of "what have you done for me lately?" and "Why did it cost so much?"
Are all key constituencies meaningfully part of the relevant conversation, as a foundation for building transparency, stakeholder understanding, and prospects for consensus with respect to future directions for higher education? If there are "process gaps," what steps should be taken?
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Political Will & Stakeholder Support
Three Global Questions To Frame Our Conversation
1. What are the consequences of focusing on student learning outcomes as part of an education reform agenda—and how do we avoid the undesired, unintended consequences while achieving desired goals?
2. What are the key parameters that should frame the national dialogue on the use of student learning outcomes and the drive for greater accountability—to ensure that the key policies are well understood and that reforms are appropriately paced and sequenced?
3. As a matter of process,
What should institutions "own?" What should be a focus of state or federal advocacy?
How can we most inclusively pursue policy action—ensuring that key stakeholders are a meaningful part of the conversation?
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Narrow Learning is Not EnoughThe LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes
Knowledge 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
High Impact Practices Supporting Completion and Learning
First-Year Seminars and Experiences
Common Intellectual Experiences
Learning Communities
Writing-Intensive Courses
Collaborative Assignments and Projects
Undergraduate Research
Diversity/Global Learning
Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
Internships
Capstone Courses and Projects
43
High-Impact Practices: What The Evidence Shows
• Increase engagement, time on task, and integrative skills
• Correlated with levels of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction
• Correlated with higher GPA, higher retention rates, greater satisfaction rates
• Student learning outcomes—increased critical thinking, communications, and ethical reasoning
• Impact for all students; greater impact for less well-prepared students and students of color.
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Efficient Policies That Lead to Quality and Completion
• Educational and support practices that work for all students, including underprepared students;
• Practices that increase learning and retention
• Practices that teach content and skills in integrative ways (allowing reduction of credit accumulation)
• Assessment practices that both measure and deepen learning—and assess integrative projects
Key Campus Challenges
• Going Deeper with Learning Outcomes – As the Lumina Foundation Now Intends to Do
• Building High Impact, High Effort, High Pay-off Practices Early and Often into the Expected Curriculum
• Taking “Information Delivery OUT of the Regular Classroom” – via the Power of New Technologies
• Making Applied CENTRAL to the Educational Experience and the Catalyst for Developing Capabilities and The Context for Assessing Learning Outcomes
Other Lessons from LEAP
• Faculty are key to improved learning outcomes; must play a role in creating and delivering curricula, and developing meaningful assessments
• Cross-cutting outcomes are important and must be developed across both general education and the major; curricular coherence matters (random earning of credits isn’t enough)
• Coherent vision and clear communication from top to bottom can have huge impact
• Employers are key allies
Contact Information
Art Coleman, EducationCounsel co-managing partner, previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education and has led the work of the College Board's Access and Diversity Collaborative since 2004. Mr. Coleman is also Chairman of the Board for the Institute for Higher Education Policy [IHEP]. He may be reached at [email protected].
Michelle Cooper, Ph.D is President of IHEP and a member of the board of directors for College Bound, National College Access Network, and Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. Mrs. Cooper oversees IHEP's expansive research portfolio and innovative programmatic activities focusing on access and success, accountability, diversity, finance, and global impact. She may be reached at [email protected].
Debra Humphreys, Ph.D is Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs for AAC&U, where she oversees all public affairs programs and outreach, media relations, marketing, and publishing. She is also currently leading national advocacy efforts as part of AAC&U's campaign, Liberal Education and America’s Promise: Excellence for Everyone as a Nation Goes to College. She may be reached at [email protected].
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Organizational Background
AAC&U is a leading national association concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate liberal education. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises more than 1,200 member institutions--including accredited public and private colleges and universities of every type and size.
EducationCounsel LLC supports education leaders in their efforts to develop and implement policies to improve student achievement, close achievement gaps and ensure equal access to opportunity for all. EducationCounsel has offices in Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, and Greenville, SC; with affiliate offices in Boston, Raleigh, Tallahassee and Columbia, SC.
IHEP is a nonpartisan global research and policy center that serves as a resource for government agencies, higher education organizations, philanthropic foundations, and others committed to increasing access and success in postsecondary education.
For resources generated by the College Board's Access & Diversity Collaborative, please visit: www.collegeboard.com/accessanddiversity.
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