Final Recommendations of Performance Indicator Advisory Committee
Goal 5: High Quality
Statewide Indicators
State Level Results from Illinois’ Participation in the National Forum on College-Level Learning Pilot Project on Assessment of College Student Learning (available in 2004)
Sources of Data: The National Forum on College-Level Learning is an initiative funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts to explore the feasibility and utility of collecting data on student learning outcomes on a statewide basis for purposes of national benchmarking at the state level. Five states are currently involved in this pilot project – Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The project has two main components. The first requires project staff to assemble and analyze data on existing certification/licensing and graduate school admissions examinations administered to college graduates (or soon-to-be graduates) on a widespread basis. These examinations may include tests typically given to two-year college graduates (e.g. the Physical Therapy Assistant examination) or to baccalaureate graduates (e.g. the Graduate Management Admissions Test).
The second component calls for participating states to collect data from a sample of currently-enrolled college students and recent college graduates. The project staff plans to administer three instruments during the fall of 2003. A sample of students at two-year colleges will take a number of the ACT Work Keys examinations. A similar sample of students at four-year institutions (both public and private) will take a battery of instruments developed through the RAND/CAE “Value-Added” project. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) will be co-administered with each of these examinations respectively. Finally, a sample of recent graduates of four-year colleges (and possibly two-year colleges as well) will complete an alumni survey called the Collegiate Results Survey (CRS) administered on-line by Peterson’s Guide.
Suggested Measurement Approach: To be determined by the project team. At this point, testing will likely be limited to somewhere between 1,200 and 2,000 students per state for each of the two test batteries, and for approximately 1,500 recent graduates per state for the CRS. This will necessitate using a cluster sampling approach for each state in which a sample of institutions is first drawn, then a sample of students from each institution so identified.
Suggested Measurement Timeframe: The most recent 3 years’ worth of data available for the first component (existing tests) and the results from the second component.
Common Institutional Indicators
Extent to Which Institutional Quality and Effectiveness are Recognized by Graduates
Sources of Data: Illinois Community College System Occupational Follow-up Study (one year) and Baccalaureate Follow-up Study (one, five, and nine years).
Suggested Measurement Approach: The information will be presented as the percentage of respondents who indicated that they were satisfied (Very Satisfied/Satisfied or Strongly Positive/Positive/Somewhat Positive) as indicated on responses to relevant questions on these surveys.
Illinois Board of Higher Education Page 40
