On Taking Responsibility for the Quality of the Baccalaureate Degree

Reviewed by Kelly Carter McDorman

Taking Responsibility for the Quality of the Baccalaureate Degree
A Report from the Greater Expectations Project
on Accreditation and Assessment
Association of American Colleges and Universities 2004
http://aacu-secure.nisgroup.com/acb/stores/1/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=83
ISBN/ISSN: 0-911696-96-2
Non-Member Price: $15.00
Member Price: $12.00

I recommend this report for liberal arts institutions working on assessment because:

• It can help you develop or refine student learning outcomes
  
• It provides a useful summary of good practice in the curriculum
  
• It can help you approach assessment in a productive way that emphasizes student learning and faculty improvement

The Project on Accreditation and Assessment (PAA), created by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in 2000, brought together representatives of six major regional accrediting agencies, four specialized/professional accrediting agencies, a national accrediting agency, educational associations involved in liberal learning, and faculty and administrators from a variety of colleges and universities (v). Their goal was to distill "principles of educational excellence" (iii). The PAA’s report, Taking Responsibility for the Quality of the Baccalaureate Degree, "emphasizes achievement by students of desirable learning outcomes as the key indicator of quality" (1). As a result, this document is particularly beneficial for liberal arts institutions that are in the process of developing or refining their own student learning outcomes.

The diverse PAA group found widespread agreement about desired student outcomes, and agreed that a strong liberal education is essential to success in any field (2).
The report summarizes the outcomes developed by three specialized accreditors, two regional accreditors, two scholarly analyses, and one corporation. Moreover, it includes outcomes agreed upon by the PAA members (12-13):

• Communication Skills—including speaking/listening, writing/reading, visual, and artistic
  
• Inquiry and Analysis Skills—including qualitative and quantitative reasoning, critical thinking, scientific reasoning, and intellectual creativity
  
• Integrative Learning—including information literacy, ability to apply knowledge appropriately, and systematic thinking 
  

• Ethics/Values—proficiency in dealing with personal values and responsibilities
  
• Global/Multicultural Orientation—including proficiencies and capacities in dealing with a diverse society, and communication across cultural and linguistic barriers
  
• Personal Development—including ability to be resourceful, flexible, and adaptable; self-understanding and assessment; and the ability to deal with individuals, groups, and organizations
  
• Breadth of Knowledge—including proficiencies and capacities in dealing with the natural world, aesthetic appreciation, and historical perspective
  
• Lifelong Learning—curiosity and lifelong pursuit of knowledge

The group proposes a holistic approach in which outcomes, curriculum, teaching practices, and assessment are interrelated. "In such a purposeful program, faculty members are expected to employ teaching practices that advance the desired learning outcomes; to assess how well the curriculum and instruction succeed; and then to make adjustments for still greater success" (5).

The document goes on to:

• Describe a process for reaching agreement on student outcomes (2)
  
• Summarize the literature on good practice in the curriculum—both for the major and general education (7-9)
  
• Describe the three primary purposes of assessment (17)
  
• Describe eight elements of good assessment practice (19)
  
• Provide six recommendations for campus based action (25-26)
  
• Provide four recommendations for accreditors (27-28)

Finally, the Project on Accreditation and Assessment created by the Association of American Colleges and Universities concludes, "More important than the need for any specific accountability to a larger public is the need to demonstrate to all stakeholders, primarily the students, that an institution takes its responsibility for student learning seriously; that it holds itself accountable for learning success; and that it gathers information to evaluate its progress (23)."