House of Cards: Strategies for success in supports for student learning Kate Connor

A little about Truman College… Part of the seven City Colleges of Chicago Dramatic changes throughout the District through Reinvention effort Individually accredited by HLC 23,000 students Large ESL and GED population Multiple Special Program Accreditations: – NATEF, NAEYC, ACEN

Strategy and the Academy Utilizing the political capital of HLC and the Academy to get student learning at the forefront of conversations for: – Increased funding and support for general education and program assessment – Faculty engagement about student learning Changing the view of assessment – Cheerleading in a time of intense change Faculty were uncomfortable taking chances with assessment (What if the data is bad?) – Increased administrative support for understanding student learning

Work to be done… Basing projects on our HLC Reaffirmation Report, we are focused on the following areas: Continue General Education Assessment Further develop program/discipline efforts Create sustainable structures – Committee structure – Professional Development – Becoming part of the college culture Per our report, we needed to “successfully complete” our projects

We had big plans… Joined Assessment Academy HLC Site Visit and Site-Visit Report Went to our Kickoff- MADE BIG PLANS HLC recommended we continue in the Academy and show “successful” completion Bob Mundhenk raised concern that projects did not address HLC concerns Streamline of Academy projects to address concerns and focus our efforts TRIED TO EAT A WHALE

Streamlining Our project: General Education Developed an assessment process with a calendar through 2019: Student Learning Outcomes- Develop or review Student Learning Outcome(SLO) for Goal(s) Assessment Research and Design- Find or Create Appropriate Tools and Processes for Specific General Education SLO’s assessment Administration of Assessment Tool-Recruit sample for assessment through faculty and conduct assessment Data Analysis- Data input, reliability and validity checks, produce analyzed and usable data Dissemination of Data- Share data with all stakeholders and produce report for posting to the public Data-Driven Decisions- Partner with stakeholders to discuss and implement data driven improvement

Streamlining Our Project: General Education We have assessed all general education areas and have a baseline for moving forward

Streamlining Our Project: Department/Discipline Faculty Development day focused on department and discipline work: Three Questions: – What do you know about student learning? – How do you know it? – What do you do with this information? Each question has “guiding questions below” and feedback is given from a common rubric to help guide work

Streamlining Our Project: Department/Discipline Met with faculty based on Three Questions Report – Example: Humanities Discussed outcomes in our Humanities 201 course and alignment to General Education Outcomes – Focused here because of number of sections and enrollment – Numerous full and part-time faculty Faculty selected one outcome from the course and agreed to develop a common assessment: – 3d. describe the historical and stylistic connection of the works presented

Streamlining Our Project: Department/Discipline Faculty in the Discipline developed a broad essay: “X (a specific work of the humanities, covered in class) represents y (a specific style or movement of the humanities, also covered in class). Describe the historical circumstances out of which this style was born, using the work as an example.” Faculty developed a rubric aligned to agreed-upon components of the outcome selected

Streamlining Our Project: Department/Discipline 72% of students received a “satisfactory” rating or higher on the assessment During the discussion faculty decided they wanted to partner with the Writing Center to better prepare students for reading and writing within the discipline

Streamlining Our Project: Department/Discipline Two topics: – Humanities Vocabulary – Reading and Writing in the Humanities Developed using Humanities 201 textbook We are currently revising the “Reading and Writing in the Humanities” to tailor them to the HUM201 final assessment

Streamlining Our Project: Sustainable Structures Restructuring of our committee – Bylaws and Release time – Representatives from all departments – Ex-officio members from administration – Standing presentations at all Department Chairs and Faculty Council meetings – Roles and duties realigned to focus on promotion and support of the assessment process as a tool to understand student learning

Streamlining Our Project: Sustainable Structures Faculty Development – Common Language: FDS and Second Semester Seminar and working with Assessment Committee Assessment Basics Presentation – Assessment Strand at Faculty Development Week – Data discussion day: Focus groups led by Social Science Faculty – Spring Faculty Development 2013: Department/Discipline 2014: Symposium on Teaching and Learning: Partnered with Office of Instruction: Developmental Education – Work with anyone and everyone willing to work with us!

Focus Supported Success Develop PD Strands for fall FD Continue Gen Ed efforts Partner with Departments (develop basic reports) Math Center/Writing Centers and Powershots start Faculty and Administration attend HLC Roundtable Plan for Faculty Assessment Day in Spring- To share data, best practices, and plans for moving forward Bob Mundhenk, our HLC Academy Mentor, PRAISES Truman and the progress to date!

Addressing HLC Concerns that are specific to Assessment General Education Assessment Year assessed:Reflect, React, Document changes based on data(if any) HLC Concern Addressed 1. Communication2010, 2011Fall 2012 Challenge 1 & 3 2. Inquiry and Analysis2011Fall 2012Challenge 1 & 3 3. Critical Thinking2011Fall 2012Challenge 1 & 3 4. Civic Engagement/DiversityHuman Diversity: Fall 2012 Civic Engagement: Fall 2013 Challenge 1 & 3 Program Outcomes and Assessment Year assessed:Reflect, React, Document changes based on data(if any) HLC Concern Addressed Continuous work: Assessment chair will now work with Department Chairs directly and during Department Chair Meetings On-goingOngoingChallenge 2

Strategy Matters Understanding what works at our College – Culture: What works and why? – Champions: Knowing and creating – Getting everyone into the right positions

Please feel free to contact: Kate Connor