Learning Evidence Team Proposal to the College Learning Council April 2007 Proposal The Learning Evidence Team (LET) seeks recognition as a formally established committee within the College’s governance structure and requests oversight from the College Learning Council. History and Background Information The LET was established in February 2004 as a response to specific SACS recommendations / suggestions (see attached) and as a way of providing leadership for the college-wide initiative to accomplish Goal 4 of the Strategic Learning Plan, fostering a culture of evidence that improves learning at Valencia. The LET was challenged to answer two key questions: What do we mean by evidence of student learning? And, how will we document this evidence? This was, to a very large extent, the College’s first real attempt at programmatic assessment of TVCA and the LET’s status was experimental and ad hoc. When it was established in 2004 the LET reported directly to the CLO with staff support form the Learning Evidence Associate (Emily Hooker). At this point in time, after a change in CLO, the creation of a departmental office responsible for Institutional Assessment and the development of a new strategic plan, The LET needs to clarify its place within the institutional structure so that its current and future work is aligned with the strategic goals of the college. Given the LET’s focus on evidence of student learning it seems clear to us that the oversight we request should come from the College Learning Council. Intended Outcome •
Current and future LET assessment priorities will reflect the strategic goals of the college as determined by the College Learning Council.
Attachment Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Report of Reaffirmation Committee, 2003 Part 1: Findings of the Compliance Team 3.1 Planning and Evaluation: Educational Programs “The College provided evidence to demonstrate that it engages in systematic planning and evaluation within and across all levels of its academic programs, divisions, and departments. For instance, the Committee reviewed departmental and division planning documents that identify goals, strategies, and action plans. The documents included evidence of the evaluation of such goals as well as the use of the results of evaluations for improvement of educational programs. For example, the documents incorporated linkages from one yearly planning cycle to the next. However, the Committee was unable to find evidence within the division and departmental plans that demonstrate the plans systematically encompassed evaluations of the effectiveness of the educational programs specifically related to the quality of student learning. The Criteria require institutions to provide evidence of such evaluations; however, the Committee was unable to find any evidence in this area during its review. Therefore, (Recommendation 1) the Committee recommends that the College provide evidence that it has developed and implemented guidelines to evaluate its educational effectiveness as it relates to the quality of student learning outcomes.” (Page 7-8, http://valenciacc.edu/sacs/Reaffirmation_Report.pdf ) Part 2: Strategic Advice and Observations of the Consulting Team of the Committee Strategic Priority Two: Core Competency Integration and Assessment “The College is beginning to use methods to assess whether students are gaining mastery of TVCA competencies from their academic work, but the methods are far from being deployed on a consistent and systematic basis. The absence of any data on TVCA integration or student mastery of TVCA competencies from the Strategic Learning Plan Indicators of Progress and the Statistical History 20012002 represents a major gap in the College’s understanding of how this initiative is progressing. Therefore, (Suggestion 3) the Committee suggests that the College activate and promulgate standard measures of student mastery of TVCA competencies in all courses where those competencies are integrated into the curriculum and instruction. Ideally, this step would be part of an even larger body of work to assess students’ achievement of learning outcomes in all courses. The E-portfolio part of the LifeMap system is projected to house results of student learning, but it has yet to be used to record TVCA competency achievement.” (Page 29, http://valenciacc.edu/sacs/Reaffirmation_Report.pdf )