Academic Preparedness!

Transcription

1 Are You Ready for the Building Accreditation Storm? Academic Preparedness! Featuring Best Practices in Direct Assessment through Applications of the Common Professional Component (CPC) for Business Program Assessment, Addressing Accreditation Requirements, and Benchmarking Brought to You by Your Accreditation Partners: Olin O. Oedekoven, Ph.D. Michael D. Ewald, Ph.D. Peregrine Academic Services

2 A Building Accreditation Storm With increasing pressure on accountability in higher education, most academic leaders anticipate a serious storm coming relative to accreditation, accountability, and public funding for higher education. Academic regulators are all tightening accreditation requirements and scrutinizing how learning outcomes are measured, assessed, and reported. The storm is coming relative to higher education accountability are you ready?

3 Presentation Contents The Building Accreditation Storm Are You Ready? Academic Preparedness Direct Assessments for Internal and External Benchmarking Academic Leveling Courses, Option #1 and Option #2 Student Surveys APA Writing Style Competency Development Peregrine Academic Services: We Have You Covered

4 The Building Accreditation Storm: Are You Academically Prepared?

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7 Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 In January 2010, Tennessee passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda that seeks to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional level. At the center of these reforms is the need for more Tennesseans to be better educated and trained, while also acknowledging the state's diminished fiscal capacity to support higher education. (last updated January 2011) At the heart of the CCTA is a new Public Agenda for higher education which establishes the direct link between the state s economic development and its educational system. The overarching goal of the Public agenda is to have Tennessee meet the projected national average in educational attainment by The primary state policy levers for addressing the state s educational needs are a new funding formula, which incorporates outcomes in lieu of enrollment, a new Performance Funding program, which focuses on quality assurance, and the establishment of institutional mission statements or profiles, which distinguish each institution by degree level, program offerings and student characteristics. (last updated January 2011) The Complete College TN Act One Year Later: Moving Forward One year after the CCTA was signed, the Master Plan Steering Committee convened a Forum of committee members as well as leaders from higher education, business, state government, and national policy associations to assess where we have come from and where we are going. Through discussion facilitated by national experts, Forum participants considered the concerns, challenges and opportunities provided by the CCTA as institutions move forward, translating policy into strategic implementation.

8 The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bipartisan amendment to prevent the U.S. Department of Education from bypassing Congress to implement the gainful employment regulation. The proposed regulation would restrict access to federal aid for over two million students at private sector colleges and universities in the next ten years. APSCU urges Congress to include the amendment as part of the final Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution legislation. The Kline-Foxx-Hastings-McCarthy-Payne amendment prevents the Department of Education from using federal funds through September 30, 2011 to implement the highly controversial "gainful employment" regulation. The amendment passed on a vote of 289 to136. The House vote sends a strong message to the Department: keep the door to opportunity open to the millions of non-traditional students who want options in higher education.

9 The language in Kentucky HB 125, as it is currently written, will require that Career Colleges become regionally accredited (SACS). Although this may help with credits transferring to other institutions in some cases (although that is not a given), it will defeat the major focus and need the Career Colleges serve in our Commonwealth. This bill will have a negative effect on 49% of the postsecondary colleges/universities in Kentucky. It will remove the choice for students that want the type of training Career Colleges offers. More importantly, the demographics that most Career Colleges serves sees our training as their only option for success. To eliminate this option for Kentuckians will have a devastating effect on our State reaching their long term higher educational goals, and dramatically reduce the number of trained individuals in Kentucky s workforce.

10 The outcomes assessment process, therefore, is the single most important component of IACBE accreditation.

11 Each degree program must have a distinct assessment process that encompasses the entire program.

12 Undergraduate programs must provide CPC coverage. Graduate programs can incorporate CPC topical instruction as a leveling course to ensure business competency.

13 Just for Dual-Accreditation? Academic assessment is not limited to dualaccreditation. All stakeholders, including regional accreditation organizations, government regulators, state licensing agencies, parents, and funding sources, expect program-level accountability with your higher learning program.

14 Therefore, we must talk about CPCs, Assessment, Accountability, and Benchmarking because the regulatory agencies and accreditation authorities require us to.

15 The CPCs 1. Marketing 2. Business Finance 3. Accounting 4. Management (Operations/Production Management, Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior) 5. Legal Environment of Business 6. Economics 7. Business Ethics 8. Global Dimensions of Business 9. Information Management Systems 10.Quantitative Techniques/Statistics 11.Business Leadership 12.Business Integration/Strategic Management

16 We Have You Covered CPC-Based COMP Exams for Program-Level Direct Assessment

17 How the Direct Assessment Process Works Start of Program Student Completes Business Program End of Program Student takes the inbound COMP Test, Initial Benchmark. This is usually taken during their first business course. The change in scores is a direct measure of CPC competency change, both for the individual and at the program level. Student takes the outbound COMP Test, Final Benchmark. This is usually taken during the last course in the curriculum.

18 Exam Content Please refer to the brochure that lists the CPC topic subjects for each of the CPCs. Our report back to you will include a frequency analysis of missed questions by subject.

19 How Do Students Obtain Exam Keys? Self registration of the students based upon their course enrollment. In your course syllabus (or by to your students) at the appropriate activity for the CPC-based COMP exam, a sentence directs them to your school s micro-site ( and they enter a common password (University Mascot Name). Students select their course (inbound/outbound tests associated with specific courses), enter their address and name, register, and then receive their Exam Keys by . The advantage to this process is that it saves time and reduces the chances for errors for both the University and for Peregrine Academic Services. The micro-site can be set so either the student pays or the university is billed monthly or at the end of the testing period. 19

20 Selfregistration Course Syllabus Activity #2 in this course is to complete the CPC-based Comprehensive Exam. The exam results are used by the university are part of its accreditation requirements. You are required to complete the exam, but exam is not for a letter grade in the course. We need you to do your best in order for us to have the best possible data for our continuous improvement process. The 120-question online test is administered by Peregrine Academic Services. Please go to enter access code NAME-1001 in the registration section, complete the exam registration process, to obtain the Exam Key for the exam by from Peregrine Academics. The University is paying the fee for the exam. You must complete the exam by the due date assigned by your course professor. At the end of the exam, please print and save the completion certificate and return to your course professor. Directed to School Log-in site Univ. Logo Univ. Logo School Microsite 1 of 4 20

21 Selfregistration Student selects the CPC-Based COMP exam based on their course enrollment. 2 of 4

22 Selfregistration If the APA services have not be obtained for a specific course, the student still has the option to purchase our APA writing style services with a University Discount (up to 20%). 3 of 4

23 Student: Selfregistration 1. Confirms registration 2. Enters information 3. Completes Process to view the Exam Key(s) and receive the Exam Key(s) by e- mail. 4 of 4

24 Student can click the hyperlink from the micro-site to access the exam OR wait until the arrives and click the same hyperlink within the .

25 Student with the Password The Exam Key description is hyperlinked within the e- mail. When the hyperlink is selected, the web browser is directed to our log-in site. The is customized to include the school s logo. Univ. Logo

26 Student Uses the Password Student data from the initial registration is automatically filled in the corresponding boxes. The student verifies that the name is correct as they want it to appear on the completion certificate and then proceeds with the session.

27 Student Starts the Online Test A CPC-Based COMP Exam includes 120 questions, 10 questions per CPC topic. Questions are randomly selected from a test bank that includes questions per CPC topic. Typically, the exam takes about minutes. Two 15-minute breaks are allowed during the exam. A student has 48 hours to complete the exam and only three log-in attempts are allowed. Only the school administrator or course instructor can authorize a restart/re-take of the test once the 48 hours has elapsed and/or after three (3) log-in attempts.

28 Student Takes the Online CPC-Based Exam As the student takes the exam, the progress bar shows where the student is at within the test. Once a test is started, the student has 3 opportunities for log-in within a 48 hour period. If the test is not completed within 48 hours, unanswered questions are scored 0 points and a completion certificate is automatically generated.

29 Student Completes the CPC-Based COMP Exam Each question is timed for 5 minutes and the time remaining for the question is displayed. The CPC topic for the question is also displayed just above the exam question.

30 Student Concludes the Online Test Once the test is concluded, summary statistics are shown along with the overall score for the exam. A link is located in the upper left to view/print/download the test completion certificate.

31 Student Test Completion Certificate Univ. Logo The certificate is submitted by the student to the instructor for grade or credit for completing the exam.

32 We Have You Covered Usable Reports for Direct Assessments with Internal and External Benchmarking

33 Our report format back to you will be in PowerPoint or PDF and includes a series a graphs and tables summarizing the results. The report can be readily inserted into your dualaccreditation reporting. Report Format

34 Report Files We include an Excel file with all the raw data. There are no restrictions on how you can use these data.

35 Complete Data Access You receive all the raw data from our online tests so that you can conduct your own analysis of the results. With inbound student testing, you can readily see the strengths and weaknesses of individual students, which will enable academic advisors to place students in the right courses. University officials can review the individual results and set the performance standards based upon their program requirements and learning outcomes.

36 Inbound/Outbound Comparisons By comparing the inbound and outbound test scores, both cumulatively and by specific CPC topic, you can directly measure the effectiveness of your curriculum at the program-level.

37 Test Results A simple scatter plot gives you a visual snapshot of the student results. A scatter plot is provided for both the total score and for each inbound and/or outbound CPC topic score.

38 Descriptive statistics are calculated and clearly displayed in the report. Each CPC topic is analyzed individually. Topic Level Data

39 Topic-Level Analysis Simple bar graph comparisons between the inbound and outbound scores give you an easy to understand visual of your student s results. The percent change calculation is your direct measure of learning outcomes.

40 Subject-Level Analysis Subject-level analysis gives you the added detail you need for your program-level and course-level analyses. There are 4-8 subjects per CPC topic.

41 Sub-Topic, Subject-Level Analysis For the Management and the Economic CPC Topics, there are subtopics. We provide you with both topic and subtopic data and their respective subjectlevel analysis.

42 Cohort Analysis We will assist you in analyzing and reporting the data from our testing services that best addresses your specific needs. Cohort comparisons are one of the more common analysis areas. Cohort data are recorded during the exam registration process or based on the course-program information.

43 Change Analysis CPC-based COMP exam results provide you with the data you need to make adjustments in your curriculum, delivery, course content, and more. Pre-change exam results are statistically compared to post-change exam results to quantify the affect of the changes. Over time, you can also readily see where you might have instructional gaps or systemic issues that you need to address.

44 Accounting CPC Exams 1. Marketing 2. Business Finance 3. Accounting 4. Management 5. Legal Environment of Business 6. Global Dimensions of Business Accounting 7. Economics 8. Business Ethics in Accounting 9. Business Communications 10. Information Systems 11. Quantitative Techniques and Statistics 12. Research Analysis 13. Business Policies We now have an Accounting CPC Exam (ACPC) based upon the Accounting Degree Program Accredition Requirements.

45 External Benchmarking External benchmarking is based upon your specific student demographics and your course delivery methods. We can compare your student results with other similar programs for external benchmarking. Careful consideration will be made to ensure that we are truly comparing apples-to-apples relative to the analysis.

46 Data Analysis An important analysis area is comparing inbound/outbound percent change of your students with the same data from demographically similar peer-schools so that you can see how your students compare with other similar students. By comparing the inbound and outbound test scores, both cumulatively and by specific CPC topic, you can directly measure the effectiveness of your curriculum at the programlevel. Results are used for continuous improvement and academic benchmarking, both internally and externally.

47 Availability of Data Sets for External Comparisons Program Type Academic Degree Level Bachelors Masters Doctoral Traditional Campus-based Program YES YES Blended, Accelerated, Hybrid Programs YES YES YES Online Programs YES YES YES Our client schools and programs include a wide diversity of program delivery and student demographics. We have the benchmarking data you require for your external analysis needs.

48 Side-by-Side Comparisons We will discuss with you which of our client schools would be appropriate to use for aggregate data comparisons. We will not share specific client school data, but rather pool the data for aggregate analysis. Client confidentiality will be preserved with your results as well as with the results from our other client schools. We will ensure that you are provided true apples-toapples comparisons.

49 We Have You Covered Accounting Degree Program ACPC-Based COMP Exams

50 Accounting Degree Programs Peregrine Academic Services is the only higher education vendor that specifically provides ACPCbased testing for Accounting Degree programs. Our ACPC-based COMP exams are unique for the accounting degree programs and distinctly separate from our business degree CPCbased COMP exams.

51 Accounting Degree Programs Accreditation authorities require unique Accounting Degree assessments for program-level benchmarking. Inbound and outbound testing of students with comprehensive data analysis fulfills the accreditation requirements for academic benchmarking and program-level assessment.

52 Accounting CPC Exams 1. Marketing 2. Business Finance 3. Accounting 4. Management 5. Legal Environment of Business 6. Global Dimensions of Business Accounting 7. Economics 8. Business Ethics in Accounting 9. Business Communications 10. Information Systems 11. Quantitative Techniques and Statistics 12. Research Analysis 13. Business Policies We now have an Accounting CPC Exam (ACPC) based upon the Accounting Degree Program Accreditation Requirements.

53 Unique features of our ACPC- based COMP exams include Online testing with no proctor requirement Individual student results along with aggregate comparisions with demographicaly similar schools and programs Immediate access to results and the ability to use individual results as you require (e. g. academic placement based on inbound scores; grades for outbound scores) Specific graduate and undergraduate exam versions

54 We Have You Covered International CPC-Based COMP Exams Globally Too!

55 Global Business Education How Does Your International Business Program Measure Up? Do you need an online Common Professional Component (CPC) test in a language other than English so that you can truly measure student competency instead of language proficiency? Do you need online competency testing for your business-related degree programs? Do you have specializations and business programs that do not match up well with traditional assessment tests? Peregrine Academic Services is the only comprehensive test provider with specific services for international schools with online tests that can be customized for your specific needs. assessment needs.

56 International Exams We offer our popular CPC-based comprehensive exams with different exam versions for US and for non-us universities using international test banks in English, French, Spanish, and German. Other language versions can be developed based upon your specific language requirements. Why test in English when you can test in your own native language or multiple languages for different campuses in several countries? We developed the exam material from leading textbooks within the industry of business education from McGraw-Hill and Cengage Learning. Test questions represent the core knowledge requirements for CPC competency and proficiency as defined by ACBSP and IACBE.

57 Why International Exams? When you test your students and English is not their primary language, do you want to be testing their proficiency in English or their proficiency with the business topics? Even if you want to test your students in English, do you want to test international business knowledge as opposed to using US-related test questions that will often confuse or frustrate your students? Clearly you want to assess student competency levels associated with the CPC topics identified by the accreditation authorities. By having native language tests, your results can more accurately reflect proficiency in the subject, rather than the language. With internationally focused test questions, your testing results will more accurately reflect your degree curriculum.

58 International CPC-Based COMP Exams We currently offer two CPC comprehensive exam versions for international schools and programs that are translated into languages other than English: undergraduate and graduate level exams (currently translated into German, Spanish, and French). Different versions based on the academic degree level is another accreditation requirement.

59 International Exam Content Please refer to the brochure that lists the CPC topic subjects for each of the CPCs. Our report back to you will include a frequency analysis of missed questions by subject.

60 We Have You Covered Academic Leveling Courses (Now with 2 Options)

61 Educational Transitions. CPC Based Course Student s Current Degree (may or may not be in business). Student enters your business degree program. How will you Bridge the Gap between the student s current business competency and the desired competency level you need for your business program?

62 Academic Leveling Course Options Option #1. Specific course within your business program curriculum, typically offered early in the students program. Cengage learning provides the custom-published e-books and then we provide the online unit pre-tests and post-tests (three units recommended). Your course faculty teach the course with graded assignments based upon the course material (we can help you with the course syllabus). Option #2. Independent study course, typically used as a prerequisite for your business majors. We use the same e-books. Each topic has a pre-test and post-test. Students submit their cumulative post-test results (12 tests) to you for academic credit/grading. There are no course assignments nor does this option require dedicated course faculty to teach the course.

63 ALC Option #2 With ALC OPTION #2, independent study course, there are no course assignments to grade. The student submits post-test results to the college/university for academic credit. You will not have to necessarily change your program curriculum to include Option #2 since the course is a prerequisite to a program of study.

64 ALC Option #2 Applications Transitions prerequisite between an Associates and Bachelors program Entry requirement before an MBA program Entry requirement before a Doctoral program

65 Flexible ALC Pricing OPTION #1: Specified Course within Your Program. $60 for the online section pre-test (3) and post-tests (3) $ for the custom-published e-books purchased from Cengage Learning University fees/charges for the course itself may also apply OPTION #2: Independent Study Course $120 for the online topic pre-tests (12) and post-tests (12) $ for the custom-published e-books purchased from Cengage Learning Note: Associates Degree alternative is less due to fewer topics included. The ALC can be COST-NEUTRAL to the School since the student purchases both the e-books and the online testing.

66 Academic Leveling Course Analysis With either ALC option, pre-test scores are used to determine a baseline competency level. Cumulatively, pre-test results can also be used as an inbound CPC-based COMP exam to be used with an outbound exam administered at the end of the student s program. Post-test scores are used to assess the learning outcomes and demonstrate proficiency. The difference between the pre-test and post-test scores is your direct measure of student learning within the course.

67 Academic Leveling Course Analysis Cumulatively, you can assess learning outcomes and measure instructional effectiveness.

68 Academic Leveling Course Analysis The cumulative pretest scores can be used as an inbound CPCbased COMP exam. Results can be compared with an outbound CPCbased COMP exam for program-level assessment.

69 We Have You Covered Student Surveys Pre-Graduation & Follow-up

70 Student Surveys to Assess Other Learning Outcomes Do you administer a pre-graduation student survey to obtain feedback regarding the quality and expectations of your business program from the perspectives of your customers? Do you follow-up with your students 3 to 5 years after graduation to measure if the degree program had its desired effects?

71 Survey Opportunities #1 In conjunction with an outbound CPC-based COMP exam, include an online pregraduation survey. Respondent Demographics 2-3 Open-ended Questions 5-10 Likert-type Questions Value Added for the CPCbased COMP Exam (included at no extra charge).

72 Survey Opportunities #2 Student follow-up 3-5 years after graduation to assess success with their educational experience. Respondent Demographics Open-ended Questions Likert-type Questions Price depends on the number of students involved and the availability of the student s contact information (roughly $5-10/student)

73 We Have You Covered APA Writing Style Competency Development

74 Online APA Writing Style Training & Testing Our online American Psychological Association (APA) writing style training and testing program is the only such training program currently available. Using our online APA program, course professors and students can focus on paper content rather than spend so much time focused on style and format.

75 APA Writing Style Training & Testing Our online APA service includes 150 interactive questions divided into 17 APA-topical sections and a 50-question certification test. Online training does not require the user to have the APA manual. The session includes content-based instruction designed to teach APA, not just how to use the manual.

76 Incorporating Our APA Writing Style Online Training Program within Your Curriculum If your curriculum includes a business writing and research course (typically the first course within a higher learning program), our APA Writing Style Training and Testing Program can be one activity within this course. Students can purchase single-use passwords directly from us OR you can purchase passwords in quantity for distribution to students when they take the course. You can also offer the APA Writing Style Training and Testing Program as a standalone option for students or an extracurricular requirement.

77 Return on Investment with Our APA Writing Style Training & Testing Program Develops student and professor APA writing style competency so that both can focus more clearly on paper content rather than form and style. Improves course professor efficiency and effectiveness when grading papers as papers will have the required level of APA writing style proficiency. Reduces writing anxiety for your students so that they can focus on content rather than on APA style. Improves writing style quality and publication potential for your dissertation and CAPSTONE documents.

78 Revised 2011 Pricing Units Discount Course Exam 1-50 Full Price $75 $ % $71.25 $ % $67.50 $ % $63.75 $21.25 > % $60 $20 Units Discount Course Exam 1-50 Full Price $35.00 $ % $33.25 $ % $31.50 $ % $29.75 $8.75 > % $28.00 $8.00 Keep in mind: Including our APA services into your curriculum can be cost-neutral for the school when you use a school micro-site with student self-registration and the students purchase the services using our secure e-commerce checkout. Additionally, we can integrate the sale of the APA services with your online bookstore so that the purchase of the materials by the students is included with the sale of the APA Style Manual and/or other required course textbooks.

79 We Have You Covered The Peregrine Advantage

80 The Peregrine Academic Services Advantage Immediate and complete access to all the raw data (Excel format) through your administrative log-in access Quarterly, or as required, detailed reporting in a format suitable for your dual-accreditation files Topic-level, sub-topic, and subject-level analysis Customized data reporting and analysis based on student cohorts

81 The Peregrine Academic Services Advantage Use inbound student results for academic program placement based on the student s strengths and weaknesses Comparative data available for external benchmarking (will use data from schools with similar student demographics and program delivery methods for apples-to-apples analyses). Use the cumulative pre-test data from the Academic Leveling Courses for your inbound CPC-based exam needs. Compare the results with an outbound exam for program-level assessments. Peregrine Academic Services, LLC 81

82 Frequently Asked Questions Question Since you are new to this industry, how many client schools do you have? Are other fees involved in addition to the exam fees listed in your brochure? Can you translate into other languages besides the ones listed in your brochure? Is the Academic Leveling course available in other languages? Do your results show more than just the topic score? Can we see a written copy of the test? Response Currently, the total business school student enrollments of our client schools is 65,000, including online, traditional campus-based, and blended course delivery from the associates through the doctoral levels. Our client list includes both US and International schools. No, our exam fees are inclusive. The only exception is if you require extensive customization for limited annual requirement of exams or if you require unique language versions for small number of tests. Yes, but it depends on the number of tests per year. With a requirement of 500+ tests per year, we can translate the test banks for you. For lesser quantities, we may need to charge you a translation fee. No, the material is from Cengage Publishing and the e-books are currently only available in English. We can translate the test banks, but not the e-books. Yes, our results include the total score, the topic score, and a frequency of missed questions by subject within a CPC topic You can review example exams, but because the material is proprietary, we cannot send you the test bank questions.

83 Frequently Asked Questions Question Is the inbound exam the same as the outbound exam? Can I see the list of schools you will use for my external benchmarking? How do you compare with Major Field Test (MFT) offered by ETS? Do you offer pricing discounts? Response The exact exam is different, but the test questions are all drawn from the same test bank of questions. Every exam is unique, but the results can be statistically compared for both internal and external benchmarking. We will share with you the types of schools we can benchmark you with along with a few example schools. We cannot share with you the precise list of schools nor can we compare you one-on-one with other schools in order to maintain confidentiality and privacy. 1. We can give you your results quicker, within a day or two of the testing period. 2. You will receive all the results, not just cumulative results. 3. Students can take our tests remotely and online without the need for a test proctor. 4. We are less expensive than MFT no extra fees for additional reports. 5. We can provide you with more detailed and usable results. 6. We can compare your results with demographically similar schools and programs as opposed to an unknown aggregate. 7. You can use the results for individual student benchmarking. 8. You can use the results for internal program-level benchmarking. Yes, please refer to our pricing table in our brochure. We offer discounts based on annual expected quantities of tests.