CHEA seeks ideas and suggestions on this draft effort to describe effective practices in accreditation when addressing student achievement. The draft will be revised based on the responses and shared with the higher education and accreditation communities.
Please click the link at the end of the document to offer your comments.
The deadline is November 20, 2009.
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Student achievement in higher education is a major national and international interest and concern. The academic and accreditation communities, the federal government, state governments and employers in the United States as well as organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have all identified major gains in student achievement as essential to the future of nations, the well-being of societies and the world economy. This statement describes valuable practices associated with the role of accreditation in addressing student achievement as part of self-regulation and peer/professional review of higher education quality.
Background
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has focused on the role of accreditation in student achievement since the publication of its 2001 Accreditation and Student Learning Outcomes: A Proposed Point of Departure. Student achievement has remained central to CHEA research and policy analysis, as well as interviews and surveys with member institutions, conferences and meetings, the CHEA Award for Outstanding Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes and ongoing scrutiny of the standards and practices of accrediting organizations that have achieved CHEA recognition. CHEA, in addition to its own activities, has been part of many national and international conversations, working with colleagues to identify solutions and build consensus about moving forward with student achievement.
Institutional and programmatic accreditation are central to undertakings to address student achievement. Accreditation reflects the academic community’s longstanding commitment to assessment as part of robust self-regulation and peer/professional review of higher education quality. CHEA scrutiny of accrediting organizations (recognition) reflects an expectation that accrediting organizations focus on student achievement as fundamental to judgment about academic quality.
The federal government, in its oversight role of accrediting organizations (federal recognition), expects that accreditation will robustly address student achievement. State emphasis on performance funding, including considerable attention to student achievement, has reinforced the work of accreditation. The private sector, e.g., employers or foundations, expects accredited status to signal confidence in the work of an institution or program as this relates to what students learn.
As accreditation plays a vital role in addressing student achievement, the following practices emerge as especially effective in driving this important work. These practices are reflected in the activities of many accrediting organizations that are successful in their efforts with student achievement with institutions and programs. This does not mean that all accreditors employ all practices.
Click here for page 2 - Effective Practices
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