#pearsoncite

Direct Assessment and

Competency-Based Education What is Required for

Application Approval?

#pearsoncite

Joan Bouillon, Ph.D.

Director of Regulatory Compliance

Pearson

joan.bouillon@pearson.com

Cathrael (Kate) Kazin, J.D., Ph.D.

Chief Academic Officer

College for America at Southern New Hampshire University

ckazin@snhu.edu

#pearsoncite

Overview

• Definitions • CBE and institutions with CBE programs• Direct assessment and institutions with

direct assessment programs• Regulatory application information• Q & A

#pearsoncite

Direct Assessment

• exams• portfolios• papers• self-reports

#pearsoncite

Indirect Assessment

• surveys • questionnaires • focus group interviews • self-reports

#pearsoncite

Prior Learning Assessment - PLA

• Test outs• National examination – CLEP, AP• ACE credit recommendation Military training evaluation

#pearsoncite

Prior Learning Assessment - PLA

• Industry recognized certifications –Cisco, Microsoft

• Life experience – CAEL• Badges?

#pearsoncite

Competency – based Education

#pearsoncite

Competency – based Education

#pearsoncite

Competency-based education

• Started in the 1920’s

• Originally for teacher preparation

• Early adoption by medical and dental educational programs

#pearsoncite

Competency-based education

• Adopted by certification, trade, and

vocational programs

Culinary

Construction

Computer networking

#pearsoncite

Competency-based education

• What matters is what a student knows and can do

• Observable skills, behaviors, and abilities

• Graduates apply the knowledge in the workplace

#pearsoncite

✗

Today’s Competency-based Education

• Measures learning, NOT seat time

• Self-paced, usually accelerated

• Typically online

#pearsoncite

Today’s Competency-based Education

• Students demonstrate knowledge and skills by passing assessments

• Not necessarily vocational

#pearsoncite

Today’s Competency-based Education

• No “sage on the stage”

• CBE disaggregates faculty roles into developers, evaluators, and mentors -“guide on the side”

✗

#pearsoncite

Today’s Competency-based Education

• Two types of CBE

Course – based with Credit Equivalency

Direct Assessment – DOE

#pearsoncite

• CBE embedded in conventional curriculum

• Each course is assigned credit or clock hours and a set of competencies

Course – based with Credit Equivalency

#pearsoncite

• Students receive course credit when they have completed a set of competencies

• Student transcripts list courses with associated credit or clock hours

Course – based with Credit Equivalency

#pearsoncite

Western Governors University

• All online, founded in 1997

• Subscription tuition ($2890 for bachelor students) every six months

#pearsoncite

Northern Arizona University –Personalized Learning

• Started in 2013

• Subscription tuition ($2500 for undergraduate students) every six months

#pearsoncite

Direct Assessment* - DOE

“…instructional program that, in lieu of credit hours or clock hours as measures of student learning, utilizes direct assessment of student learning, or recognizes the direct assessment of student learning by others.”*Competency-Based Education Experiment Guide, Introduction Published September 2015

#pearsoncite

Direct Assessment

• Competency measured using direct assessments

• Competencies are not tied to courses• Competencies are not tied to seat time

#pearsoncite

Direct Assessment

• A set of competencies equals an academic program such as a degree

• Transcripts may list competencies only, not courses

#pearsoncite

College for America atSouthern New Hampshire University

• Associate degree with 120 competencies• Bachelor degree with 240 competencies• Goals are made of 5 to 8 competencies• Each goal is equal to 3 credit hours• Subscription tuition ($1250) for six months

#pearsoncite

University of Wisconsin –Flexible Option

• Started in 2014

• Subscription tuition ($2250 for undergraduate students) or single competency set option ($900) every three months

#pearsoncite

Capella University –Flex Path

• Subscription tuition ($2000 undergraduate, $2200 graduate) for three month period

• Competencies/courses are assigned 1.5 to 3 program points

#pearsoncite

Capella University –Flex Path

• 90 program points for a bachelor’s program

• Direct assessment?

Question1: Students in a course are required to attend fifteen three-hour classes during an academic term. Students complete a midterm and final exam graded by the instructor. The instructor assigns course grades. The course is assigned 3 credit hours. Once students complete all required courses and earn a minimum of 90 semester credit hours, they complete the program. Is the program traditional or CBE?

Question 2: Students regularly interact with faculty and other professionals. Students are given access to assessment guides and other preparation materials so they can be prepared to pass assessments. When students have successfully completed all the assessments indicating mastery of all the competencies associated with the program, they complete the program. Is the program traditional or CBE?

© 2014 Southern New Hampshire University. All rights reserved.

Let’s hire this candidate … she has three credits in Introduction to Sociology!

Why CBE?

#pearsoncite

Advantages of CBE for Students

• Workforce ready• Shorter time to completion• Lower cost• Flexible schedule• One-on-one academic support

#pearsoncite

Disadvantages of CBE for institutions

• Higher costs – program development, student support, and advising

• Costs associated with online• Lower revenue based on speed of

completion

#pearsoncite

Disadvantages of CBE for institutions

• Systems not designed for CBE (LMS, SIS, FA)

• Pre-screening of students• Faculty anxiety and resistance

#pearsoncite

Regulatory Approvals Needed

• State authorization agency

• Professional licensing board

• Programmatic accreditor

• Institutional accreditor

• US Department of Education

#pearsoncite

DOE Requirements

• “an institution must establish a methodology to reasonably equate the direct assessment program…to credit or clock hours”

#pearsoncite

DOE Requirements

• Enrollment status - “a full-time student

is expected to complete the equivalent

of at least 24 semester or trimester

credit hours…900 clock hours” in a

minimum of 30 weeks

#pearsoncite

DOE Requirement

• In “any seven-day period…at least one day of educational activity occurs… educational activity in a direct assessment program includes regularly scheduled learning sessions”

#pearsoncite

DOE Requirement

• “process that ensures regular and substantive interaction between students and instructors”

Direct Assessment - DOE

SAP policy “must include procedures to determine whether a student has completed sufficient competencies to complete the program within the maximum time frame” and be “…based on the number of competencies associated with a specified number of credit hours, clock hours, or equivalencies…”

#pearsoncite

Accreditor Requirements

• Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions (C-RAC)

Common Framework for Defining and Approving Competency-Based Education Programs

11 C-RAC Requirements

1. Administrative capacity and significant expertise in assessment

2. Performance over knowledge

3. External referencing of competencies

4. “Regular and substantive” faculty interaction and appropriate student services

11 C-RAC Requirements

5. Coherence between competencies and institution’s claims for graduates

6. Degree-level appropriateness of competencies

7. Demonstration of competencies at/near “excellent” level

8. Demonstration of each relevant competency

11 C-RAC Requirements

9. Good assessment/measurement practices

10. Competencies are authentic demonstrations

11. Quality of program validated

#pearsoncite

Accreditation Requirements

• Faculty roles and qualifications defined

• Grading policy – pass/fail, points, other

• Transfer credit policy and procedures

• Transcripts

#pearsoncite

Accreditation Requirements

• Satisfactory academic progress (SAP)

policy and procedures

• Cancellation and refund policies

• Transition to traditional delivery plan

#pearsoncite

Accreditation Application Item

• Provide the policy and procedures to transition a CBE student back into the institution’s traditional delivery program.

#pearsoncite

Accreditation Application Items

• Describe the cancellation and refund policies for CBE programs.

• Provide policies on advanced standing, PLA, experiential learning, and/or transfer of credit for CBE programs.

#pearsoncite

Problems with regulations?

• The regulations constrain CBE Focus on measuring seat time, not learning Focus on inputs, not outcomes

• No financial aid for Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)

• Hybrid programs are not eligible

#pearsoncite

Laura Palmer Noone, University of Phoenix, in testimony to the Web-based Education Commission (July 19, 2000)

“If we are to be required to assess educational quality and learning by virtue of how long a student sits in a seat, we have focused on the wrong end of the student.”

#pearsoncite

Questions

#pearsoncite

Thank you!!