MAC Meeting Minutes May 2007

Missouri Assessment Consortium
Meeting notes – May 4, 2007

The meeting was held at the DHE offices. Martha Kirker hosted. Dave Oehler served as historian. Attendees/participants: Renee Rohs, Ron Pennington, Delores Honey, Martha Kirker, Charles Van Middlesworth, Chris Frazier, Sue Pieper, Beth Nolte, Mike Grelle, Janet Juhlin, Mardy Eimers, Robert Stein, Chad Hampton, B. J. White, Joe Lange, Hillary Fuhrman, Mike Easter, Pat Gillman, Dave Oehler, and Jeanie Crain (by phone).

10:00 Welcome, introductions, agenda preview

10:05 Greeting from Robert Stein

a. SB389
Commissioner Stein distributed two handouts – one an op ed piece on SB389 that has been published in area papers, and a matrix highlighting the major points of the bill.

One important issue related to MAC has to do with establishing incoming competencies in key areas so that dialogue may ensue, to align assessment in high school with college entrance.

Another important issue is the redefinition of performance measures reported to the state. Denominators in calculations will become important (for example, looking at the regional population, not just looking at incoming students).

The question was raised as to when we will begin working on these issues. Robert responded that a definite timeline is uncertain at this point, due to activities associated with statutory responsibilities. If SB389 passes, these activities will be bumped up the priority list (as this would also become statutory responsibility). Regarding performance funding, Robert believes a measurement design and measurement system needs to be developed before the specifics of performance funding are addressed. A performance measurement system is likely to fold in to performance funding eventually.

Cliff Adelman in a recent article advocates (1) comprehensive reviews in the majors, publicly reported, (2) citing, through transcript analysis, the proportion of graduates attaining key competency levels (as defined by faculty at the degree awarding institution), reporting these outcomes to future employers. All students would be included, not samples.

Robert noted that a European coalition has surpassed the United States on coordination of outcomes competencies across countries, and challenged MAC to become even more active in working across institutions on teaching and learning issues for the good of the Missouri citizenry.

Hillary volunteered to provide copies of related documents. There are several fronts dealing with curriculum alignment. One front is working with DESE on revised grade level expectations and related testing. The second is with the METS coalition aligning secondary and postsecondary curricula (Higher Education Steering Committee P-20 Curriculum Alignment project handout). This will be handled through disciplinary groups; participation is open and welcome.

10:35 MAC Whitepaper

The Whitepaper is now available on the web. Please check the membership section and make corrections as needed.

10:15 Standardized testing

a. MAPP users: UMSL, SW Baptist, Truman, Missouri Southern, UMR, Northwest, Mineral Area, State Fair.
b. CLA: Missouri Value Added Consortium – reporting still seems to be a problem; results need to be reprocessed to find meaning, scoring ‘corrections’ may cause results to change over time for the same cohort. Motivation and related sampling issues continue to be problematic across the state.

11:25 Sharing of information from the HLC Annual Meeting

Be sure to make hotel reservations early and then hope for the best. (See Mike and Charles for details.)

The annual meeting is becoming a very large venue, and is very helpful in preparing for accreditation visits. There is more emphasis on how things work, not just organizational structure; relationships between budgets, training, activities, and results. Improvement in student learning needs to be documented (better than the last visit). Track training and participation (have people sign a book). Improvement activities in non-academic areas also need to be addressed.

Check the HLC website after May 7 for an article about what has been learned about assessment from the Assessment Academy. Try putting C-RAC in the search engine to pull up new documents related to regional accreditation.

11:45 Voluntary System of Accountability Project: Sue Pieper update

Sue distributed a handout on the VSA project. Several agencies and organizations are sponsoring the project (particularly AASCU and NASULGC). The main idea is to explore measures to evaluate their potential for providing useful information to higher education stakeholders. Check it out on the AASCU website, using the VSA link. Feedback is being solicited.

12:00 Other items to be contributed by attendees

IPEDS and data definitions were discussed. It was suggested that IR folks might want to review how we interpret and report data in Missouri.

12:20 Future topics for MAC

Standardized testing
Suggestions for the consortium on common outcomes
SB389 update and implications for MAC
Transfer/articulation and performance indicators

12:25 Next Meeting

June 21, 2007 at DHE, Beth Nolte will host
Pat Gillman will host the next meeting

12:35 Adjournment