Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Visualizing the Standards: More Wordles

I've created a variety of different wordles (mostly Wordle Word Clouds) from the text of the 2002 ACCJC Accreditation Standards and posted them on Picassa. You can click on the header or on the slide show itself to go to the Picassa album and download individual images for you own use or you can go to the standards data set on Many Eyes to create your own visualizations to liven up a report or presentation.

Standards Wordles on Picassa:

Visualizing the Standards: Interactive Wordles

I've also posted the following Wordle on the Many Eyes website based on the text of the 2002 standards. The Wordle algorithm uses the freqency of a term to determine the relative size of a word as in other tag clouds but it also enables the placement of smaller words in the spaces between and within letters of the larger words. The results are much more varied than standard tag clouds and can create typographic images which remind me of Dadaism in the late 1910s and early 1920s, Futurism in the 1920s and 1930s, California alternative publications in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the work of David Carson in the 1990s. Although Wordle was designed to be a playful image generator (often refered to as a "toy") rather than an analytical technique, it is frequently used as a visual communication tool. The following Wordle was selected because the image reminds me of the thought bubbles in a cartoon and implies an institution thinking about the themes of the standards. The size, placement, and coloring of the terms can also suggest some of the thoughts of an institution "under" the standards ("institutional learning services student," "services support mission," "board provides planning," "planning outcomes effective," etc.).

Thoughtful Institution Wordle:

Monday, June 22, 2009

Visualizing the Standards: Interactive Word Trees

You can now create word trees of the ACCJC Accreditation Standards through IBM's Many Eyes website using the uploaded version of the standards I created with the numbering system removed. " A word tree is a visual search tool for unstructured text, such as a book, article, speech or poem. It lets you pick a word or phrase and shows you all the different contexts in which it appears. The contexts are arranged in a tree-like branching structure to reveal recurrent themes and phrases." (Many Eyes Word Tree Guide) The heading above the word tree includes a link to the saved tree based on the word "student". With IBM's interactive word trees you can click on a term to collapse branches into phrases (such as "student learning" or student learning outcomes"). You can create your own word trees from the standards by typing any word or phrase into the search box and hitting enter on your keyboard. You can also create other visualizations (Tag Clouds, Wordles, or Phrase Nets) from the standards by going to the data set page and clicking the visualize ikon. (Note: You may need to update the Java version on your computer to view or create interactive word trees or other visualizations.)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Visualizing the Standards: Interactive Tag Clouds

Tag Clouds are a popular Web 2.0 visualization technique for the informal content analysis of texts and websites. They're frequently used by bloggers who want a more visually interesting index of their site. I've uploaded the text of the 2002 ACCJC Accreditation Standards to IBM's Many Eyes web site (http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/) and created the following sample tag cloud of the 200 most frequent terms in the standards. Move your cursor over a term to see its frequency in the standards and sample contexts. (Note: You may need to update the Java version on your computer to view this interactive tag cloud)

One Word Tag Cloud:

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

ACCJC Requirements for Institutional Mission Statements and Learning Outcomes

This presentation gives an overview of the ACCJC requirements regarding institutional mission statements and institutional learning outcomes. It is designed to be a reference aid or guide for groups tasked to assess their college mission or outcomes as part of a regular review or institutional self-study. The applicable sections of the 2004 Eligibility Requirements and the 2002 Accreditation Standards cited in the presentation are appended for easy reference.

Comparison of the current requirements to the current presentations of institutional missions and outcomes by ACCJC accredited colleges reveals a wide range in the apparent degree of understanding, application, and interpretation of these requirements. It appears many colleges in the region need to review and revise the wording or presentation of their institutional mission and outcomes statements to ensure or clarify that they meet current ACCJC requirements.

Links to the current institutional mission and outcomes statements of colleges in the ACCJC region can be found at:

https://sites.google.com/site/thefollowupreport/Home/institutional-mission-and-learning-outcomes


TFR_InstitutionalMissionILOs_2009-06-09_TVT

Monday, June 8, 2009

TFR Guide to the AAHE Principles of Good Practice

This TFR Guide is a copy of the nine principles of good practice for assessing student learning developed by the Assessment Forum of the American Association for Higher Education, AAHE, to improve post-secondary education outcomes. The AAHE principles are probably the most widely reproduced assessment guide in the educational community.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_AAHEprinciples_2009-06-04TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_AAHEprinciples_2009-06-04TVT Todd Titterud The nine principles of good practice for assessing student learning developed by the Assessment Forum of the American Association for Higher Education, AAHE, to improve post-secondary, college, or university educational outcomes.

TFR Guide to Admissions Department Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student admissions or enrollment administrators, advisors, counselors, or representatives design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_Admissions_2007-06-26TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_Admissions_2007-06-26TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student admissions or enrollment administrators, advisors, counselors, or representatives design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Career Services Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student career services or job placement administrators, advisors, counselors, or staff design, plan, and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_CareerServices_2007-06-25TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_CareerServices_2007-06-25TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student career services or job placement administrators, advisors,counselors, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Financial Aid Progam Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help financial aid advisors, administrators, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.

TFR_Guide_Assessment_FinancialAid_2007-06-25TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_FinancialAid_2007-06-25TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student retention advisors, academic counselors, or administrators design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to New Student Orientation Assessment

A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student orientation administrators, advisors, counselors, coordinators, or staff design, plan and achieve better department or event program reviews and outcomes assessments.
TFR_Guide_Assessment_Orientation_2007-06-27TVT
TFR_Guide_Assessment_Orientation_2007-06-27TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student orientation administrators, advisors, counselors, coordinators, or staff design, plan and achieve better department or event program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to IT Services Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help IT, Information Technology, or Network Services administrators, technicians, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_ITservices_2007-06-26TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_ITservices_2007-06-26TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university IT, Information Technology, or Network Services administrators, technicians, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Registrar Office Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student and academic records administrators, registrars, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_Registrar_2007-06-26TVT
TFR_Guide_Assessment_Registrar_2007-06-26TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student and academic records administrators, registrars, or staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Retention Program Assessment

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student retention advisors, academic counselors, administrators, and staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_Retention_2007-06-25TVT
TFR_Guide_Assessment_Retention_2007-06-25TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help student retention advisors, academic counselors, administrators, and staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Residential Life Assessments

This TFR Guide is a collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments from various colleges to help student housing or residential life administrators and staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews and outcomes assessments.


TFR_Guide_Assessment_ResidentialLife_2007-06-26TVT TFR_Guide_Assessment_ResidentialLife_2007-06-26TVT Todd Titterud A collection of sample mission statements, goals, objectives, performance indicators, Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs, other outcomes, and assessments to help college or university student housing or residential life administrators and staff design, plan and achieve better department program reviews, outcomes assessments, and performance evaluations.

TFR Guide to Writing SLOs

This TFR Guide is a collection of tips, guides, mnemonic acronyms, techniques, and forms from several colleges and universities developed to help educators, administrators, and staff write more effective and measurable Student Learning Outcomes.
TFR_Guide_WritingSLOs_2007-06-21_v2009-05-31TVT TFR_Guide_WritingSLOs_2007-06-21_v2009-05-31TVT Todd Titterud A collection of guides, tips, tricks, techniques, forms, formats, and overviews from several colleges and universities to help educators, administrators, and staff to write effective and measurable Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs for courses, departments, programs, services, events, or institutions.

TFR Guide to Bloom's Taxonomy

This TFR Guide contains a collection of various versions of Bloom's taxonomy of action verbs for the cognitive, affective, and pyschomotor domains from several colleges, universities, and educators to help instructors, administrators, and staff write more effective and measureable goals, objectives, and Student Learning Outcomes.

TFR_Guide_Bloom's_Rev2007-06-11_v2009-06-04TVT TFR_Guide_Bloom's_Rev2007-06-11_v2009-06-04TVT Todd Titterud A collection of various versions of Bloom's taxonomy of action verbs for the cognitive, affective, and pyschomotor domains from several colleges, universities, and educators to help instructors, administrators, and staff to write more effective and measureable goals, objectives, and Student Learning Outcomes or SLOs.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Web 2.0 in CCC assessment, planning, and accreditation efforts

I wonder if the experiments by some California community colleges with free Web 2.0 services in their assessment, planning, and accreditation efforts are related to the state's persistent budget problems. See:

(Colleges outside of California are also using Web 2.0 resources. For example, a search for "SLOs" on Scribd also found several assessment documents from Malcolm X College in Chicago.)

Assessment Glossary

The Assessment Glossary page of The Follow-Up Report includes common and variant definitions of hundreds of terms prevalent in the fields of assessment, evaluation, research design, statistical analysis, and testing. The definitions were downloaded while viewing innumerable websites over several years and later consolidated for personal use into a single Word document of over 150 pages. The entire contents of the Word version has been uploaded to the website. Unfortunately, the original source documentation has been lost and were not available for citation. A PDF version of the glossary will soon be made available for downloads.

The current effort to create a basic standardized nomenclature for SLO assessment in California can be found at the CCC Network for Student Learning Outcomes Assessment website (they also have a new blog).

Writing Student Learning Outcomes

The Writing SLOs Guide page of The Follow-Up Report includes a collection of overviews, tips, guides, forms and mnemonic acronyms created by colleges across the country to help them create better Student Learning Outcome statements. A PDF version of the guide will soon be available online for individual downloads. Word versions of some of the forms which are format protected to allow for data entry only will also be made available for downloading.

Institutional Mission and Learning Outcomes

The Institutional Mission and Learning Outcomes page of The Follow-Up Report gives an overview of the college-level mission and outcomes requirements of the 2002 Accreditation Standards and the 2004 Eligibility Requirements of the ACCJC. Wherever possible it includes links to college vision, mission, values, and philosophy statements; general education philosophy statements and outcomes (goals, objectives and/or GE SLOs); and institutional-level Student Learning Outcomes (Institutional SLOs, ILOs, Core Competencies, Degree-Level Outcomes, Etc.) from the college websites and/or a recent catalog.

Sanction Letter Recommendations

The Sanction Letter Recommendations page of The Follow-Up Report summarizes the findings of a simple content analysis of ACCJC sanction (Warning, Probation, and Show Cause) letters. It shows which Standards were the most cited in the recommendations for colleges placed on a sanction and identifies the key words and phrases used in the Commission recommendations for sanctioned colleges.

Action Letters and Reports

The Action Letters and Reports page of The Follow-Up Report lists Commission actions for each college in the ACCJC region since January 2003 with links to the home and accreditation pages of the colleges. Wherever possible, it also includes links to copies of the Commission Action Letters to the college (including Warning, Probation, and Show Cause letters), college reports to the Commission (including Self-Studies, Midterm Reports, Progress Reports, Follow-Up Reports, and Show Cause Reports), and reports to the college from the Commission visitation teams.

ACCJC Actions and Accreditation Status

The Commission Actions and Status page of The Follow-Up Report gives a brief overview of ACCJC actions from January 2003 to January 2009 and charts the changing accreditation status of schools in the region. Almost half of all ACCJC colleges (61 schools) have been sanctioned (placed on Warning, Probation, or Show Cause) at least once in the past six years. It presents a three-color safety/traffic code (Red, Yellow, and Green) to classify the accreditation status of each college and uses a one-year moving average to plot the trend of colleges under sanction (which ranged from a low of 4.3% in June 2003 to a high of 19.6% in June 2008 and January 2009).

Introducing The Follow-Up Report

Welcome to The Follow-Up Report Press blog. This is the "pressroom" and publications companion site to The Follow-Up Report website created in May 2009.

The Follow-Up Report (https://sites.google.com/site/thefollowupreport/) was created by Todd V. Titterud to share information with friends and colleagues in ACCJC accredited colleges. It is a follow-up on the implementation of the 2002 Standards and the strengthened enforcement of the two-year rule. It was created as a resource to help colleagues understand current trends in Commission actions and to succeed in their own efforts to achieve continuous institutional learning and improvement.

The blog will post overviews of The Follow-Up Report (TFR) pages and updates; TFR publications; and links to and/or reviews/overviews of related websites and online publications.