One characteristic of learning-centered education that also parallels the accreditation requirements set forth by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association (NCA) is a summative assessment of student learning to measure progress against key, relevant, external standards and norms regarding what students should know and be able to do upon the completion of their educational programs. In addition to using the Baldrige Education Criteria to guide its continuous quality improvement efforts, WWTC was one of the charter members of the HLC's Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP).

AQIP infuses the principles and benefits of continuous improvement into the culture of colleges and universities by providing an alternative process through which an already-accredited institution can maintain its accreditation. A major focus of AQIP is its first criterion: Helping Students Learn. This criterion identifies student learning as the shared purpose of all higher education organizations and addresses the ways that the entire institution contributes to student learning and development (Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association, 2002).

WWTC submitted its Assessment Plan to the HLC in June 1995. Essential to this plan was the college's Student Success Model that clearly identified students' learning as one of the key indicators of their success at the college. Components that were central to the plan included assessment of student attainment of general learning outcomes and occupation-specific outcomes upon program completion. This focus on documenting student achievement is at the core of the WWTC mission statement: WWTC is committed to excellence in learning, continuous improvement, student success, employer satisfaction, and responsiveness to the Western District.

Exit Assessment of the Student Learning Outcomes

To address the AQIP criterion Helping Students Learn, WWTC measures student learning by assessing a set of student learning outcomes. These outcomes, validated by advisory committees, are comprised of program-specific and general learning outcomes. Six general learning outcomes reflect the skills and attitudes that all graduates are expected to achieve; these outcomes are integrated into courses and overall program curricula. Program-specific outcomes reflect mastery of knowledge appropriate to the program completed.

Program faculty currently use a web-based exit assessment process to maintain records of student learning outcomes for their program, report student learning results, and generate program reports. Data collection has evolved from a paper-based format including only faculty assessment of student academic achievement in 1999 to a computer-based compilation of faculty, student, and employer results beginning in Spring 2001. These data are obtained by assessing the attainment of both program-specific and general learning outcomes of graduates in associate degree programs, technical diploma programs, and certificate offerings. The three forms of feedback provide triangulated data that allow program faculty to perform gap analysis among faculty, student, and employer perceptions of student achievement at the program level. Faculty use this information for continuous improvement of program curricula and to provide input into short- and long-term program planning.

The Student Learning Outcomes are available on each program web page and can be accessed from the site http://www.wwtc.edu/wwtcstudents/programsmenu.asp.

On-Line Assessment Process (Faculty, Student, and Employer Assessments)

The on-line process that was implemented in Spring 2003 to collect assessment results and maintain the student learning outcomes database is described below:

• Program faculty assess student achievement of the learning outcomes by reporting the number of students who do/do not demonstrate achievement of each outcome according to the criteria identified.
  
  
• Employers assess achievement by reporting the number of recently hired graduates who do/do not demonstrate entry-level competence for each of the identified outcomes.
  
  
• Students assess achievement by self-reporting whether they believe they can demonstrate competence for each of the outcomes.
  
  
• Assessment Data Reports are generated at the Program, Division, and College level. Each program receives feedback specific to their program and each Instructional Division receives aggregated program results. In addition, an aggregate College report of student learning results is generated.
  
  
• Overall College Student Learning Results for 1999-2002 are available at the following website: http://www.wwtc.edu/ess/assessmtslo.asp.

The exit assessment process is decentralized and deployed at the division/program level. The database is designed to provide individual programs with access to their student learning outcomes to update information and collect and report program exit assessment results. Each Instructional Division has administrative access to each program's outcomes. Staff members in Educational Support Services have administrative access to all programs' student learning outcomes and can generate college-wide reports.

Beginning in Summer 2003, programs will be able to generate individual program reports showing faculty, student, and employer results including feedback comments and Instructional Divisions will be able to aggregate results to generate Divisional reports.

The on-line student outcomes assessment process provides a consistent framework for deployment of WWTC's Assessment Plan.

To learn more about Assessment of Student Academic Achievement at WWTC, access http://www. wwtc.edu/ess/assessmt.asp or contact the authors.

References

Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. (2002). Academic quality improvement project. Chicago, IL: Author.

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2003). Malcolm Baldrige education criteria for performance excellence. Gaithersburg, MD: Author.