CCSSE / USA TODAY Initiative: Frequently Asked Questions
CCSSE and USA TODAY are working together to further educate the public about the link between student engagement and a high-quality undergraduate experience, with a particular focus on community colleges. Institutions that participated in CCSSE at least once since 2006 were invited to authorize CCSSE to provide their most recent CCSSE benchmark scores for posting on a new USA TODAY college education website. The five CCSSE benchmarks of effective educational practice for community college students are: active and collaborative learning student effort academic challenge student-faculty interaction· support for learners One goal of this initiative is to provide prospective students, parents, counselors, and others with information about aspects of collegiate quality that are appropriate to community colleges and not available through most accessible venues. For example, college rankings generally exclude community colleges; further, rankings typically are based primarily on measures of resources and reputation that research studies indicate are not related to desired student learning, persistence and attainment outcomes. Another goal is to feature different types of community and technical colleges that involve students at high levels in effective educational practices; many such institutions are providing unusually rich learning opportunities for their students but may not be widely known for their strong performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is CCSSE’s goal in entering this partnership with USA TODAY? CCSSE’s central mission is to provide information about effective educational practice in community colleges and to assist institutions and policymakers in using that information to promote improvements in student learning, persistence and attainment. In fulfilling that mission, CCSSE seeks always to provide, for those constituencies and the general public, perspectives on quality that are appropriate to the mission of community colleges and the students they serve. The partnership with USA TODAY offers a unique opportunity to shape the public’s understanding of what quality means – in particular, that quality is not about reputation and resources but about the experiences that students actually encounter on campus and in classrooms. At the same time, individual community colleges that participate in CCSSE may benefit from positive media coverage. 2. Which institutions are included? All accredited associate-degree-granting colleges in the United States that administered CCSSE in 2006, 2007 or 2008 were invited to authorize the release of their benchmark scores (broken out by full- and part-time students) to USA TODAY for the purposes outlined above. 3. Is there a fee associated with participation in the CCSSE / USA TODAY Initiative? There is no fee associated with participation in the CCSSE / USA TODAY Initiative. However, please note that regular CCSSE fees still apply for each administration of the survey regardless of participation in the CCSSE / USA TODAY Initiative.
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4. Will institutions be ranked? Absolutely not. From its inception, CCSSE has been clear and consistent in its opposition to the use of survey results for the purpose of ranking community colleges. (See Policy on Responsible Uses of Survey Data on the CCSSE website. The CCSSE/ USA TODAY collaboration is intended to respond to continuing calls for greater institutional transparency and to underscore the idea that educational quality is more complex than typically reported elsewhere, such as in rankings. The focus will be on informing people with an interest in collegiate quality about the indicators of educational effectiveness represented by CCSSE benchmarks and survey items, as well as distinctive patterns of engaging educational activities offered by different types of institutions around the country. 5. Will institutions be compared? CCSSE benchmark scores for full- and part-time students at individual institutions will be displayed alongside national averages for their institutional size category in order to provide readers with a frame of reference to interpret the CCSSE benchmark scores. There are no side-by-side comparisons of individual colleges or summary tables listing multiple institution scores or comparisons to other peer groups. CCSSE and USA TODAY recognize that institutional benchmark scores do not reflect everything there is to know about the depth, breadth, and nuances of student engagement at any college. For this reason, institutions were invited to provide a link from the USA TODAY website to a page on the institution’s Website that contextualizes its CCSSE scores or describes its distinctive programs and practices. Of course, people who visit the CCSSE website will be able to compare individual institutions if they look up individual college profiles on that site – just as they have always been able to do. This is one response to the growing movement toward institutional transparency endorsed by national community college initiatives such as Achieving the Dream and the Community College Bridges to Opportunity initiative, as well as by national higher education groups including NASULGC, AASCU, AAU, and NAICU. CCSSE is committed to educating the public about the appropriate and inappropriate uses of CCSSE and other data, as described through the Policy on Responsible Uses of Survey Data (available on the CCSSE website). 6. What are the benchmark scores for each institutional size category? Averages for each community college size category are based on the most recent three-year CCSSE cohort. This provides the most consistent point of comparison for readers reviewing scores. Average size category scores across administration years are stable enough over time for the comparisons to be valid. The CCSSE average benchmark scores for each institutional size category can be generated, along with many other data reports, through the interactive public website at http://www.ccsse.org/survey/search 7. What other kinds of information are included? USA TODAY print and Web articles may describe exemplary educational practices used in colleges that perform well in various areas of student engagement. 8. What content should institutions publish on their Website to provide additional information about CCSSE scores? In order to provide context for publicly reported survey results, the CCSSE website provides for each participating college a profile describing the institution’s mission, location, and size, along with key
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characteristics of its student population. With regard to how a particular college chooses to handle CCSSE results on its own website, each institution is in the best position to determine what is most important for current and prospective students and others to know. Some colleges may choose to point to more specific CCSSE results, such as student responses to individual survey items that reflect the institutional mission, strategic plan and educational priorities. Other institutions may focus more on programmatic efforts that promote student engagement opportunities on their campus. We hope that by developing this information, each institution will learn more about the survey results and how they can best be communicated to interested parties, on and off the campus. 9. What year will be used for each institution’s benchmark scores? Could institutions select the year they want to use? The most recent year of CCSSE data for each institution will be used. This ensured that all participating institutions were on a level playing field, a cornerstone CCSSE operating principle since its inception. Benchmark scores are created consistently for every year of survey administration. 10. Why would an institution want to participate if it does not score well on some of the benchmarks? The CCSSE-USA TODAY initiative is fundamentally about familiarizing the public with what matters to educational quality and encouraging prospective and current students, parents, policy makers, institutional leaders, and others to focus more on these issues. Institutions vary widely in their educational programs; some score high in certain areas and low in others. Very, very few colleges score high on all CCSSE indicators. Colleges participating in this initiative are both declaring and demonstrating their commitment to improving and being accountable for undergraduate education. Also, the USA TODAY website will include a link to the college’s website; this allows an institution to place its scores in context and call attention to strong-performing programs and other distinctive aspects of its learning environment and students’ educational experiences. 11. If an institution did not release its benchmark scores for this project, does this mean the college did not score well? Colleges with both higher and lower scores could choose not to participate for various reasons. Some only have one year of data, which they have not had time to integrate with other sources of information, while others are waiting to reassess student engagement after implementing new educational programs. An important point, though, is that every college that has participated in CCSSE has already made an affirmative statement regarding its willingness to publicly report its results – thereby responding to calls for openness and transparency in reporting on institutional performance and improvement strategies. 12. Can a college authorize its data to be published on the USA TODAY Website after the initial fall 2008 release? After the initial release of benchmark scores, CCSSE and USA TODAY will evaluate the response to this initiative and decide how it might develop. It may be possible to post additional college data after the initial release. Please contact Jeff Crumpley at crumpley@ccsse.org for more information. 13. Will this initiative continue in future years? This is a trial effort that may continue in future years after CCSSE and USA TODAY have evaluated its effectiveness. If it is extended, new institutions will be allowed to participate, and current participating institutions may decide if they want to continue.
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