California community colleges are experiencing unprecedented levels of sanctions from their accrediting agency. A survey of planners in these colleges reveals a wide gap between current practice and perceived importance of integrated planning practices, as well as misalignment in budgeting methods. Statistically significant gaps were identified…

This article describes Washington State's Student Achievement Initiative, an accountability system implemented in 2005-06 that measures students' gains in college readiness, college credits earned, and degree or certificate completion. The goal of the initiative is to increase educational attainment by focusing on the critical momentum points…

Community colleges operate under much scrutiny these days, and these institutions have experienced a growing emphasis on performance indicators as paths to institutional accountability. California's system of 109 community colleges recently developed and implemented an innovative accountability program that used peer group comparison as one of its…

Community colleges in California are grappling with developing and assessing student learning outcomes (SLOs), as the accrediting agency is holding them accountable for providing evidence of student learning as one measure of institutional effectiveness. One means of demonstrating accountability is to use strategic planning to direct the…

In this study, the process and outcome of a web-based planning application, called Ports of Call, are discussed. The application allows college management to create, edit, and report out activities relating to college plans, all through a web browser. Its design was based on best practices in modern web technology and the application can be easily…

Action research can play an important role in institutional research endeavors to improve the quality of organizational performance in higher education. This article outlines how the action research perspective informed a research design that integrated fragmented and isolated student success initiatives at a large urban two-year institution where…

Over a two-year period beginning in March 2004, community colleges in Maryland developed a revised set of accountability indicators for a state-mandated Performance Accountability Report first required by a 1988 statute. A major innovation was a new model for assessing student degree progress. This article explains the development and components…

California's community college accountability strategy, the Partnership for Excellence program, includes, as an aspect of the outcome assessment component of the program, a mechanism to "level the playing field" between colleges. This function is accomplished through adjustment models, statistically derived equations that "adjust" for observed…

Reviews the use of licensure examination results as performance indicators of graduate and undergraduate programs. Contains appendix showing information on how examination results are reported in selected disciplines. (17 citations) (JDI)

Discusses three distinct but related efforts toward postsecondary outcomes assessment in Washington: assessment, accountability, and accreditation. Analyzes the ongoing struggle to find a productive synthesis of these three arenas, provides an historical context for the work to date, and makes suggestions for "assessment-as-learning."…

Describes the implementation and development of a comprehensive Institutional Effectiveness process at El Paso Community College. Discusses both the four-step process (evaluation, planning, resource allocation, and implementation) as well as unit reviews, which analyze quality indicators. Contains two data tables and five figures. (JDI)

Describes how Skagit Valley College (Washington) addresses program-level learning outcomes assessment. Reports that the activities and requirements related to the college's participation in the League for Innovation in the Community Colleges' 21st Century Learning Outcomes Project have encouraged a more comprehensive assessment effort. (Contains…

Argues that community colleges are becoming more reliant on support from external stakeholders to design programs and deliver services to customers. Suggests that colleges need to supplement traditional academic indicators of performance with external indicators, which involves a shift from a closed to an open systems-assessment approach. (JDI)

Describes the organizational culture at Shoreline Community College (Washington) and how it supports data collection and assessment throughout the institution. Traces the development of the culture and identifies key organizational practices and characteristics underlying the college's commitment to assessment theory and practice. (Contains 12…

Describes how South Seattle Community College (Washington) is addressing the challenge of portraying the variety of assessment efforts that are occurring across all levels--institutional, departmental, and individual course/classroom--in a way that helps the college address meaningful improvement goals at the same time. Contains four references…