The Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) is the guiding framework for the Washington state community and technical college system's goals for student success. SAI emphasizes student momentum for college success by both building college readiness (such as basic skills gains and completion of precollege education, sometimes known as developmental…

Student success is at the heart of both institutional effectiveness and the community college mission, yet measuring such success at community colleges is problematic. This article highlights three efforts to grapple with this problem--a multistate work group of system- and state-level policymakers to create an improved set of student success…

Over the past few decades, deterioration in student achievement has provoked a pervasive public sentiment that American institutions are failing to meet the needs and expectations of society. The growing public demand for transparency and accountability has fueled the integration of state-mandated learning outcomes assessment into the standards…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

The National Community College Benchmark Project (NCCBP) provides community colleges with a system to report data on key learning outcomes and indicators of institutional effectiveness and to compare their data with national norms and data from selected peer institutions. This chapter describes the development, current features, and anticipated…

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a strong network of committed colleagues to launch an initiative like "SENSE." From its conception in fall 2006 to the first national administration in fall 2009, the Survey of Entering Student Engagement ("SENSE") has been supported by key individuals and groups, without whom there would have been…

A description is provided of the self-study program review process developed by Genesee Community College (GCC) as an alternative to the traditional Middle States evaluation process. First, the paper examines the history of self-study at GCC from 1980, when a committee was created to coordinate a study of the college which would fulfill…

An overview is provided of the Quality First Process Model developed by Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC), Wisconsin, to provide guidelines for quality instruction and service consistent with the highest educational standards. The 16-step model involves activities that should be adaptable to any organization. The steps of the quality model are…

This position paper and companion resource manual highlight the critical importance the National Council for Occupational Education (NCOE) gives to diversity issues in work force development. The position paper reports the NCOE's examination of the implications presented by the changing demographics in the U.S. work force and the potential…

Argues that institutional effectiveness issues in community colleges are situation-specific and demand flexibility in assessment model design. Briefly describes 20 community colleges using exemplary assessment practices and models. Diagrams a comprehensive assessment model using internal and external effectiveness measures and offers eight…

This report provides general statistical information about San Antonio College (Texas). Section 1, Overview, offers a brief history, mission statement, outstanding former students, academic programs, and accreditation/affiliations. Twelve academic departments, offering 60 degree and certificate programs are identified. Section 2, Organizational…

In 1994, Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC), in Virginia, revised its general education and major assessment routines to include indirect measures, such as graduate and employer surveys, with direct Academic Profile testing. This report describes LFCC's first full cycle of assessment under the new routines carried out from 1993 to 1995.…

This annual report includes narrative reports about the nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), summarizing college achievements and problems encountered during the 1983-84 academic year. An overview of the LACCD discusses problems related to fiscal reductions and indecision regarding tuition and funding; the…

This annual report presents narrative descriptions of the achievements realized and the problems encountered during 1984-85 by the nine colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District. First, a district overview highlights the imposition of a $50 fee, funding and enrollment declines, vocational instruction growth and development,…

Though extensive research has been conducted to measure educational outcomes in terms of quantity and cost, there has been little discussion or analysis of educational quality and its measurement. Quality may be defined in terms of whether a service or product meets or exceeds prespecified standards and can be measured in relation to defined…