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…

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…

This paper presents a number of citations for research concerning community college institutional effectiveness. These references were selected for the breadth and depth of information they provide on diverse approaches to the assessment of effectiveness. In addition to describing practical strategies for developing and implementing assessment …

Discusses the need to adopt a strategically guided model for community college research that changes the basis for assessment from institutional performance in a commoditized market to institutional advantage in a turbulent market. Focuses on how research data can be generated and used to achieve an advantage by differentiating one institution…

Analyzes the similarities and differences between two outcomes-based assessment schemes: the institutional effectiveness model, which measures an institution's effectiveness at improving teaching and learning; and the performance funding model, which focuses on product, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of programs. Contains 15 references. (JDI)

Describes the development of institutional effectiveness indicators as well as a multi-step organizational planning process at Central Arizona College. Reviews five key areas targeted for analysis: organizational renewal and learning, leadership, governance, cultural transformation, and institutional efficiency. (JDI)

Describes an institutional research office's establishment of an outcomes-oriented self-assessment model rooted in the college's mission and goals. Reports that the framework enables institutional research departments to evaluate their effectiveness, and more importantly, to use the results of self-assessment to plan future activities, thereby…

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)

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 participation of Oregon community colleges in the Oregon Community College Unified Reporting System and in the Oregon Shared Information System, which involved 11 other state agencies. Identifies three key effectiveness indicators: workforce and economic development, access to postsecondary education, and literary skills and lifelong…

This essay builds on and extends scholarly discussion of the role and functions of Institutional Research (IR), especially with regard to the community college. As institutional "conscience," the primary value of IR is assisting in the identification of organizational weaknesses and challenges and helping to convert weaknesses into strengths and…

Describes a study of community perceptions conducted at Johnson County Community College (Kansas) utilizing telephone interviews of service area adults. Reports that the overall evaluation of the college was positive, although the majority of respondents were not aware of several of the major functions of the college. (MAB)

Describes the development of a systemwide institutional effectiveness assessment model in the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). Indicates that a primary goal of WTCS was to provide a measure that could assess systemwide effectiveness while preserving the autonomy of each individual college. Identifies four categories of effectiveness:…

The growth of multi-institutional attendance and discontinuous enrollment poses a challenge to linear approaches to college retention and subsequent graduation rates. Linear methodologies have a level of failure built in and cannot fully measure community college institutional effectiveness. This article analyzes student entry and subsequent…