SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference | August 8–10, 2012
State Agency Workshop Session
Development of Statewide Plan in
Massachusetts & Proposal for
Multi-State Collaborative
Patricia Crosson, Senior Advisor for Academic Policy

Within Massachusetts
 Vision Project commitment to measurable outcomes and public reporting.
 Fulfill campus and Department of Higher Education
accountability obligations to current and potential students, taxpayers and other stakeholders.
 Want information about quality of student learning as part of DHE oversight responsibility.
 Want an alternative to a single standardized test that produces compliance behavior. Want a statewide plan that supports campus formative assessment and statewide accountability.

Within Massachusetts
 Three-year effort to develop a collaboration involving 22 campuses and DHE:
▪ Working Group on Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment
▪ AMCOA (Advancing a Massachusetts Culture of Assessment)*
▪ Leap State Status and Massachusetts LEAP State Initiative
 Current collaborative structure for refinement and review of models and metrics for statewide plan:
▪ Task Force for Statewide Assessment of Student Learning
▪ Massachusetts Team
▪ State Partner Team
▪ Continuation of AMCOA Project and AMCOA Team*
* AMCOA work supported by two generous grants from the Davis Educational Foundation

Within Massachusetts
 LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes and VALUE Rubrics
as common framework. Begin with Critical Thinking, Written
Communication and Quantitative Literacy.
 Outcomes aligned with curriculum. Outcomes-related assignments embedded in course work. Assignments
(portfolios ?) assessed using VALUE rubrics.
 Faculty involved in all curricular and assessment aspects.
Faculty development.
 Results for each learning outcome:
 Used formatively by campuses.
 Also reported to DHE, rolled up by segment (2-year, 4-year institutions), and presented along with other measures in Vision Project Report.

With Other States
 Conviction that working with other states to develop a different way to do statewide learning outcomes assessment will enable genuine change in higher education.
 Vision Project makes commitment to measuring progress toward student learning outcomes in comparison with other states.
 Currently, there is no way to make comparisons in absence of standardized test.

With Other States
 Commitment of 22 campuses and DHE to work on state partnerships as part of LEAP State Initiative.
 May 2012 meeting in Boulder with 15 potential state
partners. Meeting co-sponsored by Massachusetts
Department of Higher Education (through Nellie Mae
Education Foundation grant), SHEEO, and Association of
American Colleges and Universities. Discussed proposal for
Multi-State Collaborative.
 Boulder participants exploring Collaborative proposal
within their respective states. Asked to respond by
December 2012.

With Other States
 Participating states sign compact.
 Model will be developed by collaborating states.
 Model will be pilot-tested in participating states.