EQUITABLE ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

Exploring Desirable Changes in Teaching and Learning and Assessment

The purpose of Higher Education guides the roles to which instructors strive. Those noble purposes also reveal moments when institutions do not achieve those ideals. Within the teaching role, a range of learning assessment tools is useful to make visible when students do not achieve their learning objectives. Assessment evidence points to ways to adjust teaching or to change institutional supports to improve our striving. Some tools provide evidence to assert students did achieve the intended learning. These assessment tools reveal their learning needs for students and increase their awareness of progress, and in some cases, assessment tools can create understanding.

Presented by:  Dr. Olatokunbo (Toks) S. Fashola, American University

View the recorded presentation HERE.

Practical Ideas toward Achieving Equitable Outcomes

To explore anti-racist ideas from perspectives that are central to NEean, we invited a colleague from each of the following perspectives: Institutional Research, Student Affairs, Institutional Accreditation, Organizational Development.

Dr. Kellie M. Dixon, Director of Student Affairs Assessment and Staff Development, North Carolina A&T State University

Dr. Alexander Yin, Executive Director, Office of Institutional Research, University of Vermont

Dr. Mary Wright, Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning; Executive Director, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning; Professor of the Practice, Sociology; Brown University

Dr. Laura M. Gambino, Vice President, New England Commission of Higher Education

View the recorded panel presentation HERE.

Teaching Remotely: The Importance of Building a Community for Successful Assessment

Teaching remotely presents a set of new challenges for us as teachers wishing to help our students learn. Before we decide how we will carry out assessments, we should plan to build a community that will help our students learn and will help us better assess the expected learning.

Presented by:  Carlos Gonzalez-Campos, CETYS University

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

Assessment as a Tool for Equity and Inclusion

Assessment, when implemented with an equity lens, can be a vehicle that fosters equity and inclusion. Presenters will share an overview of equity-minded assessment, discuss how to ensure individual and organizational awareness, and identify specific strategies for adopting equity-minded assessment.

Presented by:  Gavin Henning, New England College; and Anne Lundquist, Anthology

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

Demographic Data for Equity: Who We Are and Why Does it Matter?

Demographic questions are typically used in data collection, but often reflect norms of the institution and dominant culture. This session will address who we are and why it matters by exploring bias and using a more socially just approach to demographic questions to foster greater understanding and student success.

Presented by:  Joanna Boeing Bratton, Bridgewater State University

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

Shift to Real-Time Assessment Approaches for Data-Informed Practice

 Breaking the conceptual tensions between assessments for accountability versus improvement is a difficult task. Program level assessment is often perceived as an obligation for traditional reporting. Faculty is more interested in real-time data on teaching and learning. This session will tell the story about how a shift to real-time assessment approaches led to data-informed practice.

Presented by:  Mamta Saxena and Melanie Kasparian, both from Northeastern University

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

Enhancing Inclusive Learning Experiences

NECO is strategically working on Enhancing Inclusive Learning Experiences throughout students learning journeys through partnering with departments across campus to increase equity and including in classes, labs, and clinical placements. This session will review partnership experiences and allow attendees to consider strategies that may be implemented on their campuses.

Presented by:  Sandra Mohr, Angela Abraham and Emily Bouchard; all from New England College of Optometry

View the recorded presentation HERE.

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

Collection and Analysis of Alumni Earnings

This session explores how the presenters' university used administrative records to measure more than ten years of alumni outcomes, and how university administrators are using these data. This session will walk participants through the process of acquiring the data sharing agreement, methodology used, and the outcomes of the data match.

Presented by:  Shannon Lee and Karen Vance, both from Pennsylvania State University

View the recorded presentation HERE.

Inclusive Strategies to Increase Trust, Collaboration, and Participation in Campus Climate Surveys

This session will use data on low engagement and completion rates across different stakeholders on campus to demonstrate opportunities to incorporate faculty, staff, and students’ feedback and concerns. Action Items for motivating participation, increasing shared ownership, and returning on investment by participants will be discussed.

Presented by:  Danielle Cooper, University of New Haven

View the recorded presentation HERE.

From Office Applications to Critical Thinking: Revisions to a General Education Requirement in Computing

We describe the process of changing a general education requirement in computing from spreadsheet and presentation skills to an emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving using discipline appropriate computing tools. Data from the assessment of the old and new learning outcomes will be presented, along with lessons learned.

Presented by:  Lisa Hansen and Brian O'Neill, both from Western New England University

View the recorded presentation HERE.

Transparency of Learning Outcomes for Equity

This session focuses on Bridgewater State University’s Transparency Project. We will present the BSU Transparency Framework, discuss preliminary results of the BSU National Survey on Transparency, share tools to increase the visibility of learning outcomes, and facilitate a dialogue of equity in learning outcomes transparency.

Presented by:  Ruth Slotnick and Joanna Boeing Bratton, both from Bridgewater State University

View the recorded presentation HERE.

Committed Possibilities: Class Approach and Assessment with a Focus on Enhancing Equity and Inclusiveness

As educators, we all know one size does not fit all in classroom approach. This session focuses on how to create a classroom with “radical hospitality” and creative options. How do we assess in this new classroom? Hear from colleagues about how students learn in this process and how educators can assess the experience.

Presented by: Sandi Coyne-Gilbert, Matt Connell and Lisa Coolidge Manley, all from Goodwin University

View the recorded presentation HERE.

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

#BlackAt<InsertUniversityHere>: How Social Media Content Analysis Illuminates

the Experiences of Black Students on College Campuses

Increasingly, BIPOC college students have utilized social media to share their experiences of racialized trauma while attending higher education institutions. Presenters outline a social media content analysis study of posts from #BlackAtSMU, highlighting themes that arose. Implications at the institutional level and future directions for this assessment methodology are discussed.

Presented by:  Allison Kanny, Kish Parikh, Tara Greig, Cole Fontenot, and Kennedy Coleman; all from Southern Methodist University

“Connected Learning”: An Assessment-based Strategy for Adjunct Faculty Development &

Support during Covid-19

With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Cambridge College in Boston, MA, like most institutions of higher education, was forced to move all in-seat classes to a “remote” format. Given that 59% of our instructors had no previous online teaching experience, the transition was a serious technological and pedagogical challenge. To meet this challenge, we framed synchronous distance learning as a new modality called “Connected Learning” and developed a set of clearly articulated standards with linked assessments, asynchronous support resources, and live workshops. We encouraged all instructors to demonstrate baseline proficiency in each of the three standard areas and earn a “Connected Learning” credential as well as a stipend. This panel presentation will present the initial challenges the College faced and our unique Connected Learning approach to support our faculty. Participants will engage in discussions about their institutions’ approaches and about how our Connected Learning approach could be utilized elsewhere.

Presented by:  Brooks Winchell, Michael Marrapodi and Tracy McLaughlin, all from Cambridge College

View the recorded panel presentation HERE.

Assessing Participation in Small Group Work via Zoom Breakout Rooms

Creating and facilitating small group Breakout rooms in Zoom is a way to facilitate deep learning and encourage participation with students. The objective of this session is to discuss creating these groups and assessing not only student participation but the overall efficacy and effectiveness of this approach.

Presented by:  Amy Smalarz, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Non-Disposable Assignments – Students as Producers and Sharers of Knowledge

Non-Disposable Assignments are innovative student assessments that move beyond the teacher-student dyad. Rather than passive consumers of knowledge, students are ‘producers and sharers’ of knowledge, adding value to the world and giving them a sense of control and contribution in these unpredictable times.

Presented by:  Lia Marshall and Aparna Samuel Balasundaram, both from Columbia School of Social Work

Moving from “What’s Wrong?” To “What’s Right?”:

Utilizing an Anti-Deficit Framework in Higher Education Assessment

Anti-deficit frameworks illuminate what works in higher education, unlike deficit-minded views that run the risk of obscuring nuances and reifying systems of oppression. Presenters discuss what studying BIPOC students’ strengths means within higher education assessment, and how results gleaned from this approach can be used to inform policy and practice.

Presented by: Allison Kanny, Kish Parikh, Tara Greig, Cole Fontenot, and Kennedy Coleman; all from Southern Methodist University

View the recorded joint presentation HERE.

What Worked? What Didn’t?

During Lasell University’s 2020 Faculty Institute, students and faculty reflected on successes and failures in responding to COVID.

Presented by:  Matt Boyle and Heidi Burgiel, both from Lasell University

View the recorded joint presentation HERE.

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

The handout used is available HERE.

Lessons from the Middle Grades: How One Study has the Potential to Impact Higher Education Improvement

Dr. Boivin’s book that will be released November 24th, 2020 titled, Exploring the Role of the School Principal in Predominantly White Middle Schools: School Leadership to Promote Multicultural Understanding contains key administrator recommendations that lend powerful considerations for colleges/universities when making changes and tracking their effectiveness toward social justice prioritization.

Presented by:  Jacquelynne Boivin, Bridgewater State University

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.

View the recorded joint presentation HERE.

Infusing DEI into Assessment Rather than Assessing DEI

Wheaton College engaged in a project with NACADA and the Gardner Institute in order to conduct a comprehensive self-study of the advising function and to assess advising as an across-college function.  Nine conditions of excellence provided a framework for this assessment, one of which included Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI).  Originally, in this framework, DEI was a standalone condition for assessment.  When committees were formed around groupings of the conditions, rather than assessing DEI as a standalone condition, Wheaton chose to infuse DEI work into each of the committees.  In this way, DEI was assessed from the perspective of each of the other conditions, leading to a more thorough and inclusive approach to DEI work which resulted in a more robust examination of DEI. 

Presented by:  Steven Viveiros and Kim Puhala, both from Wheaton College

View the recorded joint presentation HERE.

A copy of the presentation is available HERE.