- Overview- Program Review and SLOs Preparing to Write the Self-Study Why? What? How?

1. -Overview-Program Review and SLOsPreparing to Write the Self-StudyWhy? What? How? For more SLO resources see: http://www.contracosta.edu/pdf/SLO_Resources_links.pdfor use Quick Links from CCC home page—under SLOs. Contra Costa College Prepared by Wendy Williams, January 2010

2. This is an overview of the new SLO-related requirements to the Program Review process focusing on: • WhySLOs need to be included in the Program Review (slides 3-5), • What SLO documents need to be “attached” to the self-study report (slides 6-8 ), and • HowSLO results are incorporated into the “text” of the self-study report (slides 9- ). For more detailed instructions about SLOs see the SLO Handbook: http://www.contracosta.edu/AcademicSenate/documents/SLOBook.pdf For more detailed instructions about program review see the Program Review Guidelines: Campus S-drive, in the Program Review folder.

3. WHY? • Accreditation Standard 1B requires the college to organize its “key processes” (including planning and budgeting) to support student learning. • Program Review plays the central role in integrating department-level action plans and resource needs into college-wide planning and budgeting. 1 + 2 = SLOs in Program Review.

4. Faculty, Student and Community Needs/Issues Self Assessment PROGRAM REVIEW Action Plan Research and Planning Data SLO Assessment Results GE-SLOs Core Competencies Institutional “Key Processes” Educational Master Plan Strategic Initiatives Budget & Resource Allocations Management Goals Other Other

5. FYI: ACCJC* Standard I.B. Improving Institutional Effectiveness: • The institution demonstrates a conscious effort to produce and support student learning, measures that learning, assesses how well learning is occurring, and makes changes to improve student learning. • The institution also organizes its key processes and allocates its resources to effectively support student learning. • The institution demonstrates its effectiveness by providing 1) evidence of the achievement of student learning outcomes and 2) evidence of institution and program performance. • The institution uses ongoing and systematic evaluation and planning to refine its key processes and improve student learning. Including SLOs in Program Review also satisfies #3 (provides evidence of SLO achievements) and #4 (ongoing and systematic method to improve SLO achievements). * Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, http://www.accjc.org/

6. What? The following are the new SLO-related documents that now need to be attached to the program review self-study. These are in addition to other required and/or optional attachments. • The SLOA Report * which includes: • One SLO Assessment Form for each course and each program, • A “signature page” and • Executive summary. • Division Confirmation of SLOA Report • This is usually the minutes of the division meeting at which SLO results were presented and discussed. • The Course Content Review and SLO Update Form. *Submit the SLOA Report in duplicate. One copy is attached to the Program Review self-study. Submit the second copy separately. This will be used to assess the GE-SLOs and Core Competencies.

7. Where are the forms? The required SLO-related forms are available in MS Word on the campus S-drive in the “Program Review” folder. SLO Assessment Forms. For course-level SLOs see Appendix H of the PR Guidelines. For program level SLOs see Appendix J of the PR Guidelines. Course Content Review and SLO Update Form See Appendix Iof the Guidelines. Signature and Check-off Page to used for the cover sheet of the Program Review Document. See Appendix K of the PR Guidelines. These forms are presented as appendices to the Program Review (PR) Guidelines. See the “Appendix” subfolder in the Program Review folder. Note: We are currently developing an on-line version of these forms which will be used in the future.

8. We need to assess GE SLOs and the campus-wide Core Competencies. To do this we need your cooperation. When completing the SLO Assessment forms, please indicate: • Which GE/Breadth Requirements for the AA degree does the course satisfy (if any). These are listed in the college catalog. There can be more than one, check all that apply. • Which GE or Core Competency categories does each individual outcome correspond to (in your opinion) if any. These are listed in Appendix H of the PR Guidelines. There can be more than one, check all that apply. If course-level GE/Breadth Requirements and outcome-level GE/Core Competencies are not indicated (when relevant) we may need to assess GE SLOs separately in all courses (as many other campuses do).

9. How? To include the SLO results, analysis and recommendations in the text of the self-study report itself follow the instructions given in Appendix D of the Guidelines for Program Review and SLOA Reports.* Appendix Dlists specific questions that should be address in the self-study. These questions are grouped by topic. The SLO related questions follow. • Instruction: • How have the SLO Assessment results led to improvements in instruction and learning? • How does the program encourage the use of instructional strategies that involve students in the learning process? The Guidelines can be found on the campus S-drive in the Program Review folder.

10. Appendix D, Guidelines (continued) • Curriculum and Articulation • Do all the degree and/or certificate programs have completed SLO Plans? Have they been submitted with this Program Review? If yes, what plans do you have for evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of your program level SLO Plans and improving them if necessary. If no, what steps will you take to complete them all? • Do all courses have SLO Plans? Are the SLO Plans on file, i.e., attached to the current Course Outline of Record? If yes, what plans do you have for evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of your course level SLO Plans and improving them if necessary? If no, what steps will you take so that all courses have SLO Plans on file? • How have the SLO Assessment results led to changes (improvements) in the curriculum?

11. Appendix D, Guidelines (continued) • Department Resources • Do the SLO Assessment results suggest a need for or potential benefit from additional resources? • Professional Development and Activities • Do the SLO Assessment results suggest needed or desired areas of professional development? • Action Plan—SLO Assessment results need to be considered and your recommendations included in your 4-year action plan. • Identify those parts of the action plan developed as a result of the SLO Assessments.

12. FAQs • Do I have to assess every course every semester? No. • But within the program review cycle you should assess each and every course 2 or 3 times. • Do I have to assess all sections of the course? No. • But important information about consistency across sections is unavailable if you do not assess all sections. • Do I have to assess the work of every student? No. • But if you don’t you must select a random sample of the work of at least 30 students (and calculate the margin of error). • Can I use student work that I use to determine grades? Yes. • But the SLO records are kept differently than your records for student grades. This is referred to as using “embedded” assignments or exam questions.

13. FAQs, continued • What do I do with the raw data (the student by student, section by section scores)? • You archive it at the department level. You decide how & where. • What does it mean, “At least 75% of students will score 70% or higher”? • Example: Your assignment is worth 10 points and you have 40 students. To show acceptable student learning you want at least 30 out of 40 students (75% of students) to score at least 7 points out of the possible 10points. For SLO record keeping you count the number of students who scored 7 points or more. • How often do I submit the SLOA Forms? • For now, submit an SLOA Form each time you complete an assessment for the course. This may change after 2012. • Do we submit a separate SLOA Form for each section? No. • Submit one form for each course and one for each program.

14. Looking Ahead Two suggested4-year schedules:Divide courses into 2 (A B) or 3 (A B C) groups and assess during the next three years as follows .

15. Summary • SLO results provide evidence to support effective planning and resource allocation. • Evidence-based practice refers to using data from research and studies to help determine the best practices in a field. It can either supplement or eliminate subjective professional judgment when developing appropriate plans of action. (Not only is it used in education but also in business, medicine, criminal justice, social work, etc.) • By including a report on SLO assessments, evaluations and recommendations in the program review self-study… • SLO results are available to those making key institutional decisions about planning and resource allocation. • An on-going systematic process is easily established for continual evaluation of and improvements to student learning. • Evidence of student learning achievement and improvement is easily maintained.