Measuring Student Outcomes and College Performance in the New

Millennium

Thomas Bailey

Community College Research Center

Third International Congress on Upper-Secondary and Higher Education

Mexico City

November 15, 2010

Two Developments in the New Millennium

• “Rise” of the community college• Two year, low cost, open access institutions with

several missions• Growing importance in national policy discussion• Shift from focus on access to focus on student

success

• New and growing criticism of US higher education

• Given these shifts, student performance measures are inadequate

Growing Criticism of US Higher Education—Why?

• International comparisons• Rising skill demands• Growing availability of data showing low

completion rates• Continued significant differences by income

and race• Rising costs• Deteriorating fiscal situation with calls for

greater efficiency

Measures of Higher Education Performance

• International rankings• Areas of progress from the student point

of view– Progression measures– Employment measures– Learning measures

Progression

• Graduation rates available for most institutions in the US—limited use for CCs

• Need to adjust for student characteristics• Account for varied missions

• Occupational degrees and certificates• Transfer• Non-credit

• Students must be tracked across institutions• Need to assure quality

Employment

• National data suggest strong employment benefits

• We know much less about outcomes for students in states and institutions

• Growing availability of longitudinal data—for profits controversy

• Problems• Influenced by labor market conditions• Short term measures not accurate

Student Learning

• Surprisingly little consistent and reliable information

• Three areas of progress– Measures of general skills– Standardization of large introductory and

basic courses, especially new technology– Occupational licensure and certification

Beyond Performance Measures

Emphasize diagnosis, analysis, and improvement, not just static measures

of performance

Committee on Measures of Student Success

• US. Department of Education • For more information

http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acmss.html

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Community College Research CenterInstitute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University

525 West 120th Street, Box 174, New York, NY 10027 E-mail: ccrc@columbia.eduTelephone: 212.678.3091