Measures of Student Success

From the Department of Education’s Committee on Measures of Student Success

Increasing the number of college graduates in the United States is critical to our nation’s economic growth and global competitiveness. Two-year institutions must play a pivotal role in increasing the proportion of American adults with a postsecondary credential. Over the past decade alone, student enrollment at two-year institutions has increased by 26 percent from 5.9 million to 7.5 million undergraduate students.1 Recognizing the importance of the two-year sector in meeting national goals to increase degree attainment among adults in the United States, President Obama called for five million more community college graduates by the year 2020.2 To achieve these ambitious goals, students and families, policymakers, and researchers need more—and better—information about student progression and completion at two-year degree- granting institutions, including community colleges and for-profit colleges.

Continued at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/cmss-committee-report-11-15-11.pdf

Tracking Quality at 2-Year Colleges

By Paul Fain

Community colleges have long argued they are fundamentally different from four-year institutions and should be judged by different yardsticks. Now the sector has created what it says are fair measures of its members’ performance, with the release Wednesday of the Voluntary Framework of Accountability from the American Association of Community Colleges.

The accountability standards are a starting point for a “common language” on what works at community colleges, said Kent Phillippe, associate vice president for research and student success at the association. But to be effective, he said they also need to show where colleges are falling short.

Continued at: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/01/community-college-association-releases-voluntary-accountability-measures#ixzz1fIudsw11

Top 100 Sites of 2011

By David Kapuler

The time is finally here for my annual list of favorite sites of the year.  This year, I decided to up my post to the top 100 instead of 25 due to the number of sites that I reviewed and due to the popularity of the post.  I tried to cover a wide range of sites, from flash card creators to digital storytelling and of course, social networks, which really shined in 2011.  I hope everybody enjoys the read and has as much fun reading it as I did creating it!

Continued at: http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3467