H. Kent Weldon Annual Conference for Higher Education

Debra HumphreysAssociation of American Colleges & Universities

humphreys@aacu.orgwww.aacu.org

Learning Outcomes for Work, Life and Citizenship:

What All Students Need for Meaningful Opportunity and Success

“A COLLABORATION AMONG EDUCATORS, STUDENTS, POLICYMAKERS, AND EMPLOYERS”

It is my wish that this be the most educated country in the world, and toward that end I

hereby ordain that each and every one of my

people be given a diploma.

The World is Demanding MoreThere is a demand for more numbers

of college educated workers.

There is also a demand that those educated workers and citizens have

higher levels of learning and knowledge, and some new and

different skills and abilities.

Increasing Demand for Educated Workforce

Note: Brown indicates jobs requiring high school or less and Blue indicates jobs requiring some college or more. Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

The Growing Demand for Higher Order SkillsSource: Council on Competitiveness, Competitiveness Index

Employer Perspective“my company lives and dies on our ability to innovate and to create the new products and processes that give us an edge in this very competitive global economy. ESCO needs people who have both a command of certain specific skills and robust problem-solving and communication skills.”

Steven Pratt, CEO, ESCO Corp. and Chair of the Oregon Business Council

7

Narrow Learning is Not EnoughThe LEAP Essential Learning

OutcomesKnowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

Focused on engagement with big questions, enduring and contemporary

Intellectual and Practical SkillsPracticed extensively across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance

Personal and Social ResponsibilityAnchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges

Integrative LearningDemonstrated through the application of knowledge, skills, and responsibilities to new settings and complex problems

National Surveys of Employers on College Learning and Graduates’ Work ReadinessAAC&U commissioned Hart Research Associates (in 2006, 2007, and in late

2009) to interview employers (C-level suite executives and, in 2009 additional human resource professionals) whose companies report that hiring relatively large numbers of college graduates

Findings are summarized in the following reports:How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today’s

Global Economy? (AAC&U, 2007)How Should Colleges Assess and Improve Student Learning?

Employers’ Views on the Accountability Challenge (AAC&U, 2008)

Raising the Bar: Employers’ Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic Downturn (AAC&U, 2010)

See: www.aacu.org/leap/public_opinion_research

HARTRESEARCHP e t e r D

A S S O T E SC I A

Raising The BarEmployers’ Views On College Learning In The Wake Of The Economic Downturn

Key findings from survey among 302 employersConducted October 27 – November 17, 2009

for

2009 AAC&U Survey Methodology

Survey among 302 executives at private sector and non-profit organizations that have 25 or more employees

Each reports that 25% or more of their new hires hold an associate’s degree from a two-year college or a bachelor’s degree from a four-year college.

Overall margin of error = +5.7 percentage points

Source: Raising the Bar (AAC&U, 2010)

Employers’ Expectations of Employees Have Increased

88%

88%

90%

91%

% who agree with each statement

Our company is asking employees to take on more responsibilities and to use a broader set of skills than in the past

Employees are expected to work harder to coordinate with other departments than in the past

The challenges employees face within our company are more complex today than they were in the past

To succeed in our company, employees need higher levels of learning and knowledge today than they did in the past

How good a job are our colleges/universities doing in

preparing students effectively for the challenges of today’s global

economy?

19% 49%

28%

20% 40%

26%

Doing good job Some improvement needed Significant improvement needed

60%

68%

Two-year colleges and universities

Four-year colleges and universities

70%

70%

71%

75%

75%

79%

81%

89%

Employers’ Top Priorities For Student Learning Outcomes In

College% saying two- and four-year colleges should place MORE emphasis on helping students develop these skills, qualities, capabilities, knowledge

Effective oral/written communication

Critical thinking/ analytical reasoning

Knowledge/skills applied to real world settings

Analyze/solve complex problems

Connect choices and actions to ethical

decisionsTeamwork skills/ ability

to collaborateAbility to innovate and

be creativeConcepts/developments

in science/technology

Key Capabilities Open the Door for Career Success and Earnings

“Irrespective of college major or institutional selectivity, what matters to career success is students’ development of a broad set of cross-cutting capacities…”

Anthony Carnevale, Georgetown UniversityCenter on Education and the Workforce

Emerging Consensus on Outcomes—Getting Serious About Defining and Delivering on the Outcomes

• LEAP—Essential Learning Outcomes and National Report• The Lumina Degree Profile—defines areas of learning and key reference points for achievement at different levels• LEAP States—WI Growth Agenda Shared Learning Goals, Utah 2020• Individual LEAP Schools—IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning, IPFW Framework for BA Degree, Miami-Dade

Learning Outcomes Covenant, Wagner Plan for Practical Liberal Arts

Across all These Outcome Frameworks—in LEAP States and Institutions

• Focus on both disciplinary and cross-cutting outcomes• Focus on integration and coherence of curricular design and delivery (incl. faculty development, gen ed/majors, advising, support)• Focus on high-impact educational practices that increase engagement, application, integration—and result in learning and higher rates of

completion• Focus on assessments that develop competence and are based on signature milestone performances that demonstrate ability to apply learning

“In a world of relentless change, all students need the kind of education that leads

them to ask not just ‘how do we get this done?’ but also ‘what is

most worth doing?’”

www.aacu.org/leap

humphreys@aacu.org