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CBE to the Max: Leveraging Credit-by-Exam Toward Degree Completion

CBE to the Max: Leveraging Credit-by-Exam Toward Degree Completion. National Institute on the Assessment of Adult Learning June 7, 2012. Our Colleges Serve Adults. Main focus today: standardized exams (CBE) as a PLA method

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CBE to the Max: Leveraging Credit-by-Exam Toward Degree Completion

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  1. CBE to the Max: Leveraging Credit-by-Exam Toward Degree Completion National Institute on the Assessment of Adult Learning June 7, 2012

  2. Our Colleges Serve Adults • Main focus today: standardized exams (CBE) as a PLA method • The four institutions represented here grant credit for CBE and all other PLA methods • Founded in 1971 • Excelsior College (as Regents College) • Empire State College (SUNY) • Founded in 1972 • Thomas Edison State College • Founded in 1973 • Charter Oak State College

  3. The Players • Excelsior College (EC) • Ruth Olmsted, Associate Executive Director, Center for Educational Measurement (CEM) • Empire State College (ESC) • Tom Brady, Assessment Specialist • Thomas Edison State College (TESC) • Marc Singer, Vice Provost, Collegiate Credit Assessment Center • Charter Oak State College (COSC) • Paul Morganti, Associate Registrar

  4. Our Colleges Serve Adults • Institutional profile • Summary of PLA methods used • Highlights of CBE policy as reflected in • Degree templates and models • Example student profiles • Specific support provided for CBE students

  5. PLA’s Value for Adults • Prior Learning Assessment: When Learning Outcomes Are What Counts • CAEL Forum and News 2011-2012 • In addition to the broadly focused findings of Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success about the impact of PLA on all users, PLA is especially beneficial for • Underserved students • Students 50 and older • Employees using tuition assistance

  6. Common Features ofCredit by Exam Programs • Recognition by ACE CREDIT or National CCRS • Common, standardized development procedures • Adherence to psychometric guidelines • Rigorous security procedures • College-level credit equivalencies • Compliance with Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing • Computer delivery • Diversity of offerings

  7. CBE Policies Offer Multiple Options for Our Students • Granting credit for all the CBE programs • Provides a larger catalog of potential course equivalents than any single program or combination can • Addresses retention, persistence, and degree completion issues that occur because of closed or wait-listed courses • Allows adult students choices that honor their different learning styles and life experiences • Respects the effort that all the CBE programs put into winning and maintaining their national recognition

  8. Why We Love CBE • Embrace the Benefits • Convenient, cost-effective method for non-traditional students to earn credits • Independent study vs. full-year courses • Students need not repeat coursework they have already learned in other ways • Overcome the Limitations • Institutional skepticism about CBE and what student really knows (even when there are statewide policies) is not an issue for our schools

  9. What is Thomas Edison State College? • Founded in 1972 as an adult degree institution in New Jersey; one of NJ’s 12 senior public institutions of higher education • The College provides flexible, high quality collegiate learning opportunities for self-directed adults • Over 21,000 adults enrolled; degree and certificate programs in more than 100 areas of study • Prior learning assessment one of our cornerstones • Flexible transfer policies • Middle States accreditation

  10. Thomas Edison State College and PLA The College’s Collegiate Credit Assessment Center includes: • TECEP credit-by-exam program • Portfolio Development and Assessment • Center for Academic Program Reviews We see all of these as complementary forms of prior learning assessment.

  11. Thomas Edison State College and PLA Why we put so much emphasis on Prior Learning Assessment, including CBE: • Improved recruiting, retention, and completion • Validates learning that students bring from outside • Lower cost for students and the College • CBE, especially, aligns with courses and degree programs • In fact, no distinction between forms of delivery.

  12. CBE Equivalencies Each exam has a course equivalency in our system: Natural Science/Mathematics Passing Score Credits BIO-111/112-CE Biology (no lab) 50 6 CHE-111/112-CE Chemistry (no lab) 50 6 MAT-102/103-CE Coll. Mathematics 506 MAT-121-CE College Algebra 503 MAT-129-CEPrecalculus 50 3 MAT-231-CE Calculus 503 NAS-101/102-CE Natural Sciences 50 6

  13. Thomas Edison State College and CBE In addition to the TECEP® examinations, Thomas Edison State College students may earn credit through the following examination programs: • The College Board’s College Level Examination Program (CLEP) • DSST (formerly DANTES Subject Standardized Tests) • New York University Foreign Language Proficiency Testing Program • Excelsior College Examinations (ECE) • Uexcel examinations (a Pearson/Excelsior College alliance) • Foreign Service Institute Examinations • The College Board’s Advanced Placement program (AP) • The Defense Language Institute’s (DLI) Defense Language Proficiency Tests (DLPT)

  14. Challenges of CBE and PLA at Thomas Edison State College • Inability to monitor test development of outside providers, ensure continued alignment • Are the learning outcomes of national testing programs interchangeable with ours? • Balance of our own programs with those from other sources – does the origin matter? • Is credit-by-exam a form of PLA or independent study?

  15. What is Empire State College? • Founded in 1971 as part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, serves over 20,000 students • 35 face-to-face locations in NY; students in 50 states and 50 countries • Center for Distance Learning ≈ 40% • Associate, Baccalaureate, and Master’s Degrees • Undergraduate students self-design their degrees • All can use various forms of PLA • Middle States accreditation

  16. Advanced Standing Policies • Associate degree – up to 40 out of 60 credits • Bachelor’s degree – up to 96 out of 128 credits • Credits can be used toward any degree requirements (e.g., concentration, general education, liberal arts & sciences, etc.) – there are no restrictions

  17. Advanced Standing Credits Accepted • Regionally accredited institutions • NY State approved • Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; Canadian Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATS); Canadian 13th Year • British A-Level Exams • Israeli Council for Higher Education • National Association of Schools of Art and Design approved art schools • National League for Nursing approved RN programs • Empire State College partner foreign institutions • WES evaluated credits

  18. Advanced Standing (cont.) • Credits evaluated by American Council on Education (ACE) and National College Credit Recommendation Service (National CCRS) • AARTS/SMART/Coast Guard Institute transcripts, DD214 • Test scores based on ESC-standard interpretations: • Excelsior College Examinations, TECEP, DSST, Defense Language Proficiency Tests, NYU Proficiency Testing in Foreign Languages, AP, CLEP, GRE, ALTE • Institutionally evaluated learning from Empire State College, Thomas Edison State College, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, VT State College System • Individualized Prior Learning Assessment

  19. What is Charter Oak State College? • Founded in 1973 in Connecticut • Enrollment about 2,000 • Over 11,000 degrees awarded, with alumni from all 50 states and a dozen countries • Partnerships with military branches • Associate and Baccalaureate degrees • New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation

  20. What is Charter Oak State College? • Aggregation model - with Cornerstone and Capstone • Outcome assessment courses • Writing, research, program planning • Transfer credit • CBE, portfolio assessment, ACE and National CCRS, CCAP, institutionally reviewed training and certifications

  21. Student Profile CONCENTRATION PLAN OF STUDY (CPS) FORM Business Administration

  22. Program Planning Hi Karen, As per your request, I've included a list below of tests/ independent studies courses I am planning on taking for my degree. • Pending exams/courses: • Cornerstone course (IDS 101)- in progress • College Algebra - Straighterline, in progress • English Composition II - Straighterline, in progress • MgmtInfo Systems - DSST (area of concentration) • Environment & Humanity – DSST • *Business Ethics in Society - DSST (UL area of concentration) • Organizational Behavior - Excelsior Exam(UL area of concentration) • Principles of Public Speaking - DSST

  23. Class of 2011-12 & CBE

  24. Next Frontier: Open Education Resources - www.saylor.org

  25. What Is Excelsior College? • Independent institution serving adult students and other non-traditional learners since 1971 • Enrollment 34,000; alumni 141,000 • Up to one-third of EC students are • Members of historically under-represented groups • Military or veterans • Average age of graduates: late 30s • Associate, Baccalaureate, and Masters degrees • Middle States accreditation

  26. What Is Excelsior College? • Aggregation model • EC online courses (available since 2004) • Two national exam series developed in house: ECE and UExcel • Transfer credit • Consistently ranked #1 or #2 in acceptance of credit from other accredited institutions • Other CBE, portfolio assessment, ACE and National CCRS, institutionally reviewed training and certifications • Largest pre-licensure nursing program in the country, entirely assessment based

  27. Excelsior College Emphasizes CBEModel #1: Exam-Based Degree Paths • New degree pathways emphasize Excelsior’s own CBE products, along with a single required Capstone course • Degree planning templates show suggested sequence of exams; students with transfer credit have wider choices • Supported Independent Study model is based on Open Courseware options reviewed and recommended for all exams • Initial degree templates for BS and BA in Liberal Studies and AS and BS in General Business

  28. Sample ASB Degree Template • (ETC ASB example)

  29. Excelsior College Emphasizes CBEModel #2: Judaic Studies • Excelsior partners with two organizations to provide portfolio assessment and degree completion options for Orthodox Jewish students • Testing and Training International • Maalot • Students, mostly young women, earn degrees in Liberal Studies or occasionally Business or Accounting • About half the students start their degree completion program with an assessment of their credits from seminary/yeshiva

  30. Excelsior College Emphasizes CBEModel #2: Judaic Studies • Course and exam-based credits come from: • Judaic Studies subjects: Torah Accreditation Liaison, Jewish Bible Association, Association for Hebraic Studies Institute, Rechtschaffen Institute, MaalotYerushalayim (Zaidner Institute), NYU Language Exams • General Education subjects: ECEs and Uexcel, CLEP, DSST, TECEP, Ohio University exams • They complete the Judaic Studies focus (or another Area of Focus) with an Excelsior capstone course

  31. Profiles of Judaic Studies Grads • Student A: almost entirely CBE credits, Area of Focus in Psychology • TAL: 42 • ECE: 29 • CLEP: 21 • JBA: 15 • DSST: 6 • Ohio University (exam): 3 • University of Idaho (independent study course): 3 • Excelsior Information Literacy course: 1

  32. Profiles of Judaic Studies Grads • Student B: portfolio plus CBE credits, Area of Focus in Religious Studies • Portfolio: 44 • TAL: 56 • ECE: 12 • CLEP: 12 • Excelsior Information Literacy course: 1 • As of July 2011, all Excelsior students are subject to a Capstone requirement. A Judaic Studies Capstone course is available as an independent study (CD-ROM) or online course

  33. Our NextFrontier • New ways of bundling exams with resources • E-textbooks • Greater emphasis on Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Courseware (OCW) • Free textbooks: www.flatworldknowledge.com • Wikibooks

  34. Questions? • Tom BradyEmpire State College Tom.Brady@esc.edu 914-948-6206 • Ruth OlmstedExcelsior College rolmsted@excelsior.edu 518-464-8603 • Marc Singer Thomas Edison State College msinger@tesc.edu 609-984-1130 x 3230 • Paul Morganti Charter Oak State College pmorganti@charteroak.edu 860-832-3823

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