On August 8th Jillian Kinzie, Alexander McCormick and National Advisory Board member John Hayek presented at the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference. The title of the session was "Using Evidence to Promote Effective Educational Practice and the Success of all Students."
The topic of the session was inspired by creating tools to assure genuine success for all, which involves more than degree completion. We must assess the conditions that promote student learning. It means providing a supportive, inclusive environment for all students and ensuring that students engage in educationally purposeful activities that foster key learning outcomes. State higher education leaders should be acquainted with, monitor, and promote educational practices and delivery models that support success for all students. This session combined findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) with insights from a system-level chief academic officer.
The session began with an overview of public institutions' NSSE results by race/ethnicity and first-generation status. While results are similar across most of NSSE's Engagement Indicators, a few notable and positive results suggest that American higher education may be making progress in providing welcoming and supportive environments for all students. Recent evidence also shows that High-Impact Practice (HIP) participation is related to higher levels of satisfaction and perceived support for all racial/ethnic groups.
We then highlighted new evidence regarding students' experiences with a variety of inclusive and culturally engaging practices, including recognizing one's cultural norms and biases, respecting the expression of diverse ideas, and engaging issues of equity or privilege, all of which prepare students for life and work in a diverse and interconnected world. We also showed how these activities relate to educational practices known to promote learning and development, including higher-order learning and reflective and integrative learning, and to students’ perceived gains in areas such as being an informed and active citizen and understanding people of other backgrounds. We examine these relationships by student characteristics such as racial/ethnic identity, gender identity and sexual orientation.
The session concluded by discussing how institutions and states can best promote equitable experiences and considering what the findings on inclusivity and cultural diversity suggest for preparing students to participate in a diverse workplace and globally interconnected world.
For more details on this presentation, see their presentation slides from the 2018 SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference.