Project DEEP: Documenting Effective Educational Practice

A time-honored approach to improving productivity is the identification and adaptation of qualities that characterize high-performing organizations. Similarly, any institution of higher education can learn valuable lessons from educationally effective colleges and universities. Toward this end, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) collaborated on Project DEEP (Documenting Effective Educational Practice). With support from Lumina Foundation for Education and the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, this initiative examined the everyday workings of a variety of educationally effective colleges and universities to learn what they do to promote student success. The effort is the first in a series of activities undertaken by the NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice to respond to national concerns about improving the quality of undergraduate education.