Learning Assessment in Accreditation
May 16, 2000
Cosmos Club, Washington, DC

Executive directors and other representatives of the six regional accrediting agencies met at the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C. on May 16 to discuss key issues in student learning assessment and accreditation at a meeting convened by the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE), with the support of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation. Also participating in the meeting were Judith Eaton, President of the Council on Higher Education Accreditation, Samuel Hope of the National Office for Arts Accreditation in Higher Education, and John Nichols and Carol Schneider, both of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

The meeting opened with brief remarks by Dr. Lee Fritschler, Assistant Secretary for Post-Secondary Education at the Department of Education. Dr. Fritschler called attention to several critical questions facing the nation’s accreditors and commended the efforts of AALE and the Pew and Knight foundations in bringing together the nation’s accreditors to confront squarely the increasing public and political demands for educational accountability. Dr. Fritschler also hailed AALE’s draft protocols for learning outcomes-based accreditation as a unique and significant contribution towards achieving greater levels of accountability in liberal arts education. Other significant issues addressed by the assistant secretary included the long-standing problem of the transferability of credit between accredited institutions, and the challenges and opportunities posed for educational assessment and accreditation by the advent and explosive growth of internet-based distance learning.

Following Dr. Fritschler’s remarks, Jean Avnet Morse, meeting co-chair and Executive Director of the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, invited representatives of each accrediting agency to present their own efforts and initiatives in higher education accreditation reform. Presenters included Executive Director Charles Cook of the New England Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, Ann Chard of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commissioner Richard Dunn of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, Steve Spangehl of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and Dean Elias, Director of Special Projects for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Each presentation was followed by a period for questions and conversation, marked by lively and collegial exchanges of information and experiences in charting new approaches to higher education accreditation.

During the closing session of the day-long symposium, representatives of the nation’s accrediting agencies engaged in a fruitful and wide-ranging discussion of questions and problems. Russ Edgerton, Director of the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, urged all present to recommit their agencies to bringing learning assessment to the fore of higher education accreditation, and commended AALE for its achievements in this regard. This discussion was led by Peter Ewell, Senior Associate at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), and John Harris, Associate Provost for Quality and Assessment at Samford University.