MAP-Works: An Example of Best Practices in Assessment

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MAP-Works An Example of Best Practices in
Assessment

• Sherry Woosley, Ph.D.
• Associate Director of Institutional
  Effectiveness, Ball State University
• Darlena Jones, Ph.D.
• Director of Research and Development, Educational
  Benchmarking

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Best Practices?
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Best Practices in Assessment

• What are some Best Assessment Practices?
• Our list
• Involves multiple constituencies
• Asks important questions / Focuses attention on
  important issues
• Solid methodology
• Clear links to practice
• User-friendly reporting
• Leads to reflection and action by faculty/staff
  and students

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MAP-WorksOverview
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Who is Responsible?

• Who is responsible for student success on your
  campus?
• Enrollment / Retention Management?
• Vice President of Student Affairs
• Provost / Vice President of Academic Affairs?
• What information do you know about this
  first-year student?

Enrollment Management / Retention
VP Student Affairs
Provost / VP Acad Affairs
Do you really know them?
Student ID YD252952HS GPA 3.93SAT Verbal
29Location In stateGender FemaleRace
African AmericanAge 18Major Undecided
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Paradigm Shift

• What would happen if
• ALL faculty/staff were responsible for student
  success?
• You knew that student was struggling
• Could you do something about it before it was too
  late?

Im struggling in my math class
Im thinking about transferring
VP Student Affairs
Provost / VP Acad Affairs
Residence Hall Staff
Im really homesick
I dont think I can afford college
My roommate and I argue all the time
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MAP-Works History

• In 1988, Ball State had a number of concerns
• Unrealistic expectation of first-year students
  (academics, grades, housing, etc.)
• Retention rates
• Mid-term was too late
• Need for better data about incoming students
• Timeline
• 1988 Ball State developed the concept.
• 1989-2004 Ball State used MAP in-house.
• 2005 Ball State partnered with EBI to create
  MAP-Works.
• Fall 2007 Huntington University was 1 of 10
  institutions to pilot MAP-Works.
• Fall 2008 Huntington is one of 41 institutions
  implementing MAP-Works (version 4.0).

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MAP-Works Focus

• Retention
• Minimize percentage of capable students who drop
  out due to issues that could have been addressed
  by self awareness or timely intervention by
  professional staff.
• Academic Socio-Emotional Success
• Improve students' ability to succeed academically
  by realigning behavior with grade expectations
  and focusing on elements of academic success.
  Address socio-emotional transition issues.

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MAP-Works Process
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Survey and Profile Items
Understanding the Students Experience

• Academic Integration
• Academic Self-Efficacy
• Core Academic Behaviors
• Advanced Academic Behaviors
• Commitment to Higher Education

• Profile Information
• Student information like gender and
  race/ethnicity
• Entrance exam scores
• credit hours enrolled

• Self-Assessment
• Communication Skills
• Analytical Skills
• Self-Discipline
• Time Management
• Health and Wellness
• Issues (stress, financial, etc. )

• Social Integration
• Peer Connections
• Living Environment (on/off campus)
• Roommate Relationships (on/off campus)
• Homesickness

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Best Practices in AssessmentSharing Information
with Faculty/Staff
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Best Practices in Assessment

• Tips
• Identify students who are
• Non-Respondents
• At-risk for retention or poor academic
  performance
• Reporting interests in leadership opportunities
  or student activities
• Make information valuable in student-to-staff
  meetings
• Identify common issues among your students
• Supporting work of faculty/staff

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Tip 1 Identify Non-Respondents
Did You Know? For most campuses, non-response is
one of the first signs of disconnect
Filter by Responded or Not Responded
Make locating non-respondents quick and easy!
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Tip 2 Identify At-Risk Students
Did You Know? Some students decide if theyre
coming back in spring term within a few days of
beginning their fall term
Students sorted by warning indicators
Make locating at-risk students easy to help
faculty/staff
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Tip 3 Identify Students with Interests
Did You Know? Some students are eager to begin
exploring leadership opportunities immediately
Choose a survey or profile question
Make locating students with special interests
easy!
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Tip 4 Information for Meetings
Students are more likely to be truthful on
surveys than face-to-face
Use only the most valuable information in an
easy-to-read format
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Tip 5 Identifying Common Issues
Being creative in programming may help eliminate
common issues experienced by your students
Homesickness is an issue for a lot of students
Provide aggregate reporting for program
improvement
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Tip 5 Keep Records
Choose the type of contact then leave a short
comment regarding the contact
Providing your faculty/staff ways to keep notes
on their students will improve their efficiency
Provide an easy-to-use method to store notes
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Tip 6 Organize Your Work with Students
Providing a way for faculty/staff to group their
students based on common issues/interests makes
interventions easier to manage
Provide an easy way to manage students issues
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Tip 7 Notifying Others of Issues
Notifying other faculty/staff in better positions
to aid the student will likely help that student
transition
Provide a method of communication across silos
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Group Work

• Look at the student and discuss the following..
• What interventions would you propose?
• What resources would you recommend?
• Which of the organize, communicate, and
  coordinate tools might be useful for working with
  this student?
• What changes in the situation might warrant
  different tools?
• Tools
• Student Lists
• Logging Contacts
• Private Notes
• Shared Notes
• Yellow Alerts
• Red Alerts

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Best Assessment PracticesSharing Information
with Students
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Assessment and Students

• Good Assessment impacts students lives by
  improving programs
• Great Assessment provides valuable information
  directly to students so that they can improve
  their lives

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Student Reporting

• What is it?
• Students receive their own individualized report
• Why?
• To help students realign expectations of what it
  will take to succeed in college
• To allow them to see comparisons with their peers
• To connect them with campus resources

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Making the Point Messages are reinforced with
student quotes and summary conclusions.
Expectations Helping students establish more
realistic expectations about what it takes to
successfully transition to college.
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Reality Check Study skills and study time not
likely to produce desired grades.
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Social Norming Student self evaluations are
calibrated with their peers to identify strengths
and weaknesses.
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Links to Campus Resources Campus specific
resource links allow your students to reach in
and exploit all your campus has to offer.
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Sophomore Transition Survey

• What is it?
• MAP-Works for sophomore students
• Similar survey
• Additional questions about academic major, career
  plans, etc.
• Same system and reporting

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Concluding thoughts

• The focus is students all students.
• MAP-Works is a powerful tool that can be used to
  support student success.
• Faculty and staff are critical.
• MAP-Works is evolving.
• Many of this years enhancements are a result of
  user feedback.
• You will have an opportunity to provide feedback
  for improvements.

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Q AThank you.

• Sherry Woosley, Ph.D.
• Associate Director of Institutional Effectiveness
  Adjunct Professor of Sociology, Ball State
  University
• Darlena Jones, Ph.D.
• Director of Research and Development, Educational
  Benchmarking
• www.webebi.com or www.MAP-Works.com