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The Quality Scorecard for the Administration of Online Education
Programs: Measuring and Quantifying the Quality Online Programs
Bruce N. Chaloux
USG Adult Learning Consortium Summer Institute
June 6, 2013
About the Sloan Consortium
• Sloan-C is a non-profit professional society/membership organization for both institutions and individuals
• Sloan-C provides professional development to higher education professionals, hosts conferences, publishes materials, conducts research and delivers online workshops.
• We operate on membership fees, workshop and conference surpluses, research fees and publication income
Elements of Quality The Sloan-C Pillars
2012 Annual Report
Changing Course: Ten Years Of Tracking Online Education in the United States
I. Elaine Allen Jeff Seaman
Online Growth Continues Unabated!
0
2,500,000
5,000,000
7,500,000
10,000,000
12,500,000
15,000,000
17,500,000
20,000,000
22,500,000
Fall 2002 Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 2011
Total and Online Enrollment in Degree-granting Postsecondary Institutions: Fall 2002 - Fall 2011
Overall
Online
Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States
Is Online Critical to Your Strategy?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Fall 2002 Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007 Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 2011 Fall 2012
Online Education is Critical to the Long-term Strategy of my Institution – Fall 2002 to Fall 2012
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States
Increasing Number of Degree Programs
Online Courses and full programs
Online Courses Only
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
100%
Under 1500 1500 - 2999 3000 - 7499 7500 - 14999 15000+
Online Courses and full programs
Online Courses Only
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Under 1500 1500 - 2999 3000 - 7499 7500 - 14999 15000+
2002
2012
Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States
But Still Concerns About Quality
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
2003 2004 2006 2009 2010 2011 2012
Proportion Reporting Learning Outcomes in Online Education as Inferior Compared to Face-to-face: 2003 - 2012
Somewhat inferior
Inferior
Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States
The Quality Scorecard
• Measuring and quantifying elements of quality within online programs
• Currently 70 Quality Indicators across nine major categories
• Includes • Detailed description/discussion of each
variable • Recommendations for achieving success • Related literature on major topics
The Need For The Scorecard
• Help institutions assess the quality of their online programming and overall institutional efforts
• Create a useful tool for evaluation, benchmarking, and strategic planning.
• Support accreditation and authorization requirements
• Tool that can be institutionally administered • Research-based and thus replicable
Value of the Quality Scorecard
• Self-study in quality • Could be reviewed by accrediting agencies and ministries
of education
• Strategic planning • Continuous improvement strategies
• Benchmarking
Categories
• Institutional Support (4) • Governance, policies, strategic value
• Technology Support (6) • Technology systems, plans, training
• Course Development and Instructional Design (12) • Course standards, instructional strategies, pedagogy, evaluation
• Course Structure (8) • Access to services, tech support, tools,
Categories
• Teaching and Learning (5) • Student interaction with faculty, feedback mechanisms
• Social and Student Engagement (1) • Student to student interaction
• Faculty Support (6) • Technical assistance, professional development, training and
workshops
• Student Support (17) • Access to services, tech support, student-centered
focus
Categories
• Evaluation and Assessment (11) • Ongoing evaluation against established standards, course retention
and success rates, compliance with accessibility standards, assessment of faculty performance, access to services, tech support, student-centered focus
Guidelines for Scoring
• 3 points = Meets Criteria Completely. The administrator has found that the quality standard is being fully implemented and there is no need for improvement in this area.
• 2 points = Moderate Use. The administrator has found there to be moderate use of the quality standard. Some improvement is still needed in this area.
• 1 point = Insufficiently Observed. The administrator has found a slight existence of the quality standard in place. Much improvement is still needed in this area.
• 0 points = Not Observed. The administrator does not observe any indications of the quality standard in place.
Guidelines for Scoring
• A perfect score = 210 points. • 90-99% = 189-209 - Exemplary (little improvement is
needed) • 80-89% = 168-188 - Acceptable (some improvement is
recommended) • 70-79% = 147-167 - Marginal (significant
improvement is needed in multiple areas) • 60-69% = 126-146 - Inadequate (many areas of
improvement are needed throughout the program) • 59% and below = 125 pts and below - Unacceptable
2. Policies and guidelines are in place to authenticate that students enrolled in online courses and receiving college credit are indeed those completing the course work.
Regarding student authentication and online education programs, the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) mandates the following requirement: An institution that offers distance education or correspondence education to have processes through which the institution establishes that the student who registers in a distance education or correspondence education course or program is the same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit.
In May 2009, the Negotiated Rule Making Committee on Accreditation clarified the requirement by instructing regional accreditors to require that institutions that have distance education programs have processes in place for student authentication. The accrediting agency is in compliance if it: 1. Requires institutions to verify the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework by using, at the option of the institution, methods such as (a) A secure login and pass code; (b) Proctored examinations; and (c) New or other identification technologies that are effective in verifying student identification; 2. Makes clear in writing that institutions must use processes that protect student privacy and notify students of any projected additional charges associated with the verification of student identity at the time of registration or enrollment. (20 U.S.C. 1099b). Authentication is analogous to taking attendance in a face-to-face course. The sophistication with which students are authenticated is largely a function of the effort of the instructor and institution.
Recommendations
• Employ a secure student login and password process for students to access online course materials, student information, financial aid processing, and so on.
• Put in place a proctoring system for student examinations that can include the use of webcams while students are completing examinations.”
• Authenticate students upon login; for example, students log into their course materials with a fingerprint scan.
Quality Scorecard
• The scorecard is free to use.
• Free to share/review, the link • http://tinyurl.com/qualitysc
• Handbook available for download for individual or institutional members
• Interactive scorecard tool also available for institutional members
Interactive Scorecard
• Available on the Sloan-C website • Must have an institutional membership
to utilize the interactive version which includes: • Artifacts for support • Justification notes • Comparative results
Quality Certification
• Provide an external review, assessment and scoring of institutional reviews
• In-depth process of documenting findings/scores
• Done online or by institutional visit • Leads to Certificate of Quality issued
by Sloan C
Expanding the Scorecard
• Strategy to create ‘versions’ of the QS for use outside the US
• Integrate country-specific requirements, usually from ministries
• Translated and currently developing the QS for use in Latin America with an existing process (CALED)
• Emerging Project in the Middle East
Value to the Adult Learning Community
• With the increasing emphasis on online strategies to reach adult population, the Scorecard can help • Assess quality of existing programs • Help guide development of new programs
• Certification can be a ‘differentiator’ for institutions and programs as more institutions enter the market
Thank you for the invitation and opportunity to discuss Sloan C and our
quality assurance process.
Applaud USG’s continuing efforts for adults…you are making a difference!
Bruce N. Chaloux, Ph.D. Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer
