Making Learning Count in Minnesota Through PLA

(1)

Making Learning Count in Minnesota

Through PLA

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1. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) Overview

2. Review of Fueling the Race Research

3. Introduce Learning Counts.org

4. Spotlight several state-wide initiatives that are addressing PLA within their states

5. Get moving!

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

The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning



A 501(c)3 non-profit organization



38 years of lifelong learning and workforce

development experience



Nationally recognized as the expert in Prior

Learning Assessment

www.cael.org

Meaningful learning, credentials and work for every adult 3

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Supporting the Adult Learner

Colleges & universities Employers Labor unions Government, community and philanthropic entities Public Policymakers 4

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MN Jobs by Education Level

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Education 2008 Jobs 2018 Jobs Difference

<High School 185,000 189,000 _{4,000 (2%)}

High School 759,000 782,000 _{24,000 (3%)}

Post Secondary 1,987,000 2,139,000 _{152,000 (8%)}

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce “The Undereducated American” Minnesota State Breakdown

http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/minnesota.pdf

69% of MN jobs in 2018 will require postsecondary education

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Goals

 Montana’s Goal for College Attainment in 2025: 60%

 Current National average is 38.3%

Minnesota

 Projected college attainment

rate in 2025: 55.4%

 Projected college attainment

gap for 2025: 4.6%

 Current % of MN adults with

college degrees: 45.79%  Number of Degrees Needed

to Meet Workforce in 2025:

140,631

 Rank among states in

College Attainment: 5th

Minnesota: The Future is Now

(7)



Projected Education gap for 2025:

4.6%



Number of additional degrees required to

meet workforce needs in 2025:

140,631



Percentage of MN jobs requiring

a college credential by 2018:

70%

 7 Percentage Points above the National

Average of 63%

What Minnesota Needs

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Sources: “A Stronger Nation through Higher Education” Minnesota State Breakdown. Lumina Foundation (2012). http://www.luminafoundation.org/state/minnesota/

“The Undereducated American” Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce Minnesota State Breakdown http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/minnesota.pdf

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Status of MN

0 50 100 2008 ₂₀₀₉ 2010 45.1 _45.2 45.8 Percent

Percentage of Minnesota’s Working Age Population with At Least an Associates Degree:

Source: “A Stronger Nation through Higher Education” Minnesota State Breakdown. Lumina Foundation (2012). http://www.luminafoundation.org/state/minnesota/

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The County Picture

Aitkin 27.75 Anoka 39.73 Becker 35.24

Beltrami 41.1 Benton 34.66 Big Stone 32.75

Blue Earth 43.68 Brown 31.27 Carlton 36.49

Carver 56.36 Cass 31.2 Chippewa 33.11

Chisago 30.4 Clay 48.15 Clearwater 28.88

Cook 38.25 Cottonwood 29.42 Crow Wing 37.99

Dakota 51.7 Dodge 37.52 Douglas 41.46

Faribault 30.55 Fillmore 35.07 Freeborn 28.65

Goodhue 38.88 Grant 37.3 Hennepin 55.21

Houston 41.79 Hubbard 37.25 Isanti 27.9

Itasca 36.55 Jackson 37.45 Kanabec 25.28

Kandiyohi 37.78 Kittson 35 Koochiching 27.88

Lac qui Parle 35.8 Lake 33.08 Lake of the _Woods 27.85

Le Sueur 33.36 Lincoln 34.62 Lyon 40.59

McLeod 35.75 Mahnomen 26.77 Marshall 33.89

Martin 32.35 Meeker 30.86 Mille Lacs 27.03

Percentage of Minnesota adults (25-64) with a two- or four-year degree by county:

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Education Pays

10 <High School High School Some College Bachelor's Graduate+ 19598 29201 34514 48777 65331

MN Median Income for Persons 25+ by Educational Attainment

Source: US Census American Community Survey 2011 Estimates

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtm l?pid=ACS_11_1YR_S1501&prodType=table

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Education Pays

11 26.6 11.1 8.5 3.4 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 <High School

High School Some College

Bachelor's+ MN Poverty Rate for Population 25+ by

Educational Attainment

Percent of Pop. 25-64

Source: US Census American Community Survey 2011 Estimates

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?p id=ACS_11_1YR_S1501&prodType=table

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“The Talent Dividend”

CEO’s for Cities calculates a staggering economic

benefit for every 1% growth in degree completion.

http://www.ceosforcities.org/city-dividends/talent/prize/

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

In 2010, 669,136 Minnesota adults

had some college but no degree.



They represented 24%, almost a

quarter, of the state’s adult

population

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Where to Focus?

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Prior Learning Assessment

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P

rior

L

earning

A

ssessment

is a process for evaluating knowledge and skills in order to award college credit for learning from:

On-the-job learning

Corporate training

Independent

study Military _service Volunteer _service

What is PLA?

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PLA Takes Many Forms

Transfer credit

ACE recommended credit

Standardized tests

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

Quality Assurance Principles

Source:

Assessing Learning: Standards,

Principles, & Procedures

, by Fiddler,

Marienau &Whitaker. CAEL: 2006

Ensuring Quality

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5 Academic Standards

1. Credit or its equivalent should be awarded only for learning, and not for experience.

2. Assessment should be based on standards and criteria for

the level of acceptable learning that are both agreed upon and made public.

3. Assessment should be treated as an integral part of learning,

not separate from it, and should be based on an understanding of learning processes.

4. The determination of credit awards and competence levels must be made by appropriate subject matter and academic or credentialing experts.

5. Credit or other credentialing should be appropriate to the

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5 Administrative Standards

1. If awards are for credit, transcript entries should clearly describe what learning is being recognized and should be monitored to avoid giving credit twice for the same learning.

2. Policies, procedures, and criteria applied to assessment, including provision for appeal, should be fully disclosed and prominently available to all parties involved in the assessment process.

3. Fees charged for assessment should be based on the services

performed in the process and not determined by the amount of credit awarded.

4. All personnel involved in the assessment of learning should pursue and receive adequate training and continuing professional

development for the functions they perform.

5. Assessment programs should be regularly monitored, reviewed, evaluated, and revised as needed to reflect changes in the needs being served, the purposes being met, and the state of the

assessment arts.

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

Fueling the Race to

Postsecondary Success



2010



48 higher education institutions



60,000 student records



Complete study:

http://www.cael.org/pdfs/PLA_Fueling-the-Race

PLA Research

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Graduation

rates are 2 ½

times higher

for students

with PLA credit

Fueling the Race to Postsecondary Success, March 2010

PLA helps students graduate

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Ways We Measured Persistence

• Credit accumulation towards an

associate’s or bachelor’s degree

• Number of years in which the student

earned credit between 2001-2002 and

2007-2008

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Credit Accumulation,

No Degree-Earners

23 28% 12% 16% 13% 9% 22% 1% 2% 7% 16% 18% 56% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Earned fewer than 10% of

credits for degree Earned 10-19% of credits needed Earned 20-39% of credits needed Earned 40-59% of credits needed Earned 60-79% of credits needed Earned 80% or more of credits needed

Did not earn PLA credit (n=23,101) Did earn PLA credit (n=1,800)

28% 12% 16% 13% 9% 22% 1% 2% 7% 16% 18% 56% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Earned fewer than 10% of credits for degree Earned 10-19% of credits needed Earned 20-39% of credits needed Earned 40-59% of credits needed Earned 60-79% of credits needed Earned 80% or more of credits needed

Did not earn PLA credit (n=23,101)

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Persistence –

Consecutive Credit-Earning Years

24 56% 18% 11% 7% 4% 4% 21% 29% 23% 14% 7% 6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years 6 Years

Did not earn PLA credit (n=41,469)

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Time Saver: Time to Degree

25 39.7 37.2 36.1 33.1 34.5 35.8 29.6 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 No PLA Credit (n=5,342) 1-6 PLA credits (n=860) 7-12 PLA credits (n=782) 13-24 PLA credits (n=1,170) 25-36 PLA credits (n=668) 37-48 PLA credits (n=161) 49 or more PLA credits (n=219) M ont hs t o B a c he lor 's D e gr e e

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Money Saver

An adult student who

earns 15 credits

from PLA applied

to a degree saves $1,605

to $6,000 on tuition costs.

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Need for More PLA

 In a 2010 CAEL survey, two-year institutions

reported that PLA options were not promoted or advocated by advisors or faculty or were simply not broad enough in scope to meet the needs of students.

 91% of the respondents believe that students

come to their institutions with technical training that has been learned on the job – technical

training that could be assessed for college-level credit.

 72% of the respondents think they will be

seeing increased demand for PLA in the future.

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www.learningcounts.org

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1. One-Stop shop for PLA

2. Free academic advising

3. Individualized portfolio

development and assessment

 Faculty expert network to review learning portfolios 4. Credit recommendations on an

ACE transcript or on the

institution’s own transcript if a Partner Plus

Why LearningCounts.org

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A “System” Approach



Tennessee



Pennsylvania



Washington



Indiana



Colorado



Oregon



Vermont



Minnesota

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Creating Incentives for Transformational Change

 Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC)  Builds on the Complete College

Tennessee Act of 2010

 Robust taskforce with all the

stakeholders at the table

 Rolling up their sleeves

 Student services

 Institutional policies

 THEC PLA web site

 Faculty training

 Workforce staff training

Tennessee: Case Study

(32)

Transforming to a Culture that Respects Prior

Learning of Adult Students

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Pennsylvania State System of

Higher Education (PASSHE)

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Student services training focused

on returning adults for all campuses



Leveraging the capacity of

Learning Counts.org

Pennsylvania: Case Study

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

Veteran legislation



MNSCU policies and procedures

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

Requires MN institutions to award

educational credits for courses that

were part of a veteran’s military

training or service if the courses

meet



American Council on Education or



Equivalent standards for awarding

academic credits.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=197.775

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Subdivision 2 of Statute 197.775:

Higher Education Fairness

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Requires colleges and universities to

 provide opportunities for students to

demonstrate college-level learning gained in non-credit or experiential settings

 develop or update institutional policy in

accordance with system policy

 comply with Statute 197.775, Higher Education

Fairness, and

 disseminate information about prior learning

assessment opportunities to students

.

http://www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/3-35.pdf http://www.mnscu.edu/board/policy/335.html

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 May award credit earned by means other than

actually taking a course at the institution,

including challenge exams, CLEP or AP tests, DANTES or International Baccalaureate.

 May note credit either in the term when it was

earned or in the transfer section. If placed in the term section, the type of special credit must be noted in parentheses immediately below the course.

http://www.mnscu.edu/board/procedure/329p1.html

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Procedure 3.29.1 College and University

Transcripts

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 Transfer policies

 Transcripting policies

 Faculty and department policies  Training

 Intra-institutional transfer and articulation  Implications for student services

 Implications for external professional

certification

 Do students know about PLA?  Do employers know about PLA?  How do you track PLA?

“Get Real”

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1. Investigate – the status of PLA in your state

2. Benchmark – what’s happening in

other states?

3. Convene – state stakeholders

4. Create – a PLA task force with clear

goals

5. Expect – a comprehensive, consistent

state PLA policy

6. Communicate – to current and

prospective students, to workforce boards and to employers

7. Monitor – require regular PLA reports

To Implement PLA in Your State

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PLA Research at Your

Institution



Data tracking basics



Understanding usage throughout

the institution



Measuring the impact of PLA



Student



Institution

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PLA Research: Data Tracking

Basics

Key Question: Do you track PLA credit-earning in your student data systems?

 Are credits earned through PLA coded differently?

 Does your system differentiate the different types of PLA

credit

 ACE credit recommendations and other

evaluations of external/military training?

 Portfolio assessment?

 Standardized exams ?  Challenge exams?

Application:

Having these systems in place will allow you to:

 Understand how PLA is used in your institution

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PLA Research: Usage at Your

Institution

Key Questions:

 Who is using PLA at your institution? (student demographics:

age, race/ethnicity, military/veteran status)

 What are the usage patterns in terms of # of PLA credits earned

by students in various departments/disciplines? Are these

patterns due to specific PLA policies for those departments? Or is something else going on?

Application:

This information can help you:

 Develop PLA offerings program for students throughout the

institution

 With student recruitment efforts

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Measuring the Impact of PLA

Step 1: Clearly define research questions

that are of appropriate scope

Examples:

 Do students earning credit through PLA:

 Have better completion rates (long term)?  Have better persistence (short term)?

 Take less time to earn their degrees/certificates?  Save money?

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Measuring the Impact of PLA

Step 2: Recognize the “noise” and control

for it when you can

Possible confounding factors:

 Other retention initiatives at your institution

 Previous educational history: high school performance,

previous higher education performance

 Student characteristics: level of motivation/drive, level of

engagement with the institution, writing ability, social support system, financial status, socio-economic