Test-Optional Admission at a Liberal Arts College: A Founding Mission Affirmed

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN SHANLEY
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
Standardized Test Scores ◽  
Student Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
The Impact

In this essay, Father Brian J. Shanley discusses Providence College's pilot program to eliminate standardized test scores from the required components of an admission application. Building on the college's ninety-year history of opening the doors of higher education to underrepresented populations, Providence College's test-optional policy is designed to ensure that students with strong academic preparation are not excluded from matriculating because of poor test performance. Shanley provides insight into the college's process of holistic application review and the institution's plan to study the impact of its new policy on the makeup and success of its student body.

Transitioning to Blended Learning: Understanding Student and Faculty Perceptions

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanette P. Napier ◽  
Sonal Dekhane ◽  
Stella Smith
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Final Exam ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Faculty Teaching ◽  
Face To Face Instruction ◽  
The Impact

This paper describes the conversion of an introductory computing course to the blended learning model at a small, public liberal arts college. Blended learning significantly reduces face-to-face instruction by incorporating rich, online learning experiences. To assess the impact of blended learning on students, survey data was collected at the midpoint and end of semester, and student performance on the final exam was compared in traditional and blended learning sections. To capture faculty perspectives on teaching blended learning courses, written reflections and discussions from faculty teaching blended learning sections were analyzed. Results indicate that student performance in the traditional and blended learning sections of the course were comparable and that students reported high levels of interaction with their instructor. Faculty teaching the course share insights on transitioning to the blended learning format.

Beyond Standardized Test Scores: The Impact of a Public School Closure on House Prices

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Rosburg ◽  
Hans Isakson ◽  
Mark Ecker ◽  
Tim Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Public School ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
House Prices ◽  
School Closure ◽  
Standardized Test Scores ◽  
The Impact

Peer reference assistants in a small liberal arts college: case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasia Gonnerman ◽  
Ken Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mentorship Program ◽  
Reference Services ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Student Assistants

Purpose The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how to create and sustain a successful mentoring program for reference student assistants in the liberal arts environment. The study delineates student training, program assessment and the impact on reference practice in a way that can be used at other institutions considering implementing a similar initiative. Design/methodology/approach This case study is written by professionals who have been deeply engaged in initiating, running and assessing the program. It presents the value of the program in an unbiased and objective manner by including the voices of the student mentees themselves reflecting on the experience. Findings The mentorship program has proven to be worthwhile and rewarding in equal measures to both the mentees and reference librarians working with our future successors. It serves an important role in inspiring and encouraging library student workers to become interested in academic librarianship as a career choice and it prepares them to be successful students in library and information science graduate programs. Originality/value Although the discussion of training reference student assistants per se is not rare in the library literature, this particular program is unique in several ways: its main intent is to mentor students who are interested in pursuing librarianship as a career goal; it occurs in the context of a liberal arts college rather than in a larger university setting, especially those offering degrees in information and library science; and it empowers students to provide in-depth independent reference services for their peers and faculty.

The Impact of Adolescent Sexual Victimization: Standardized Measures of Anxiety, Depression, and Behavioral Deviancy

1989 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine A. Gidycz ◽  
Mary P. Koss
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Victimization ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Depression Score ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Jesness Inventory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Anxiety Depression ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sexually Victimized

Standardized measures of depression, anxiety, and behavioral deviancy were administered to a nonclinical sample of 67 high school girls (M age = 16.3; SD = 1.28). In addition, an adolescent version of the Sexual Experiences Survey was administered to assess the history of peer sexual victimization. In this sample, 55.0% of the girls had experienced at least one sexual victimization, including 7.5% of them who had experienced completed forcible rape. Data were analyzed via multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression. Sexually victimized girls scored significantly higher than nonvictimized girls on the Trait Anxiety Index and the Beck Depression Inventory, but not on the Antisocial Index of the Jesness Inventory. The extent of victimization contributed significantly to the prediction of both the depression score and the anxiety score. The clinical significance of the reported symptoms is discussed. Although the study was not based on a probability sample, the prevalence of rape was consistent with existing literature. Because the sample was limited to girls who have remained involved in social systems, the measured symptoms probably are a conservative estimate of retrospectively measured postassault standardized test scores among sexually victimized adolescents.

scholarly journals What are they talking about when they talk about equity? A content analysis of equity principles and provisions in state Every Student Succeeds Act plans

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 158
Author(s):  
Yiting Chu
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
State Level ◽  
Equity In Education ◽  
State Educational ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act ◽  
The Impact

Despite numerous education reform efforts, disparities between more privileged students and students from marginalized and minoritized groups still persist in U.S. education. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) passed in 2015 indicates greater commitment of the federal government to advancing equity in education and gives state educational agencies more autonomy and flexibility in policy making. This article analyzes the content of 52 approved state ESSA plans to examine how the concept of equity in education is defined and applied in state-level ESSA policies and provisions. Results of a qualitative content analysis reveal that all but four state ESSA plans adopt a stance on equity centered on equitable access to educational resources—including funding and effective educators —and less than half state plans attend to equity in outcomes. Most of the state plans do not include a clear definition of what they mean by “equity”. In addition, the accountability systems used to evaluate the impact of equity policies in the plans are predominantly outcome-oriented using student standardized test performance as the key indicator. Incoherent policy principles, coupled with the market-oriented, standards-based policy solutions, may exacerbate the structural inequities facing schools and students that these policies aim to ameliorate. Implications for education policy and research are discussed.

scholarly journals The Impact of a Technology Ban on Students’ Perceptions and Performance in Introduction to Psychology

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Hutcheon ◽  
Aileen Lian ◽  
Anna Richard
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
The Other ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
Personal Technology ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Grade Performance ◽  
The Impact

To test the impact of the implementation of technology bans on students’ experience within a course, we collected data from four sections of Introduction to Psychology at a small liberal arts college in the northeast. In two sections, students were banned from using personal technology devices during lecture. In the other two sections, students were permitted to use personal technology devices freely during lecture. We found a significant reduction in student engagement but not in reported interest in psychology or perceived professor–student rapport for students in the technology-ban condition relative to students in the technology-permitted condition. In contrast to previous studies, we found no difference in final grade performance across condition. Although further research is needed, these results suggest that instructors should consider the composition of students in their course prior to implementing a technology ban in the classroom.

Battle Battle: Engaging Diversity in the American Liberal Arts College

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-112
Author(s):  
Joyce Lu
Keyword(s):  
Production Process ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Racial Formation ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
White Hegemony

Battle Battle: Engaging Diversity in the American Liberal Arts College examines the production of an Asian American hip-hop musical, directed by the author, at a private liberal arts college in the US. This article demonstrates how the production process was determined by the complex history of racial formation and relations in America. Those who were extremely attached to standardized Eurocentric practices of control in education could only read this complexity as disorder and found the process to be out of control or anarchic. The author claims, however, that the process was necessarily anarchic insofar as the production was undertaken as a decolonizing project; an attempt to undermine structures of domination and employ an ethical and democratic way of working that directly conflicted with the violent constraints of White hegemony that are present in elite educational institutions.

scholarly journals Safety in the Classroom: Safeguarding Liberal Arts Education from the Neo-Liberal Threat

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-48
Author(s):  
Arielle Dylan
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Arts Education ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Liberal Arts Education ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Relations Of Power ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Elusive Concept ◽  
Independent Thought

This article examines the elusive concept of safety in liberal arts classrooms which are often contoured by a plurality of social, cultural, political, psychological, historical, and discursive forces and performances. Using select principles from adult education and social work with groups as an organizing metaphor, the article discusses the classroom as a large group, the changing student body, and, especially, the impact of diversity and inclusivity in liberal arts settings. Because the aim of liberal arts education is usually to promote independent and critical thinking, open-mindedness, and greater communication and decision-making skills, its goals foster, to a great degree, citizen engagement that empowers persons to participate in collective actions toward greater equality and justice in communities both locally and globally. Classroom safety is essential to these aims because it increases opportunity for free, critical, and independent thought necessary for progressive, egalitarian, and justice pursuits. The article explores safety, including dialogic practices and reflection on relations of power within the classroom, for its significant role in fulfilling liberal arts aspirations.  

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