reaffirmation of accreditation and quality improvement as a journey a case study

REAFFIRMATION OF ACCREDITATION AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AS A JOURNEY: A CASE STUDY by PHUONG THI THANH NGUYEN, B.A., B.S., M.A. A DISSERTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved Brent D. Cejda Co-Chairperson of the Committee James E. Brink Co-Chairperson of the Committee Bonita K. Butner Lee S. Duemer Accepted John Borrelli Dean of the Graduate School December, 2005 Copyright © 2005, Phuong Thi Thanh Nguyen ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I could not have completed this dissertation without the enormous help and influence of many others. I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Cejda for the outstanding guidance and support that he provided to me throughout my doctoral program as the advisor and chair of my dissertation committee. I am also very appreciative of the analytical comments and excellent assistance received from the other committee members, Dr. Brink, who served as co-chair, Dr. Butner, and Dr. Duemer. This research study would not have been possible without the participants and I sincerely thank each one of them. I am particularly appreciative of the dedication, guidance, and assistance of the Accreditation Liaison at the case study institution. I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to Diane for her unwaivering mentoring and support. My most sincere appreciation also goes to Lee for her wonderful help and encouragement. It was Diane and Lee who read numerous drafts, provided suggestions, and reminded me to take a break. I would like to send my very special thanks to Dr. Reckner, Mr. Le Cong Khanh, Steve, and all my other friends at the Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Vietnam Archive for sponsoring and facilitating my job as a graduate assistant throughout the years of my studies. I greatly appreciate the leadership, Office of Administration and Personnel, Office of International Relations and Research Affairs, Office of Graduate Studies, Department of Education, professors, and colleagues at University of Social Sciences and Humanities iii - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for their support, encouragement, and trust. Especially noteworthy are the late Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Tai and his family. I would like to convey my sincere appreciation to the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia that generously provided me with a Faculty Development Grant for three academic years. I am also deeply grateful to the scholarship donors from the Texas Tech University College of Education, including the Rushing Endowment Scholarship, the Gordon C. Lee Memorial Scholarship, and the Berlie J. and Laine Fallon Memorial Scholarship. Many others at Texas Tech University were instrumental in my progress, including Dr. Reeve, Dr. Elbow, and Dr. Marshall. I am thankful for all of the administrators, professors, and staff of the Texas Tech University College of Education for their instructions, dedication, encouragement, and help. I am deeply grateful for Alice who generously read and edited this dissertation, as well as raised insightful comments and questions. My sincere thanks also go to Jim at the International Cultural Center and Becky at the Graduate School for their professionalism and helpfulness. Librarians at Texas Tech University were extremely helpful for which I am very grateful. I am thankful to many friends from far and near who have supported me by way of expressions of confidence, concern, hope, and encouragement along the way. Finally and most importantly, I am grateful to my parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews, who have supported me from the beginning. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT xv LIST OF TABLES xviii LIST OF FIGURES xix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xx CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Study 1 What Is Accreditation? 1 How Is U.S. Accreditation Structured? 2 SACS-COC and the New Principles of Accreditation 6 Summary 9 Purpose of the Study 10 Statement of the Problem 11 Significance of the Study 12 The Research Design 13 Research Questions 13 Conceptual Framework 14 Theoretical Framework 14 How Open Systems Theory Was Started 15 How Open Systems Theory Was Developed and Used 16 Organizational Open Systems Theory 16 v Summary 21 Delimitations 22 Limitations 22 Assumptions 23 Definition of Terms 24 Chapter Conclusions 27 II. LITERATURE REVIEW 29 Summary of Research Studies on Institutional Accreditation in Higher Education 29 Historical Overview of Accreditation 37 The Beginning of Accreditation 38 The Evolution of Accreditation 38 Development of the Accreditation Process 38 Five Problems Affecting the Development of Accreditation 41 Effect of the Assessment Movement on Accreditation 48 Public Concern About Student Learning Outcomes 48 Challenges Facing Assessment 48 The Relationship Between Assessment and Accreditation 51 Effect of Institutional Effectiveness on the Self-Study Process 52 Summary 55 Institutional Self-Study Process 56 Views of Accreditation and the Self-Study Process 57 Summary 60 Institutional Self-Study Process 60 vi Phase One: Prepare and Design the Process 62 Preparing the Process 62 Designing the Process 62 Factors Contributing to a Successful Self-Study Process 66 Adequate Level of Technical Expertise 67 Understanding of Externally Mandated Accreditation Criteria 68 Summary 71 Phase Two: Organize the Study Process 71 Tasks Following the Design and Plan 71 Self-Study Director/Coordinator 72 Steering Group 73 Workload and Teamwork 74 Selecting Team Members 75 Importance of Faculty Involvement 77 Training the Team Members 78 Summary 79 Phase Three: Conduct the Self-Study Process 79 Tasks and Types of Work 80 Importance of Documentation 80 Tools for Data Collection 83 Challenges During the Process 83 Summary 83 Phase Four: Discuss Results and Prepare Reports 84 vii Discussing and Preparing Reports 84 Special Forms of Self-Study Report 87 Summary 88 Phase Five: Host External Peer Visitors 88 Peer Review 88 External Visitors 91 Summary 92 Phase Six: Make Decisions and Evaluate the Self-Study Process 92 Making Decisions 92 Evaluating the Self-Study Process 96 Summary 96 Conclusion 97 Institutional Effectiveness in Relation to Self-Study 97 What Is Institutional Effectiveness? 98 Major Components of Institutional Effectiveness 101 Planning and Evaluation 101 Institutional Research 104 Institutional Effectiveness Paradigm 105 Summary 108 How Is Institutional Effectiveness Related to Self-Study 109 Pre-Self-Study 109 Post-Self-Study 114 Summary 119 viii Conclusion 119 Open Systems Theory 120 Conclusion 123 Chapter Conclusions 123 III. METHODOLOGY 127 Research Design 127 Qualitative Research 127 Strengths 128 Weaknesses 129 Case Study Method 129 Strengths 134 Weaknesses 135 Restatement of the Problem 136 Delimitation and Selection of the Case 136 Instrumentation and Materials 137 Instrumentation 137 Materials 139 Answering the Research Questions 140 Procedures for Data Collection 142 Data Sources and Collection Techniques 142 Documents 143 Interviews 144 Observations 146 Audiovisual Materials 147 ix Case Study Data Collection 147 Differences Between the SACS-COC Former and New Reaffirmation Approaches 148 Development and Implementation of Internal Review Processes at USSU 149 Fieldwork Trip to USSU 151 Interviews 153 Observation and Collection of Documents and Audiovisual Materials 156 Data Management 158 Ethical Considerations 159 Bias 161 Procedure for Data Analysis 162 Data Analysis 163 Constant Comparative Method 163 Analytical Procedure 165 Validity, Transferability, and Reliability 168 Internal Validity 168 External Validity, Transferability, or Fittingness 170 Reliability 171 Chapter Conclusions 172 IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 174 Introduction to the Chapter Structure 174 Response to Research Question 1 176 Overview of the Principles of Accreditation 176 [...]... Colleges (SACS-COC), and (d) What are the SACS-COC new Principles of Accreditation? What Is Accreditation? Accreditation in the United States began in 1787 with one agency (Harcleroad, 1980) and has grown to over 85 recognized national, regional, and specialized accreditors as of April 2005 (Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 200 5a) Accreditation is the primary means to assure the quality of higher... Association of Colleges and Schools N /A Not applicable NASC The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges NCACS The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools NCATE The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education NCHEMS The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems NEASC The New England Association of Schools and Colleges NSSE National Survey of Student Engagement... 2001 A more detailed analysis of the Principles as well as commonalities and differences between the former Criteria and the Principles are discussed in chapter 4 (pages 176 to 203) Summary Since its beginning in 1787, accreditation has been constantly evolving It has been used as a primary means for quality assurance, accountability, and quality improvement of higher education institutions Accreditation. .. (NASC), and (e) the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) (Bloland, 2001) Regional accrediting bodies require institutional accreditation for membership in the association Institutional accreditation has two fundamental purposes: (a) to certify the quality of the educational institution and (b) to assist in the improvement of the institution (Miles, 1992) Overall, institutional accreditation. .. observations, documents, and archival materials were gathered; and follow-up correspondence that increased the validity, reliability, and utility of the research study The data analysis strategy used in this research study was the constant comparative method and the theoretical framework was open systems theory Because the Principles of Accreditation were new, this research study addressed two fundamental... considerable discussion,’ they had organized the Association of Colleges and Preparatory Schools of the Southern States (ACPSSS) [later to be called SACS] (SACS, 1998, p 2) SACS is a private, nonprofit, voluntary regional accrediting body for 11 southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia as well as some... 2003; Neno (as cited in Bollag, 2005); Nguyen, 2003) There are six regional accrediting agencies: (a) the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), (b) the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSACS), (c) the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), (d) the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCACS), (d) the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges... information about study participants is provided in Appendix A and an explanation of the other related research appears in Table 2 of chapter 4 (page 176) SACS-COC and the New Principles of Accreditation At 10:30 in the morning of November 6, 1895, a group of Southern educators gathered in the chapel of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia By the end of their meeting and ‘after considerable... Nonnumerical Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing) OIR Office of Institutional Research xx PR Preliminary Interviews QEP The Quality Enhancement Plan RI Research Internship SACS The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools SACS-CASI The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools - Council on Accreditation and School Improvement SACS-COC The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools... specialized accreditation Institutional accreditation focuses on the institution as a whole, both its organization and programs (Bell, 1983; Bemis, 1983) Specialized accreditation involves program or school evaluation based on specific standards related to performance skills (Glidden, 1983; Young, 198 3a) Although institutional and specialized accreditations are different, these two types of accreditation . without the participants and I sincerely thank each one of them. I am particularly appreciative of the dedication, guidance, and assistance of the Accreditation Liaison at the case study institution REAFFIRMATION OF ACCREDITATION AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AS A JOURNEY: A CASE STUDY by PHUONG THI THANH NGUYEN, B .A. , B.S., M .A. A DISSERTATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION. Administration and Personnel, Office of International Relations and Research Affairs, Office of Graduate Studies, Department of Education, professors, and colleagues at University of Social Sciences and