11. Student Learning and Student Achievement:
The institution defines standards for student achievement and assesses its performance against those standards. The institution publishes for each program the program’s expected student learning and any program-specific achievement outcomes. Through regular and systematic assessment, it demonstrates that students who complete programs, no matter where or how they are offered, achieve the identified outcomes and that the standards for student achievement are met. (Standard I.B.2, I.B.3, and II.A.1)

The American Samoa Community College (ASCC) has defined institutional-set achievement standards. Student achievement standards provide measurements to determine the amount of academic content a student learns in a determined amount of time. The College’s defined standards and data are used as a basis to focus institutional dialogue on improving student learning and achievement through assessment practices. Standards for the ASCC’s institutional-set standards are as follows:

• Developmental Courses: The successful Completion of highest developmental English and Math Courses which transition students into college readiness;
• Gateway Courses: The successful completion of college level English and Math Courses as required by all degrees to transition into Gen-Ed and Program Requirements;
• Degree Program Requirements: The successful Completion of Gen-Ed, Core Foundational and Co-Foundational courses required by a Degree program;
• Persistence: The retention of students in their first year and second year and within 150 percent time to graduation;
• Degree/Certificate Completion and Transfer: The successful completion of a Degree Program or Certificate and transfer to institutions of higher learning or transition into the workforce.

To ensure high quality of educational programs, the College developed indicators and measurements for determining institutional-set standards to evaluate the effectiveness of outcome competencies for the certificates and degrees offered.¹

The College has established its institutional-set achievement standards in the spring of 2015. The ASCC will be monitoring the achievement of its institutional-set standards in the fall of 2015 following the academic cycle.

In the development of benchmarks, standards four and five were appropriately changed to follow the student success model. For standard four on persistence, retention in the first year and the second year became the focus of this standard and 150 percent time to completion was used in standard five as the graduation rate.

The benchmarks set for each standard are as follows:

Standard 1: Developmental Courses: Percent of student population who successfully pass their developmental courses each semester = 70 percent

Standard 2: Gateway Courses: Percent of student population who successfully complete gateway courses with a “C” or better each semester = 72 percent

Standard 3: Program requirements: Percent of student population who successfully complete all program requirements with a “C” or better each semester = 80 percent
For each requirement, targets were also set:

• General Education Target: 75 percent
• Core Foundational Target: 80 percent
• Co-Foundational Target: 90 percent 

Standard 4: Persistence Rates-percent of student population who were retained in the first year and 2nd year.

• 1st Year (fall to spring) Retention Target:  50 percent with a stretch goal of 60 percent
• 2nd Year (fall to spring to fall) Retention Target: 30 percent with a stretch goal of 40 percent

Standard 5: Graduation and Transfer:

• Graduation Rate: Percent of students who complete degree or certificate within 150 percent of normal time to completion = 39 percent
• Transfer Rate: Percent of graduates who transfer to other institutions of higher learning = 18 percent with a stretch goal of 25 percent
• Workforce Rate: Percent of CTE graduates who transition into the workforce = 50 percent with a stretch goals of 63 percent

The institution uses the benchmarks to assess its performance every semester. Institutional Data Sets (IDS) 0001 posts data, which supports each of the five student achievement standards. This data is measured against the benchmarks to assess the achievement of each target outcome. This data is reported in the ASCC Annual Report. The targets are rated by two criteria; meets the standard or does not meet the standard. Dialogue over the improvement of performance occurs basically at every level of the institution provided that Student Achievement data is published in the IDS. The Student Achievement Standards are scheduled to be reviewed on a biennial basis following the Institutional Program Review Cycle.

The College has defined Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) for all of its courses and programs offered as documented on Course Approval Forms (CAF) and course syllabi. All CAF are routed for signature approval and are filed with the Office of Academic Affairs to ensure the integrity of all its courses and programs.²

ASCC categorized Student Learning Outcomes (SLO) into four main types of learning outcomes that include Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO), Program Learning Outcomes (PLO), General Education Learning Outcomes (GEO), and Course Learning Outcomes ( CLO). CLOs are central to the assessment of all competencies and are aligned to particular qualities as defined in ASCC’s definition of ILOs, General Education Program, Core Foundational and Co-Foundational areas.

• ILOs: Are the competencies defined by the institution that all students upon graduating from the ASCC should acquire and demonstrate proficiencies.
• General Education Courses: General Education is the core of the undergraduate degree for all students, regardless of their major. GEO courses describe what the institution wants students to be able to do on completion of the General Education program for an AA or AS degree.
• Core Foundational Courses: Are courses that enhance content foundational competencies in core disciplinary areas of study. Core Foundational course requirements are determined by academic degree programs/departments.
• Co-Foundational Course: Are courses specific to a discipline or area of specialization. Co-Foundational courses are program focused with emphasis in specialized areas.³

The institution has defined ILOs and these ILOs are published in the ASCC Participatory Governance Structural Manual.⁴

ASCC ILOs are as follow:

• Effective Communicators: ASCC graduates communicate respectfully, listen attentively, seek clarification, and value the opinions of others. Graduates effectively present information using a variety of modes and media. They adapt their method of presentation to suit specific audiences and convey their intended message using a variety of oral, written, and visual strategies;
• Critical Thinkers: ASCC graduates engage in the examination of ideas, issues, and problems, drawing on established bodies of knowledge and means of analysis. Graduates organize information logically and consider alternate strategies. They recognize the need for multiple voices and seek opportunities for those voices to be heard;
• Global Citizens: ASCC graduates are prepared to participate in regional and global communities. They demonstrate knowledge of their region and the world.
• Quantitative Competent Individuals: ASCC graduates organize, and critically examine written, oral, visual, and numerical information. Graduates efficiently use technology as a tool to gather and evaluate information from a variety of perspectives. Graduates use the information ethically, respecting the legal restrictions that exist when using published, confidential, and proprietary information;
• Responsible Leaders: ASCC graduates act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions, ethically and equitably. Graduates engage in professional dialogue and participate in learning communities

All General Education courses with GEO are published in the ASCC Catalog.  The General Education program is the core of the undergraduate degree for all students, regardless of their major.  The General Education Outcomes describe competencies students should be able to demonstrate on completion of the General Education requirements for an AA or AS degree.  The program is organized around five domains:  Communication, Information Technology Literacy, Critical Thinking, Global Awareness and Cultural Competence, and Personal Development & Responsibility.  The General Education requirements apply to students in the first two years of the B.Ed. program, with additional GE requirements embedded in third year courses.⁵

The General Education requirements consists of 13 introductory collegiate courses as listed:

• Communication:  ENG 150, ENG 151, SPH 153
• Information Technology Literacy:  ICT 150
• Critical Thinking:  MAT 151 AND PHSCI 150/150L
• Global Awareness & Cultural Competence:  HIS 150, HIS 151, HIS 161, HIS 170, HIS 171
• Personal Development & Responsibility:  PSY 150 & HEA 150

Core Foundational Area Outcomes are the courses that enhance content foundational competencies in core disciplinary areas of student. Core Foundational course requirements are determined by degree programs and are listed in the catalog and the Assessing Student Learning and Achievement Manual.⁶

Co-Foundational Area Outcomes consists of courses specific to a discipline or area of specialization. These courses are program focused with emphasis in specialized areas.  All PLO for Co-Foundational Area Outcomes are published in the catalog and the Assessing Student Learning and Achievement Manual.⁷

Certain CLOs in courses such as enrichment courses and developmental/pre-collegiate courses are not aligned to the GEO, Core and CO-Foundational Area Outcomes.  Enrichment courses provide outcomes for personal and career enrichment opportunities and may be taken as electives.  Pre-Collegiate Outcomes are specific to developmental Math and English pre-collegiate courses.  These courses enable students to demonstrate skills necessary for college readiness or college level courses.

All CLO and PLO are regularly assessed following an assessment cycle for all courses and programs.  Courses are assessed regularly and accordingly to a set cycle. The Academic Assessment Committee (AAC) has approved a two-year assessment cycle for all General Education, Core Foundational, Co-Foundational areas, and Developmental courses divided into four semesters.⁸

Chart 1, encompasses the assessment of CLO (courses) competencies for General Education following a two-year cycle:

General Education Qualities	Assessing General Education Qualities 1ST & 2ND Year
	Semester 1	Semester 2	Semester 3	Semester 4	Semester 1
	COURSES	COURSES	COURSES	COURSES	COURSES
GE 1	SPH 153 ENG 150 ENG 151			SPH 153 ENG 150 ENG 151
GE 2	ICT 150			ICT 150
GE 3		PHSCI 150 MAT 151		PHSCI 150 MAT 151
GE 4		HIS 150 HIS 151 HIS 170 HIS 171 HIS 162	HIS 150 HIS 151 HIS 170 HIS 171 HIS 162
GE 5		HEA 150 PSY 150	HEA 150 PSY 150

Chart 2, encompasses the assessment of CLOs (courses) competencies for the Core and Co-Foundational Areas following a two-year cycle:

Co & Core Foundational Area Course Assessment Cycle	Assessing Core and Co-Foundational Area Qualities 1ST & 2ND Year
	Semester 1	Semester 2	Semester 3	Semester 4
	Course Numbers	Course Numbers	Course Numbers	Course Numbers
	100-150	151-199	200-250	251-299
	300-400	401-499

Chart 3, encompasses the assessment of CLOs (courses) competencies for Developmental (pre-collegiate) following a two-year cycle:

Developmental/ Pre-Collegiate Course Assessment Cycle	Assessing Developmental Courses
	Semester 1	Semester 2	Semester 3	Semester 4
	Courses	Courses	Courses	Courses
	ENG 70	ENG 71	ENG 70	ENG 71
	ENG 80	ENG 81	ENG 80	ENG 81
	ENG 90	ENG 91	ENG 90	ENG 91
	MAT 80	MAT 80	MAT 80	MAT 80
	MAT 90	MAT 90	MAT 90	MAT 90

The Curriculum mapping process for all instructional programs provides alignment evidence of how CLO are mapped to PLO.  These curriculum mappings are documented in the Assessing Student Learning and achievement manual.  ASCC has successfully assessed its general education courses following guidelines for “closing of the loop” in which CLO are defined, CLO are identified on syllabus, CLO instruments are defined, CLO are assessed, CLO Data is analyzed by faculty, and CLO is revised for improvement.⁹

Dialogue at the Program level is ongoing as Academic Programs continues the assessment of program learning outcomes.  All ASCC programs are assessing Core foundational areas and co-foundational areas following an identified cycle of assessment.  ILOs are assessed through 1st year of General Education competencies on Communication, Information Technology Literacy, Critical Thinking, Global Awareness and Cultural Competence, and Personal Development and Responsibility.  The second year competencies and qualities are assessed through Core and Co-Foundational Courses on Effective Communicator, Critical Thinkers, Global Citizens, Quantitative Competent Individuals, and Responsible Leaders.¹⁰

Assessment findings allow academic departments/programs to evaluate the necessary improvements of learning outcomes at the course and program level. Recommended changes to ILOs, PLOs, GEOs, or CLOs are required for the review and approval of the Curriculum Committee and then forwarded to the AAC for monitoring. As a result of evaluation, recommendations are generated and actions are implemented to improve on student learning outcomes, assessment instruments, curriculum alignment, facilities, educational resources, and teaching methodologies are generated and implemented.¹¹

1 - Participatory Governance Structural Manual, pp. 25-27
2 - Academic Affairs SOP Manual
3 - ASCC Catalog 2014 – 2016, p. 45
4 - ASCC Participatory Governance Manual, p. 9
5 - ASCC Catalog, p. 44
6 - Assessing Student Learning and Achievement, pp. 9-12
7 - Assessing Student Learning and Achievement, pp. 13-19
8 - Assessing Student Learning and Achievement, pp. 20-21
9 - Assessing Student Learning and Achievement, pp. 20-32
10 - Participatory Governance Structural Manual, pp. 20-24
11 - Assessing Student Learning and Achievement, pp. 59