Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Question Topics

Top 5 Most Frequently Asked Questions

  • How much will it cost to participate in the VALUE Institute?

    The work of VALUE has evolved from standalone rubric tools to demonstrating the proof-of-concept through the three Collaboratives, and is now poised to transition to a self-sustaining Institute. Cost for assessment of student work artifacts through the VALUE Institute is $6,000 to assess 100 pieces of authentic student work. This fee covers the expenses to:
    • Assist with developing a sampling framework and strategy
    • Upload student work artifacts in the Institute database (Watermark/Tk20/LiveText platform – you do not have to currently use these platforms to participate)
    • Address one learning outcome (VALUE rubric) across each rubric dimension for 100 pieces of student work
    • Have all artifacts double-scored by certified VALUE rubric scorers
    • Generate scoring results reports, report templates, as well as the raw institutional data from scoring
    The fee for each additional outcome (and 100 artifacts) is $4,000
  • Who is the VALUE Institute designed to serve? What types of institutions should participate?

    Participation in the VALUE Institute is open to all types of higher education institutions/providers.
  • Is participation limited to AAC&U member institutions?

    No. AAC&U membership is not a requirement for participation in the VALUE Institute.
  • Can we participate in the VALUE Institute as a consortium?

    Any individual campus or program within a consortium may participate, and campuses may indeed choose to participate as a consortium in the VALUE Institute for purposes of data sharing, resource sharing, etc. Additionally, there may be opportunities to engage with such groups as the Multi-State Collaborative (MSC), an on-going collaborative partnership between AAC&U and SHEEO, for two- and four-year public institutions. Institute staff are willing to assist institutions in thinking through possible consortia arrangements.

ABOUT

What is the VALUE Institute?

What is VALUE?

What are the VALUE rubrics? What is the VALUE approach to assessment?

Is the VALUE Institute like other AAC&U Institutes?

PRICING

How much will it cost to participate in the VALUE Institute?

Why does the VALUE Institute cost $6,000?

Does the VALUE Institute offer discounts based on characteristics like institution size?

Is there an annual membership fee?

When do we have to pay?

PARTICIPATION

Who is the VALUE Institute designed to serve? What types of institutions should participate?

What proportion of participating institutions do you expect to be from community colleges?

Is participation limited to AAC&U member institutions?

Can we participate in the VALUE Institute as a consortium?

Could we form a consortium within the national norms for specialized disciplines (e.g., visual and performing arts)? Can individual departments or groups of faculty participate independently of the broader institution?

Can institutions outside of the United States participate?

How does an institution join the VALUE Institute?

How does the VALUE Institute work?

How labor intensive is participation?

What resources are available to help an institution effectively participate?

Which office/department should be involved in the VALUE Institute? Does it need to be the institutional research office, or can it be a teaching and learning center/scholarship of teaching and learning institute?

What is the timeline for uploading artifacts and receiving data back?

METHODOLOGY AND SCORING

What is "standardized" in the VALUE Institute? What is not?

How is a sample of 100 pieces of student work "representative" of learning on a campus?

Who are the scorers?

Because we've been scoring for many years, we have a number of people that have experience with the VALUE Rubrics. How does one become a "certified" VALUE Institute faculty scorer?

Are artifacts double scored? What is the inter-reader agreement (or even reliability) of the normed readers?

What types of student artifacts can be scored?

REPORTING AND DATA USE

What level of reporting will institutions receive and when?

What will the VALUE Institute do with all the data it collects?

How is student data protected?

What types of reports will be generated and made available to campuses?

Will assessment results be disaggregated by performance criteria (indicators) for each rubric?

Will I be able to use the assessment information towards funding opportunities or in published papers?

Can we get feedback and suggestions based on results?

Will participants have access to other institutions' best practices? Will the Institute share findings related to learning outcomes?

Will training be available on how to make the best use of data analyses?

We are looking towards moving to embedded assessment for general education. Would this program help validate our internal assessments?

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS

How did the Institute come about?

Is the VALUE Institute duplicating work conducted by Achieving the Dream (ATD)?

Does the Multi-State Collaborative (MSC) still exist? What is the relationship between the VALUE Institute and the MSC?