H-1242              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 2186

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Representatives Valle, Winsley, Jacobsen, Heavey and P. King

Read first time 3/1/89 and referred to Committees on Higher Education/Appropriations.

AN ACT Relating to an evaluation program for institutions of higher education; adding new sections to Title 28B RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature recognizes the need to develop a comprehensive performance evaluation program for higher education that balances institutional involvement and commitment to enhancing curriculum with the need for public accountability measures that provide systematic information about the effectiveness of higher education.  The legislature supports and encourages the implementation of multidimensional performance evaluation programs for state institutions of higher education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     State institutions of higher education, as defined in RCW 28B.10.016, are encouraged to develop and implement  comprehensive performance evaluation programs. The programs shall be designed to stimulate internal institutional review and curriculum evaluation and to provide performance information about public higher education.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     The performance evaluation programs should consist of the following elements:

          (1)  For all institutions, the gathering, review, and provision upon request of follow-up data on graduates' work experiences, satisfaction surveys about student's educational experiences, and surveys of employer satisfaction with college preparation received by employees.  Community colleges should include vocational and technical students in their surveys.

          (2)  For all institutions, the exploration of the possibility of using a test at the end of the sophomore year to assess the institutional effectiveness of four-year institutions and the portion of the community college mission related to the preparation of transfer students.

          (3)  For four-year institutions, the development of ways to assess their students' baccalaureate degree and graduate program experiences, by means appropriate to the curriculum of each institution.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     (1)  During the 1989-90 and 1990-91 academic years, the institutions of higher education shall conduct pilot studies to assess the usefulness and validity of nationally normed tests of communication, computation, and critical thinking skills to be administered to students in the last term of the sophomore year.

          (2) By September 1, 1991, a committee composed of representatives of the four-year institutions of higher education, the community colleges, and the staff of the higher education coordinating board shall submit a recommendation to the higher education coordinating board on the appropriateness of using a test described under subsection (1) of this section as part of a multidimensional evaluation program.

          (3) If a test described under subsection (1) of this section is found to be inappropriate, the board shall establish an alternate form of performance evaluation consistent with the comprehensive performance evaluation program under the master plan.

          (4) Programs to assess baccalaureate and graduate program experiences and to survey and report the placement of graduates and student and employer satisfaction shall be developed to be implemented by July 1, 1991.

          (5) Once implementation of the performance evaluation program has begun, the four-year institutions of higher education and the state board for community college education on behalf of the community colleges, shall provide data collected under these programs  for the preceding academic year to the higher education coordinating board, by September 1 of each year.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     For the purposes of supporting the pilot studies of nationally normed tests under section 4 of this act, the sum of forty-nine thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the higher education coordinating board to be disbursed to participating institutions under guidelines adopted by the board for the biennium ending June 30, 1991.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     Sections 2 through 4 of this act are each added to Title 28B RCW.