New NCPI Products

The Toolkit Series and Research Briefs

Introducing new NCPI products that make it easy to apply our research findings; The Toolkit Series and Research Briefs.

The Toolkit Series

The NCPI toolkits extend valuable dimensions of our research to key stakeholders. The toolkits include major findings from NCPI research along with self-study protocols, survey instruments, and important related resources.

Making Informed Decisions: A Toolkit for Parents and Students

Links students and parents to sources of information that can help them make informed decisions about college, including choosing the right college and paying for college. The toolkit includes an instrument developed for prospective college students to evaluate colleges based on the experiences of recent graduates, as well as an example of how to use the instrument (found in "A New Way to Look At Colleges: How to Discover the Reality Behind the Dream"). Information about the NCPI research used in developing the instrument is included.

Finding the Employees You Need: An Employer's Toolkit

Designed to help employers find information about the education and skill attainment of the workforce—particularly first time jobseekers, the toolkit includes links to resources on employee retention and training. Links to the findings from the National Employer Surveys, conducted by the Institute for Research on Higher Education, which document employers’ practices and expectations concerning education and training, as well as the quality of their workforce, are included.

Analyzing State and Regional K-16 Policies: A toolkit for researchers and policy analysts

A product of the Bridge Project to help states and regions develop more aligned and equitable policy structures that help all students prepare for, and succeed in, some form of postsecondary education. Included are survey instruments which can be used to determine what students, their parents, counselors, and teachers knew about college admission and placement policies; how they gained that knowledge; how the students were preparing for life after college; and what the students aspired to do after high school.

Assessment Toolkits

Improving Student Assessment: A Toolkit for Developing Organizational and Administrative Support for Student Assessment

The toolkit is a guide for academic administrators and faculty charged with assessing and improving student assessment. The toolkit offers a template for assessing and designing an institutional assessment strategy, based on NCPI research and findings on the use of student assessment at various types of institutions. Two instruments, the Inventory of Institutional Support for Student Assessment and the Survey of Institutional Climate for Student Assessment and results from the administration of the surveys are presented. Researchers also outline findings on organizational and administrative patterns as they relate to student assessment and the ways in which campuses can build assessment support systems.

Engagement in Assessment: A Toolkit for Faculty and Administrators Involved in Student Assessment

Designed to help faculty and institutional leaders measure faculty engagement in assessment activities, the toolkit includes literature reviews, research aids, and methodological guides and presentation materials. Developed using NCPI's Student Assessment research, the site includes surveys, tips for conducting focus groups and interviews, examples of conceptual models and checklists for researchers. Also included are findings from survey administration at seven institutions.

State Government and Regional Accreditation Association Policies for Assessment of Student Learning: Tools for Policymakers and Administrators

The toolkit provides a comparative analysis of current assessment policies and offers alternative assessment policy approaches. Policymakers can examine how other states and regions have constructed their assessment policies, strategies for implementation and evaluation. An assessment of how these efforts are working and alternatives for effective assessment policy reform are presented. Specifically included are: detailed methodologies, models of assessment policies and surveys that can could be adapted for use at the regional accreditation, system administration, or institutional levels, or used to inquire about policymakers attitudes for assessment in higher education. Findings from the research are presented as well.

Research Briefs - Putting Ideas To Work

A series of informative reports that extend and translate NCPI research results for the arenas of policy and practice.

Barriers to College Success

Lessons Learned: The impact of state and regional assessment policies on institutions

Improving Student Assessment at Associate of Arts Institutions

Improving Student Assessment at Baccalaureate Institutions

Improving Student Assessment at Doctoral & Research Institutions

Improving Student Assessment at Comprehensive Institutions