An Examination of the Relationship between Accreditation and Learning Outcomes Assessment Standards in English Language Programs

of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Susan Mullane. No. of pages in text. (95) Since the passage of the Accreditation Act of 2010, accreditation by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education has been required in order for English language programs to recruit and enroll international students on student visas. There is one specialized accrediting agency in the U.S. that is authorized to accredit English language programs: the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA). That agency can issue specialized/programmatic or institutional accreditation awards. Accreditation decisions by CEA were examined for possible relationships between three variables: accreditation type (programmatic or institutional), accreditation decision length (1-year or 5-year), and findings of compliance with a set of seven standards related to student learning outcomes and assessments. Data on initial accreditation decisions for schools within the U.S.A. were obtained directly from the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation for the period between April 2012 and December 2014. Data on length of awarded decisions, findings of compliance by the peer review team, and type of accreditation were evaluated using log-linear models; this was followed by probability and odds ratio comparisons for likelihoods between groups. Analysis demonstrated a significant interaction between accreditation type and length of accreditation awarded, and a significant interaction between findings of compliance on standards related to learning outcomes and assessments and length of accreditation awarded. Awards of programmatic accreditation tended to be for longer periods of time than awards of institutional accreditation. Higher levels of compliance with standards related to student learning outcomes and assessment were found to be significantly related to lengthier awards of accreditation. No significant three-way interactions were found among the three variables examined. Results of the study indicate that accreditation type is not related to compliance on standards related to learning outcomes. Whether the institution as a whole is being evaluated for accreditation or a unit within a larger institution was under review, the findings of compliance with standards related to learning outcomes and assessment were not significantly related. Results underscore the importance of student learning outcomes and assessment of these outcomes as vital to the accreditation process and as markers of quality. The results of this study are useful to intensive English programs as administrators decide whether they are prepared to seek accreditation and how to best prepare the programs to meet the accreditation standards. Intensive English schools seeking accreditation should not underestimate the importance of having appropriate written learning outcomes, assessment instruments and procedures, procedures to inform students of their progress, and systematic review and revision of elements related to outcomes and assessments.