Contextual evaluation: A framework for accountability in higher education

After illustrating the need for a supplemental approach to evaluating institutions of higher learning in an accountability context, this dissertation presents a new evaluation methodology termed contextual evaluation. This procedure identifies a few strategic state-level goals, establishes them as performance indicators, and utilizes a structural equation model (SEM), here termed a contextual analysis, in an input-process-outcome format to estimate an expected level of performance for each goal. This expected level of performance---which is unique for each institution---is then contrasted with an institution's actual level of performance for the purposes of evaluation.;The contextual analysis demonstrated in Chapter 4 uses an institutional graduation rate as the performance indicator---in other words the state goal being evaluated. The final SEM analysis utilized 199 public masters institutions and had a chi-square of 0.000, one degree of freedom, a probability level of 0.998, a CFI of 1.000, and a RMSEA of 0.000. Consequently, this model was accepted, indicating that the graduation rate model was a plausible representation of the relationships between the input, process, and output variables in this model.;While the graduation rate was used to demonstrate contextual analysis, this approach can be applied to any performance indicator and could be used to advance research related to strategic goals. Although the demonstration in Chapter 4 explained only fifty-three percent of the variance, situations exist in which this approach can suggest hypotheses regarding institutional performance for further investigation. For example, the input variables of student SAT scores and in-state tuition and fees, and the process variable of percent of students living in dormitory housing, were found to be statistically significantly correlated with the undergraduate graduation rate at public masters institutions. This finding could lead to investigative efforts to improve this rate at different institutions.