SUPPORTING STUDENTS’
COLLEGE SUCCESS
The Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal
and Interpersonal Competencies
Committee on Assessing Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies
Joan Herman and Margaret Hilton, Editors
Board on Testing and Assessment
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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This activity was supported by Contract/Grant No. 1460028 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-45605-0
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Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org.10.17226/24697
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2017). Supporting Students’ College Success: The Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/24697.
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COMMITTEE ON ASSESSING INTRAPERSONAL AND INTERPERSONAL COMPETENCIES
JOAN HERMAN (Chair), National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles
DAVID BILLS, College of Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City
CORBIN CAMPBELL, Teachers College, Columbia University
TABBYE CHAVOUS, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
GREG DUNCAN, School of Education, University of California, Irvine
SYLVIA HURTADO, Graduate School of Education and Information Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
PATRICK KYLLONEN, Center for Academic and Workforce Readiness, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey
DAN McADAMS, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
FREDERICK OSWALD, Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, Texas
JONATHAN PLUCKER, School of Education and Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
K. ANN RENNINGER, Department of Educational Studies, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
BRIAN STECHER, Pardee RAND Graduate School, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
MARGARET HILTON, Study Director
PATRICIA MORISON, Acting Board Director, Board on Testing and Assessment
HEIDI SCHWEINGRUBER, Director, Board on Science Education
JUDITH KOENIG, Senior Program Officer
KELLY ARRINGTON, Senior Program Assistant
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BOARD ON TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
DAVID J. FRANCIS (Chair), Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston
MARK DYNARSKI, Pemberton Research, LLC, East Windsor, New Jersey
JOAN HERMAN, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles
SHARON LEWIS, Council of Great City Schools, Washington, DC
BRIAN STECHER, Pardee RAND Graduate School, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California
JOHN ROBERT WARREN, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
PATRICIA MORISON, Acting Director
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Acknowledgments
This Consensis Study Report was made possible by the contributions of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies); the study committee; and many other experts. First, the committee thanks the National Science Foundation (NSF) for sponsoring the study and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for providing additional dissemination funding. Particular thanks go to Susan Singer (former director, NSF Division of Undergraduate Education) and Marc Chun (program officer, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation).
During the course of its work, the committee benefited from presentations by and discussions with several experts who participated in its three fact-finding meetings. At the first meeting, the committee discussed its charge with Susan Singer, representing NSF. In addition, Stephen M. Fiore, University of Central Florida, and David Yeager, University of Texas at Austin, presented recent research on assessment of intra- and interpersonal competencies.
The committee’s third meeting included a workshop designed to explore the changing context of higher education; the growing importance of social skills in the workplace; and the relationships among conscientiousness, motivation, and academic achievement. The committee found the presentations and discussions at this meeting enlightening and thanks to all who participated, including Nicholas Bowman (University of Iowa), David Deming (Harvard University), Alicia Dowd (Pennsylvania State University), Carol Geary Schneider (Association of American Colleges and Universities), Judith Harackiewicz (University of Wisconsin), Joshua
Jackson (Washington University in St. Louis), and Alex (Sandy) Pentland (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
At the committee’s fourth meeting, Nicholas Bowman and David Deming presented findings from research commissioned by the committee. The committee thanks them for their work and insights. Following the fourth meeting, Sabrina Solanki (University of California, Irvine) quickly assembled and synthesized literature on interventions for developing intrapersonal competencies. This synthesis proved invaluable to the committee’s deliberations.
The committee gratefully acknowledges the efforts of the staff of the Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA) and the Board on Science Education (BOSE). The committee thanks Patricia Morison, current acting director of BOTA, for her support and guidance at key stages of this project; Judith Koenig, BOTA senior program officer, for sharing her assessment expertise; and Heidi Schweingruber, director of BOSE, for her advice throughout the course of the study. Special thanks are due to Kelly Arrington, senior project assistant, for her exceptional organizational skills and close attention to detail in handling all the administrative details associated with the committee’s in-person and virtual meetings and the workshop, and providing critical support in preparing the manuscript for this report. We also thank Vanessa Lazar, research assistant, for her adept research skills, and Rebecca Morgan, National Academies senior research librarian, for conducting several literature searches.
The committee also thanks members of the Office of Reports and Communication of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education for their work on this report. Thanks go to Rona Briere for her sage editorial advice on this manuscript, Kirsten Sampson-Snyder for her work in coordinating the review process, and Yvonne Wise for shepherding the manuscript through production.
This Consensus Study Report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Roger Benjamin, Council for Aid to Education; Jacquelynne S. Eccles, School of Education, University of California, Irvine; Susan T. Fiske, Psychology and Public Affairs, Princeton University; Catherine Lord, Center for Autism
and the Developing Brain, Weill Cornell Medicine; Matthew J. Mayhew, College Impact Laboratory, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University; James W. Pellegrino, Learning Sciences Research Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago; Ann Marie Ryan, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University; Paul R. Sackett, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota; Xueli Wang, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the report’s conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Susan J. Curry (National Academy of Medicine), University of Iowa, and Milton D. Hakel, Bowling Green State University (emeritus). Appointed by the National Academies, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies, and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
Finally, we wish to thank the committee members for their extraordinary efforts. Their broad range of expertise related to educational measurement; assessment and accountability policy in higher education; educational psychology; persistence in higher education; and economics was critical to the ability to address the study charge successfully. The committee members freely contributed their time to accomplish the myriad tasks associated with assembling information and preparing this report. They actively assisted in all stages of the study, including planning the meetings and the workshop, as well as writing and rewriting multiple versions of this report. They gave generously of their time to ensure that the final product would accurately represent the committee’s consensus findings, conclusions, and recommendations. These efforts reflected the committee members’ commitment to improving student success in higher education.
Joan Herman, Chair
Margaret Hilton, Study Director
Committee on Assessing Intrapersonal and
Interpersonal Competencies
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Contents
2 Competencies for College Success
Broad Dispositions: What Are My Strengths?
Beliefs: Do I Belong Here? Can I Succeed?
Specific Motivations: What Are My Goals? What Most Interests Me? What Do I Value?
Identity: Who Am I? Whom Do I Want to Become?
Conclusions and Recommendations
3 Assessment Methods for College Competencies
Key Principles of Assessment Quality
The Quality of Current Assessments of the Identified Competencies
4 Assessment Uses and Stakeholders within Higher Education
The Growth of Assessment in Higher Education
Creating Improvement: Vision and Reality
Use Cases: Examples of Using Intra- and Interpersonal Competency Assessments
Conclusions and Recommendations
5 Intra- and Interpersonal Competencies as College Outcomes
Intra- and Interpersonal College Outcomes
Relationship to College Completion
Assessment of Intra- and Interpersonal College Outcomes
Conclusions and Recommendations
Competencies for College Success
Assessment Methods for College Competencies
Assessment Uses and Stakeholders
Intra- and Interpersonal Competencies as College Outcomes
A Literature Searches Commissioned by the Committee
B Assessments Used in the Intervention Literature