Research
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The purpose of the Midwestern Higher Education Compact’s research program is to inform institutional and state efforts in improving postsecondary policies, practices, and outcomes. To this end, MHEC produces timely briefs, reports, and technical papers that assist in the evaluation of postsecondary performance, the analysis of state policies, and the identification of effective institutional practices. The intended audience for MHEC’s research includes commissioners, state legislators and agency staff, institutional and system leaders, and the broader community of higher education researchers.
Experts in educational policy and research across the nation serve as peer reviewers who formally assess the quality of MHEC’s research briefs and reports. In addition, distinguished members of the Review Panel for State Policy and Performance Evaluation help shape MHEC’s state policy research agenda and serve as peer reviewers of publications that utilize state-level data. For more information, contact Aaron Horn, director for policy research.
State Policy and Performance Evaluation
- A Review of College Promise Programs: Evidence from the Midwest (2017)
- State Higher Education Financing Models (March 2017)
- Higher Education in Focus: Selected Performance Indicators (2014-2015)
- Advancing Postsecondary Opportunity, Completion, and Productivity: Essential Performance Indicators (2013)
- State Constitutional Provisions and Higher Education Governance (2013)
- Blueprint for College Readiness, MHEC-State Analysis (2014)
Teacher Preparation
- The Impact of Graduate Education on Teacher Effectiveness: Does a Master’s Degree Matter? (2017)
- The Relative Effectiveness of Traditional and Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs: A Review of Recent Research (2017)
- The Effectiveness of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification Program (2017)
- Faculty Qualification Policies and Strategies Relevant to Dual Enrollment Programs: An Analysis of States and Regional Accreditation Agencies (July 2016)
Assessments of Institutional Effectiveness
- The Effectiveness and Efficiency of Postsecondary Institutions in the United States: 2010-2012 Baseline Results (2015)
- The Occupational Relevance of a College Education: An Examination of Education-Job Match among Bachelor’s Degree Recipients (2014)
- The Traditional Approach to Developmental Education: Background and Effectiveness (2014)
Campus-based Practices for Promoting Student Success
- Transparent Pathways, Clear Outcomes: Using Disciplinary Tuning to Improve Teaching, Learning, and Student Success (2014)
- Determinants of Student Success (2014)
- Effective Pedagogy (2014)
- Financial Aid (2014)
- Faculty Policy Issues (2014)
- Developmental Education (2014)
- Software Solutions (2015)
- Counseling Services (2016)
Working Papers and Publications
- Measuring the effectiveness of two-year colleges: a comparison of raw and value-added performance indicators (2017)
- The Selection of Peer States for Performance Benchmarking in Higher Education (2013)
- Measuring the Efficiency of Postsecondary Institutions: A Regression-based Approach to Adjusting for Differences in Cost Structures (2015)
- Evaluating the Accuracy of Productivity Indicators in Performance Funding Models (2017)
- The Reliability and Validity of Using Regression Residuals to Measure Institutional Effectiveness in Promoting Degree Completion