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Backed by Millions in Grants, More Colleges Are Training Faculty in 鈥淓vidence-Based Instruction鈥�

ACUE, an organization that teaches instructors how to instruct, serves as a potential blueprint for future data-driven interventions in higher education.

The instructors at colleges and universities are often experts in their fields, with some contributing to groundbreaking research, patenting cutting-edge inventions, and collaborating with peers from around the world. It can be very impressive, without a doubt. And most schools will make sure that potential students and families know about their faculty’s achievements.

But are superstar professors really what a potential student should seek out? A growing body of research says that an instructor’s aptitude in evidence-based teaching methods is more indicative of students’ academic success and colleges’ retention rates.

In the United States, there are no national or state training requirements for college-level instructors, that would be analogous to the state-level teaching standards and required certifications for high schools and lower grades. The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) has identified that as a glaring shortcoming of the higher education industry, and is trying to change that.

Their focus on evidence-based instruction is backed by a number of peer-reviewed studies conducted at a wide variety of schools. These studies have shown evidence of improved academic performance, higher passing rates, and increased retention and graduation rates.

“What is most remarkable about our collection of studies is their consistency in showing improved outcomes across all kinds of schools,” says ACUE Chief Data Officer Meghan Snow. “We have shown that whether it is at four-year schools or community colleges, at big schools or small schools, across regions, we have an approach that works.”

The data also often points to even better outcomes for marginalized groups and Pell-eligible students, suggesting that widespread adoption of evidence-based instruction could be an engine for socioeconomic mobility.

ACUE’s high reviews from instructors and data trove of improved student outcomes, especially among under-served students, has caught the attention of major funders.

Last summer the Thurgood Marshall Foundation , although outcomes for students vary depending on the school, the course, and other factors. In an attempt to better standardize the quality of teaching a student receives at any HBCU, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund announced it would donate $1.4 million for HBCU instructors to receive ACUE training and certification.

The head of the fund emphasized at the time ACUE’s track record of achieving quantifiable, consistent student outcomes.

“ACUE is the national leader in effective collegiate instruction. No other organization has ACUE’s proof of impact or earned as much trust and respect,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams.

It remains to be seen how many instructors they will fund, or if the institutions themselves will find the outcomes so impressive that they invest their own money into instructor training.

The funding will be split up among twelve HBCUs:

• Alabama State University
• Albany State University (GA)
• Bowie State University (MD)
• Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CA)
• Harris-Stowe State University (MO)
• Medgar Evers College鈥擟UNY (NY)
• Norfolk State University (VA)
• Southern University Law Center (LA)
• Tennessee State University
• Virginia State University
• West Virginia State University
• Winston-Salem State University (NC)

More recently, in February 2022, the Bill and Melinda Gates announced an initiative to fund ACUE training at ten schools. The $1.5 million grant will allow ACUE to execute a major national study among 1,500 educators. The study is being designed to expand higher education’s understanding of how Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pell-eligible students enrolled in gateway courses can benefit from evidence-based teaching.

The ten participating institutions are:

• Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York
• California State University, Northridge
• Georgia Southern University
• Ivy Tech Community College (IN)
• North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
• Ohio Association of Community Colleges, including Cincinnati State, Cuyahoga Community College, and Lorain County Community College
• University of Hawai’i at Manoa
• University of Houston

The study will examine the relationship between evidence-based teaching practices, faculty mindset, and student outcomes, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said.

Or, as ACUE’s data chief Snowe said of the upcoming study: “We know [our program] works. We want to know more about the mechanisms through which it works.”

ACUE’s Momentum Mirrors Broader Push for Data-Based Changes to Higher Education

ACUE’s CEO Scott Durand sees this as a potential inflection point in his organization’s push for evidence-based instruction at the college level. The infusion of cash and the possibility of more to come is a validation of ACUE’s painstaking efforts to not just train instructors, but to study the outcomes of that training in as many schools as possible.

But the next phase will show whether ACUE’s certification program can truly scale beyond the 15,000 instructors they’ve already trained. That is only 1.28 percent of the 1,276,900 postsecondary instructors the  about how we make money. "> ADVERTISEMENT

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