The U.S. Department of Education awarded Excelsior
College a $1.9 million grant to develop a solution colleges and universities
can use to evaluate students’ readiness
for college-level work. The Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of
College Skills (DAACS) will be an open-source tool that allows institutions to
identify at-risk students and provide them the resources necessary to succeed.
The program is designed to offer students feedback on
their weaknesses and provide information for relearning content, according to a
report in eCampus News. DAACS will include academic and nonacademic (i.e., academic
self-regulation and test anxiety) evaluations so college and universities will
have a better understanding of students and develop learning strategies based
on their needs.
“Because of its focus on generating actionable feedback
and its direct link to effective support services and resources, DAACS has the
potential to empower and enable students to become more purposeful and
strategic learners,” said Timothy Cleary, associate professor, Rutgers Graduate
School of Applied and Professional Psychology. “This project is particularly
exciting because it can positively influence the ways in which students—as well
as faculty—respond to the inevitable challenges and struggles that so many
students experience during college.”
Rutgers
University and the University at Albany, Albany, NY, are partners with
Excelsior on the DAACS project. Once the tool is finished, Excelsior and
Western Governors University will conduct pilot studies on its usefulness.