Central Connecticut State UniversityBenchmark ComparisonsAugust 2007Interpreting the Benchmark Comparisons ReportTo focus discussions about the importance of student engagement and guide institutional improvement efforts, NSSE created five clusters or "benchmarks" of effective educational practice: Level of Academic Challenge, Active and Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Enriching Educational Experiences, and Supportive Campus Environment. This Benchmark Comparisons Report compares the performance of your institution with your selected peers or consortium. In addition, page 9 provides two other comparisons between your school and (a) above-average institutions with benchmarks in the top 50% of all NSSE institutions and (b) high-performing institutions with benchmarks in the top 10% of all NSSE institutions. These displays allow you to determine if the engagement of your typical student differs in a statistically significant, meaningful way from the average student in these comparison groups. More detailed information about how benchmarks are created can be found on the NSSE Web site at www.nsse.iub.edu/2007_Institutional_Report/.Statistical SignificanceBenchmarks with mean differences that are larger than would be expected by chance alone are noted with one, two, or three asterisks, denoting one of three Class and Samplesignificance levels (p<.05, p< .01, and p<.001). The smaller the significance Means are reported for Effect ...
Serious conversations with students of different religious beliefs, political opinions, or personal values
●
Serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity
●
Using electronic technology to discuss or complete an assignment
●
Campus environment encouraging contact among students from different economic, social, and racial or ethnic backgrounds
●
Participate in a learning community or some other formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together
First-Year
23.0
24.8
25.8
27.1
0
25
50
75
100
Central
Connecticut
Conn State System
Carnegie Peers
NSSE 2007
Senior
36.6
37.8
37.4
39.9
0
25
50
75
100
Central
Connecticut
Conn State System
Carnegie Peers
NSSE 2007
a
Weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size.
b
* p<.05 ** p<.01 ***p<.001 (2-tailed).
c
Mean difference divided by comparison group standard deviation.
Page 6
Class
Mean
a
Sig
b
Effect
Size
c
Mean
a
Sig
b
Effect
Size
c
Mean
a
Sig
b
Effect
Size
c
First-Year
55.4
-.16
59.8 ***
-.40
59.9 ***
-.40
Senior
53.1
.01
57.1
**
-.19
56.9
**
-.19
Central Connecticut State University
Supportive Campus Environment (SCE)
Conn State System
Benchmark Comparisons
NSSE 2007
52.4
Central Connecticut compared with:
53.4
Mean
a
Central Connecticut
Supportive Campus Environment (SCE) Items
Students perform better and are more satisfied at colleges that are committed to their success and cultivate positive working and social relations
among different groups on campus.
NSSE 2007 Benchmark Comparisons
Carnegie Peers
●
Campus environment provides the support you need to help you succeed academically
●
Campus environment helps you cope with your non-academic responsibilities (work, family, etc.)
●
Campus environment provides the support you need to thrive socially
●
Quality of relationships with other students
●
Quality of relationships with faculty members
●
Quality of relationships with administrative personnel and offices
First-Year
52.4
55.4
59.8
59.9
0
25
50
75
100
Central
Connecticut
Conn State System
Carnegie Peers
NSSE 2007
Senior
53.4
53.1
57.1
56.9
0
25
50
75
100
Central
Connecticut
Conn State System
Carnegie Peers
NSSE 2007
a
Weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size.
b
* p<.05 ** p<.01 ***p<.001 (2-tailed).
c
Mean difference divided by comparison group standard deviation.
Page 7
Example
NSSEville
State
Mean
Mean
Sig
Effect size
Mean
Sig
Effect size
LAC
57.1
55.8
*
.10
60.5
***
-0.28
ACL
50.3
45.8
***
.28
50.7
-0.02
SFI
37.3
37.2
.01
42.0
***
-0.24
EEE
21.8
30.0
***
-.63
34.4
***
-0.98
SCE
60.9
64.7
***
-.21
69.7
***
-0.49
NSSE 2007 Benchmark Comparisons
With Highly Engaging Institutions
Interpreting the Top 10% and Top 50% Comparisons
NSSE 2007
Top 50%
NSSE 2007
Top 10%
First-Year
This section of the NSSE Benchmark Comparisons report allows you to estimate the performance of your average student
in relation to the average student attending two different institutional peer groups identified by NSSE for their high levels of
student engagement: (a) those with benchmark scores placing them in the top 50% of all NSSE schools in 2007 and (b)
those with benchmark scores in the top 10% for 2007.
a
These comparisons allow an institution to determine if their
engagement of their students differs in significant, meaningful ways from these high performing peer groups.
NSSEville State CAN conclude...
The average score for NSSEville State first-year students is slightly above (i.e., small positive effect size)
that of the average student attending NSSE 2007 schools that scored in the top 50% on Level of Academic
Challenge (LAC).
The average NSSEville State first-year student is as engaged (i.e., not significantly different) as the average
student attending NSSE 2007 schools that scored in the top 10% on Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL).
It is
likely
that NSSEville State is in the top 50% of all NSSE 2007 schools for first-year students on Level of
Academic Challenge (LAC) and Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL).
a,b
NSSEville State CANNOT conclude
a
...
NSSEville State is in the top half of all schools on the Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI) benchmark for first-year
students.
b
NSSEville State is a "top ten percent" institution on Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL) for first-year
students.
b
For additional information on how to understand and use the Top 50% and Top 10% section of the benchmark report, see
www.nsse.iub.edu/2007_Institutional_Report/.
a
Precision-weighted means (produced by Hierarchical Linear Modeling) were used to determine the top 50% and top
10% institutions for each benchmark, separately for first-year and senior students. Using this method, benchmark
scores of institutions with relatively large standard errors are adjusted substantially toward the grand mean of all
students, while those with smaller standard errors receive smaller corrections. Thus, schools with less stable data,
though they may have high scores, may not be identified among the top scorers.
b
NSSE does not publish the names of the top 50% and top 10% institutions because of our commitment not to
release individual school results and because of issues raised in our policy against the ranking of institutions.
Page 8
First-Year
Senior
Central
Connecticut
Mean
a
Mean
a
Sig
b
Effect size
c
Mean
a
Sig
b
Effect size
c
LAC
47.2
55.3
***
-.64
57.8
***
-.83
ACL
37.8
45.3
***
-.47
48.7
***
-.63
SFI
28.4
37.1
***
-.47
40.4
***
-.62
EEE
23.0
29.5
***
-.50
32.4
***
-.70
SCE
52.4
65.2
***
-.71
68.2
***
-.87
LAC
55.1
58.8
***
-.26
63.1
***
-.59
ACL
48.8
54.3
***
-.33
57.8
***
-.51
SFI
40.1
47.4
***
-.34
54.1
***
-.64
EEE
36.6
45.6
***
-.52
50.3
***
-.78
SCE
53.4
63.1
***
-.53
66.3
***
-.69
NSSE 2007 Benchmark Comparisons
With Highly Engaging Institutions
Central Connecticut State University
Senior
First-Year
Central Connecticut compared with
NSSE 2007
Top 50%
NSSE 2007
Top 10%
Level of Academic Challenge
(LAC)
47.2
55.1
55.3
58.8
57.8
63.1
0
25
50
75
100
First-Year
Senior
Active and Collaborative Learning
(ACL)
37.8
48.8
45.3
54.3
48.7
57.8
0
25
50
75
100
First-Year
Senior
Student-Faculty Interaction
(SFI)
28.4
40.1
37.1
47.4
40.4
54.1
0
25
50
75
100
First-Year
Senior
Enriching Educational Experiences
(EEE)
23.0
36.6
29.5
45.6
32.4
50.3
0
25
50
75
100
First-Year
Senior
Supportive Campus Environment
(SCE)
52.4
53.4
65.2
63.1
68.2
66.3
0
25
50
75
100
First-Year
Senior
Top 50%
Top 10%
Legend
This display
compares your
students with those
attending schools
that scored in the top
50% and top 10% of
all NSSE 2007
institutions on the
benchmark.
Central Connecticut
a
Weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size.
b
* p<.05 ** p<.01 ***p<.001 (2-tailed).
c
Mean difference divided by comparison group standard deviation.
Page 9
First-Year Students
Mean
SD
b
SEM
c
5th
25th
50th
75th
95th
Sig.
f
LEVEL OF ACADEMIC CHALLENGE (LAC)
Central Connecticut
(N = 161)
47.2
12.9
1.0
28
39
48
56
69
Conn State System
50.8
12.9
.6
30
43
51
59
73
579
-3.6
.002
-.28
Carnegie Peers
51.1
13.3
.1
29
42
51
60
73
19,428
-3.9
.000
-.30
NSSE 2007
51.7
13.3
.0
30
43
52
61
74
70,945
-4.6
.000
-.35
Top 50%
55.3
12.7
.1
34
47
55
64
76
24,542
-8.2
.000
-.64
Top 10%
57.8
12.7
.2
37
49
58
67
78
5,826
-10.6
.000
-.83
ACTIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING (ACL)
Central Connecticut
(N = 181)
37.8
18.1
1.3
14
24
33
50
67
Conn State System
38.5
15.8
.7
14
29
38
48
67
662
-.6
.657
-.04
Carnegie Peers
41.2
16.3
.1
19
29
38
52
71
21,276
-3.4
.005
-.21
NSSE 2007
41.2
16.2
.1
19
29
38
52
71
77,633
-3.4
.004
-.21
Top 50%
45.3
16.0
.1
24
33
43
57
75
24,029
-7.5
.000
-.47
Top 10%
48.7
17.2
.3
24
38
48
58
81
4,363
-10.9
.000
-.63
STUDENT-FACULTY INTERACTION (SFI)
Central Connecticut
(N = 166)
28.4
18.7
1.4
6
17
22
39
67
Conn State System
32.5
17.2
.8
11
22
28
44
67
591
-4.1
.011
-.24
Carnegie Peers
33.0
18.0
.1
11
22
28
44
67
19,681
-4.6
.001
-.26
NSSE 2007
32.8
17.8
.1
11
22
28
44
67
71,866
-4.5
.001
-.25
Top 50%
37.1
18.5
.1
11
22
33
50
72
21,191
-8.7
.000
-.47
Top 10%
40.4
19.4
.3
11
28
39
53
78
4,134
-12.0
.000
-.62
ENRICHING EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES (EEE)
Central Connecticut
(N = 154)
23.0
13.2
1.1
6
14
21
30
50
Conn State System
24.8
12.4
.6
8
15
23
33
47
551
-1.7
.148
-.14
Carnegie Peers
25.8
12.9
.1
8
17
25
33
48
18,888
-2.8
.007
-.22
NSSE 2007
27.1
13.1
.0
8
18
26
35
50
69,167
-4.1
.000
-.31
Top 50%
29.5
13.1
.1
11
20
29
37
52
34,739
-6.5
.000
-.50
Top 10%
32.4
13.3
.2
12
23
32
41
55
6,534
-9.4
.000
-.70
SUPPORTIVE CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT (SCE)
Central Connecticut
(N = 149)
52.4
18.3
1.5
19
42
53
64
83
Conn State System
55.4
18.4
.9
25
42
56
67
86
538
-3.0
.088
-.16
Carnegie Peers
59.8
18.6
.1
28
47
61
72
92
18,427
-7.4
.000
-.40
NSSE 2007
59.9
18.6
.1
28
47
61
72
92
67,704
-7.5
.000
-.40
Top 50%
65.2
17.9
.1
33
53
67
78
94
19,756
-12.8
.000
-.71
Top 10%
68.2
18.3
.3
36
56
69
81
97
4,278
-15.8
.000
-.87
a
All statistics are weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size.
b
Standard Deviation is a measure of the average amount the individual scores deviate from the mean of all the scores in the distribution.
c
The 95% confidence interval for the population mean it is equal to the sample mean plus/minus the product of 1.96 times the standard error of the mean.
d
A percentile is the point in the distribution of student-level benchmark scores at or below which a given percentage of benchmark scores fall.
e
Degrees of freedom used to compute the t-tests. Values vary for the total Ns due to weighting and the equal variance assumption.
f
Statistical significance represents the probability that the difference between the mean of your institution and that of the comparison group occurred by chance.
g
Effect size is calculated by subtracting the comparison group mean from the school mean, and dividing the result by the standard deviation of the comparison group.
Mean Statistics
Distribution Statistics
Reference Group
Comparison Statistics
Central Connecticut State University
Percentiles
d
Mean
Diff.
Effect
size
g
NSSE 2007 Benchmark Comparisons
Detailed Statistics and Effect Sizes
a
Deg. of
Freedom
e
Page 10
Seniors
Mean
SD
b
SEM
c
5th
25th
50th
75th
95th
Sig.
f
LEVEL OF ACADEMIC CHALLENGE (LAC)
Central Connecticut
(N = 225)
55.1
15.2
1.0
32
45
55
65
80
Conn State System
56.0
14.2
1.0
33
47
56
65
78
439
-.8
.564
-.06
Carnegie Peers
55.5
14.3
.1
32
46
56
66
78
15,719
-.3
.720
-.02
NSSE 2007
55.6
14.2
.1
32
46
56
65
78
52,726
-.5
.629
-.03
Top 50%
58.8
13.8
.1
36
50
59
69
81
15,303
-3.6
.000
-.26
Top 10%
63.1
13.4
.3
40
54
64
73
84
260
-7.9
.000
-.59
ACTIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING (ACL)
Central Connecticut
(N = 242)
48.8
18.7
1.2
19
33
48
62
81
Conn State System
50.0
17.2
1.1
24
38
48
62
81
476
-1.1
.486
-.07
Carnegie Peers
50.6
17.4
.1
24
38
48
62
81
16,526
-1.8
.107
-.10
NSSE 2007
50.1
17.3
.1
24
38
48
62
81
55,596
-1.3
.256
-.07
Top 50%
54.3
16.9
.1
29
43
52
67
86
16,441
-5.5
.000
-.33
Top 10%
57.8
17.5
.3
29
48
57
71
90
3,616
-9.0
.000
-.51
STUDENT-FACULTY INTERACTION (SFI)
Central Connecticut
(N = 229)
40.1
21.0
1.4
11
22
33
50
78
Conn State System
42.2
21.0
1.4
13
28
39
56
83
447
-2.0
.311
-.10
Carnegie Peers
40.6
20.6
.2
11
28
39
56
78
15,888
-.5
.718
-.02
NSSE 2007
41.2
20.7
.1
11
28
39
56
80
53,274
-1.1
.444
-.05
Top 50%
47.4
21.2
.2
17
33
44
61
83
12,794
-7.3
.000
-.34
Top 10%
54.1
21.7
.5
22
39
56
72
94
1,793
-13.9
.000
-.64
ENRICHING EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES (EEE)
Central Connecticut
(N = 218)
36.6
19.4
1.3
10
22
33
50
75
Conn State System
37.8
17.8
1.2
11
22
37
50
69
428
-1.3
.486
-.07
Carnegie Peers
37.4
17.6
.1
11
25
36
50
68
223
-.8
.547
-.05
NSSE 2007
39.9
17.8
.1
11
26
39
52
71
219
-3.3
.012
-.19
Top 50%
45.6
17.5
.1
17
33
46
58
75
221
-9.0
.000
-.52
Top 10%
50.3
17.5
.3
21
39
51
63
79
237
-13.7
.000
-.78
SUPPORTIVE CAMPUS ENVIRONMENT (SCE)
Central Connecticut
(N = 215)
53.4
18.5
1.3
22
42
53
64
83
Conn State System
53.1
19.9
1.4
19
39
53
67
88
422
.3
.883
.01
Carnegie Peers
57.1
19.2
.2
25
44
58
69
89
15,155
-3.7
.005
-.19
NSSE 2007
56.9
19.1
.1
25
44
58
69
89
51,020
-3.5
.007
-.19
Top 50%
63.1
18.5
.2
31
50
64
75
94
13,395
-9.7
.000
-.53
Top 10%
66.3
18.6
.3
33
53
67
81
94
3,494
-12.9
.000
-.69
a
All statistics are weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size.
b
Standard Deviation is a measure of the average amount the individual scores deviate from the mean of all the scores in the distribution.
c
The 95% confidence interval for the population mean it is equal to the sample mean plus/minus the product of 1.96 times the standard error of the mean.
d
A percentile is the point in the distribution of student-level benchmark scores at or below which a given percentage of benchmark scores fall.
e
Degrees of freedom used to compute the t-tests. Values vary for the total Ns due to weighting and the equal variance assumption.
f
Statistical significance represents the probability that the difference between the mean of your institution and that of the comparison group occurred by chance.
g
Effect size is calculated by subtracting the comparison group mean from the school mean, and dividing the result by the standard deviation of the comparison group.