ACE, Strada Education Network to Explore How Effective College Instruction Can Lead to Greater Student Success

October 19, 2016

​ACE and Strada Education Network¹ today announced a groundbreaking collaboration to examine higher education instruction and assess the connections between quality teaching and student success.

A $1 million Strada Education Network grant will enable ACE to conduct cutting-edge research designed to increase the understanding of what instructors can do to generate the type of learning gains that lead to higher attainment rates and help institutions meet their academic goals and produce college graduates who are attractive candidates to employers.

With a particular focus on contingent faculty, who comprise the majority of today’s instructors at many institutions and often bring valuable practical knowledge to the classroom but lack instructional training, this endeavor will study the connections between more effective pedagogical approaches to improved student outcomes and the potential impact on higher education.

In addition, it will determine benchmarks for quality, scalable faculty development methods to equip more instructors with enhanced teaching skills.

“We are pleased to partner with Strada Education Network on a project that promises to yield such enormous benefits for all of American higher education,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “Charting an innovative path forward in the area of effective higher education instruction is integral to ACE’s historic mission of ensuring that colleges and universities have the institutional capacity to help all students gain a high-quality postsecondary education.”

The project is an example of Strada Education Network's new direction in support of Completion With a Purpose^®, which aims to enhance postsecondary education completion rates while also helping graduates more successfully launch into rewarding careers. This new direction builds upon and complements Strada Education Network'ss historic work in support of postsecondary education access and success.

“This initiative addresses one of the most critical issues in higher education–quality teaching,” said Strada Education Network President and CEO William D. Hansen. “Research closely links quality instruction and faculty-student engagement with success in college and graduates’ success in careers and overall well-being in life following graduation. With more than 70 percent of all college instruction now delivered by non-tenure-track faculty, equipping contingent faculty with evidence-based best practices for instruction is key to the effort to enhance student success in both college and career.”