ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the five core learner-centered commitments that work interdependently to form a canvas of learner-centered commitments that stretches across an outcomes-based framework. Lessons learned from multi-institutional projects focused on measurably improving persistence, achievement, and graduation rates for historically underrepresented students underscore the significance of institution or system leaders’ essential role in anchoring a shared commitment to these ends. Outcomes-based frameworks provide an institution and its programs with a shared macro-level language. Determining what quality performance looks like in students’ authentic work and tracking students’ progress toward demonstrating quality, however, require another level of collaborative agreement. Professional development experts are important contributors to the design or redesign of courses, syllabi, and education experiences that follow the principles of coherence and alignment. The chapter presents a case study illustrating how shortcomings in one or more of these commitments lead to inequitable attention to all currently enrolled students.
