DEVELOPING A DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION IN U.S. HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION \ud AT COLLEGE FOR AMERICA

Direct assessment competency-based education (CBE) is an online, self-directed learning innovation that is disrupting higher education. This study examined the development and early diffusion of direct assessment CBE at a private, nonprofit university. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the presence of organizational factors and the ways in which they affect planning, development, quality assurance, and delivery of the direct assessment CBE learning model. This study was conducted at Southern New Hampshire University’s College for America (CfA). Ten executive leaders and CfA administrators were interviewed during this study. The interview guide was designed to elicit participants’ perceptions of the mission and vision of CfA, the involvement of external stakeholders in CfA’s development, strategies and challenges considered during CfA’s planning and implementation, the organizational structure and dissemination of resources between CfA and the university, critical success factors affecting CfA’s development, practices to ensure that quality learning and demonstration of learning occur, and how success is measured and evaluated. \ud \ud The researcher found that the missions of SNHU and CfA seem strongly aligned in support of student success and innovative learning models. CfA’s culture incorporates these mission-oriented values as well as an appreciation for emergent, iterative improvement within an ongoing cycle of effort and feedback. This cycle is evident in CfA’s direct assessment learning model and promotes organizational learning across its employees. A strategic vision and implementation process for CfA were evident, following steps from Clayton Christensen’s disruptive innovation theory. Moreover, a balance between employee autonomy, leadership support, organizational decentralization, and dedicated resources (at the university and divisional level) were among the factors respondents consider critical to CfA’s development. \ud \ud The findings suggest that organizational factors did influence the adoption and development of direct assessment CBE at College for America. Accordingly, leaders who are in the planning stages of an innovative project should contemplate their organization’s culture, how the organization is structured, the resources available to support the project, the extent to which project staff roles will depart from traditional employee roles within the institution, and how much autonomy and leadership support will be given to individuals in these roles