EKU Quality Enhancement Plan

Eastern Kentucky University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Read with Purpose, seeks to develop critical readers who are guided by purposeful inquiry; as such, it reinforces the university’s current emphasis on promoting metacognitive strategies to foster deep learning.

The QEP is also grounded in EKU’s strategic vision, “Make No Little Plans: A Vision for 2020,” which commits to “maintaining and enhancing the critical and creative thinking” initiatives that were the focus of the previous QEP. More intentional cultivation of students’ critical reading ability will support this ongoing commitment by helping students transition to the kind of purposeful reading that marks scholarly inquiry and academic and professional achievement. University leaders, faculty, staff and students agree that developing students’ critical reading ability will improve student learning and academic success at EKU.

Read with Purpose is guided by a central goal and three Student Learning Outcomes that will provide the measure of success:

Student Learning Goal:

The goal of the QEP is to develop critical readers through the use of metacognitive strategies.

Student Learning Outcomes:

• Students will demonstrate critical reading of academic texts and materials.
• Students will report awareness of metacognitive reading strategies.
• Students will express confidence in their abilities as critical readers.

To achieve these outcomes, EKU faculty, staff and student leaders will use and teach metacognitive strategies that promote critical reading. Through online resources, in-person workshops, professional learning communities and scholarly projects, EKU instructors will explore and develop innovative pedagogies to help students analyze, synthesize and evaluate texts across disciplines.

Direct instruction and support of metacognitive practices will help students read with purpose and develop the critical reading skills needed for deep learning. Ultimately, the work of the QEP will contribute to EKU’s mission, which seeks to prepare “students to contribute to the success and vitality of their communities, the Commonwealth, and the world.”