The Basics of
ASSESSMENT
WHY DO ASSESSMENT?
The ACCJC requires it for accreditation
 To report it on program review
 To make course outlines more relevant (SLOs,
assignments, reading, etc.)
 To refine assignments, tests, and explanations
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WHY DO ASSESSMENT?
To improve student learning!
WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
Assessment of student learning can be defined
as the systematic collection of information
about student learning, using the time,
knowledge, enterprise, and resources
available, in order to inform decisions about
how to improve learning (Walvoord 2004).
 Assessment is a kind of "action research,"
intended to inform local action.
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WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
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Educational situations contain too many variables to make "proof"
possible. Therefore, assessment gathers indicators that will be
useful for decision making.
Assessment does not limit itself only to learning that can be
objectively tested. Rather, a department can state its highest goals,
including goals such as students' ethical development,
understanding of diversity, and the like. Then it can seek the best
available indicators about whether those goals are being met.
Assessment means basing decisions about curriculum, pedagogy,
staffing, advising, and student support upon the best possible data
about student learning and the factors that affect it.
A great deal of assessment is already occurring in responsible
classrooms, departments, and institutions, though we have not
always called it that.
WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
 Can
be course or program level
 Three basic steps:
Articulate
your goals
Gather evidence about how well
students are meeting these goals
Use the information for improvement
WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
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Basic principles of assessment (AAHE)
The assessment of student learning begins with
educational values. Assessment is not an end in itself
but a vehicle for educational improvement.
 Assessment is most effective when it reflects an
understanding of learning as multidimensional,
integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
 Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to
improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.
 Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also
and equally to the experiences that lead to those
outcomes
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WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?
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Basic principles (continued)
 Assessment
works best when it is ongoing not
episodic. Assessment is a process whose power is
cumulative.
 Assessment fosters wider improvement when
representatives from across the educational
community are involved.
 Assessment makes a difference when it begins with
issues of use and illuminates questions that people
really care about.
WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?

Basic principles (continued)
 Assessment
is most likely to lead to improvement
when it is part of a larger set of conditions that
promote change. Assessment alone changes little.
Its greatest contribution comes on campuses where
the quality of teaching and learning is visibly valued
and worked at.
 Through assessment, educators meet
responsibilities to students and to the public.
QUESTIONS BEFORE WE GO ON TO “HOW”?
THE “HOW” PART
It’s critical that assessment remain in the
hands of faculty (for assessment of courses
and academic programs) and student services
staff (for assessment of student services)
 Not everything needs to be assessed at once
 Pick something and just get started
 Once you’ve gotten started, formulate a basic
plan on how/ when other classes/ programs
will be assessed
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COURSE LEVEL ASSESSMENT
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Communicate with/ meet with faculty in the discipline
district-wide
Select a course(s) to target
Select an SLO(s) to target
Design/ select a means to assess the SLO(s)
Gather artifacts
Design a rubric and practice norming
Score/ evaluate artifacts
Record and report
Internal vs. external reporting of data
Make adjustments based upon findings
Continue the cycle
RECORDING ASSESSMENT FOR EACH SECTION
REPORTING COURSE LEVEL ASSESSMENT
PROGRAM LEVEL ASSESSMENT
Need to define programs
 GE outcomes
 Liberal Arts AA degree outcomes
 Certificates
 Occupational
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GE OUTCOMES - PHILOSOPHY
GE PROGRAM OUTCOMES
GE PROGRAM OUTCOMES (CONTINUED)
GE PROGRAM OUTCOMES (CONTINUED)
LIBERAL ARTS AA SLOS
LIBERAL ARTS AA SLOS (CONTINUED)
TRACKING SLOS BY COURSE FOR PROGRAM
SLO1
CRS 1
SLO2
X
CRS 2
X
CRS 3
SLO3
SLO4
X
X
X
X
X
CRS 4
X
CRS 5
X
SLO5
X
X
X
X
X
X
SLO1
CRS 1
SLO2
B
CRS 2
B
CRS 3
SLO3
SLO4
B
B
I
B
CRS 4
I
CRS 5
I
B
I
I
I
M
SLO5
M
I
FOR HELP…
Assessment coordinator
 Assessment committee being formed
 Curriculum Committee – SLO advice
 Assessment books
 Convocation workshop
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IN SUM
Just start somewhere
 Collaborate with colleagues
 Make it your own
 Make it relevant/ useful
 Apply the results
 Remember that it’s a continuous cycle
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Many thanks to Susan Nordlof and the other members of the original A-Team
for getting CR started with assessment and compiling much of the material
used in this presentation.