Cal State Fullerton
March 22, 2013
Why Are We Assessing?
Linda Suskie
Assessment & Accreditation Consultant
http://linda.suskie.home.comcast.net
Linda.Suskie@comcast.net
What Do We Mean by
“Assessing”?
• Deciding what we
want our students
to learn
• Making sure they
learn it!
--Jane Wolfson, Director, Environmental Science &
Studies Program, Towson University
The Teaching-Learning-Assessment Cycle
Learning
Opportunities
Learning
Goals
Assessment
Using Results
Student-Level Assessment
• Assesses individual students on course-level goals
• Tests & assignments, summarized into a grade
• Generally in isolation
Course-Level Assessment
• Assesses students as a whole on course-level
goals
• Tests and assignments, with item scores
aggregated across students
– And across sections
• In isolation or collaboratively
Program-Level Assessment
• Assesses students as a whole on program-level
goals
•
•
•
•
Tests & assignments in capstones & key courses
Field experience supervisor evaluations
Portfolios
Published tests, surveys, interviews, etc.
• Collaboratively
General Education Assessment
• Assesses students as a whole on
general education goals
•
•
•
•
Tests and assignments in key courses
Portfolios
Published tests
Surveys, interviews, etc.
• Collaboratively
What the Heck
is Going on
with
Accountability
&
Accreditation?
The US Accreditation “System”
•
•
•
•
Regional accreditors
National accreditors
Specialized accreditors
State licensure
• All accreditors voluntary, membership-controlled
WA
ME
ND
MT
VT
MN
OR
NY
WI
SD
ID
MI
WY
PA
NV
OH
IL
KS
MO
VA
NC
AZ
OK
NM
NJ
•
Middle States Commission
on Higher Ed, MSCHE
•
Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools, SACS
•
Higher Learning
Commission of the North
Central Association of
Schools and Colleges, HLC
•
Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities,
NWCCU
•
Western Association of
Schools and Colleges,
WASC
MD
KY
CA
New England Association of
Schools and Colleges,
NEASC
RI
DE
IN
WV
CO
•
CT
IA
NE
UT
NH
MA
DC
TN
SC
AR
MS
AL
GA
LA
TX
FL
AK
HI
1965 Higher Education
Opportunity Act (HEOA)
• Title IV funds go only to colleges accredited by
Federally recognized accreditors.
• Accreditors must comply with HEOA criteria to
be recognized.
1980s and 1990s
• HEOA reauthorization
– 1986: First outcomes
assessment language
– 1998: Assessment
language strengthened
– Regional accreditors
rewrote standards to
emphasize student
learning assessment
• “Learning-centered”
movement
– 1980s: Movement—and
assessment
movement—began
– 1995: Barr & Tagg’s
seminal article in
Change published
– Research on what
promotes student
learning & success
Recent Decades: A Changing World
• Shifting public policy
– Higher education more private than public good
– Students pay more and expect money’s worth
• Broadening market for higher education
– Most well-paying jobs require post-secondary
education.
– “Money’s worth” is better pay.
• Not necessarily a richer education
2000s: Calls for Accountability
• 2007 Spellings Commission
• 2008 Higher Education Act negotiations
• National Advisory Committee on
Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI)
• Collegiate Learning Assessment
2000s: Calls for Accountability
• Public information on quality & effectiveness
– Transparent - easy to find & understand
• Systematic information, not anecdotes
• Comparable assessments
• Value-added assessments
2008 HEOA Requires Accreditors
to Require…
• Success with respect to student achievement in
relation to the institution’s mission,
• which may include different standards for
different institutions or programs, as established
by the institution,
• including, as appropriate,
– consideration of state licensing examinations,
– consideration of course completion, and
– job placement rates.
Will Assessment Ever Go Away?
• Federal regulations
• Other calls &
mandates for
accountability
• “Learningcentered” focus
Why Should We Assess?
1. Give individual students feedback & grades.
2. Make sure our students are getting the best
possible education.
3. Tell the world how good we are.
– And what we’re doing to get even better.
4. Make sure we’re using limited resources
effectively.
Keeping Our Promises
• We help students learn what we
promise.
• Our graduates have learned what we
promise.
• We are prudent stewards of other
people’s money.
Using Assessment
to Make Sure
Students are Getting
the Best Possible Education
How can we keep assessment
good for our students?
Keep It Useful...and Used.
Focus on what you most want
students to learn.
Understand Why You Want
Students to Learn Those Things
• How will your course affect your
students’ lives 5-10 years from now?
• After they graduate
– What should they be prepared to do?
– How should they use what they learn?
Have Clear, Appropriately
Rigorous, Justifiable Standards
• What are your standards for success?
– What is an “A” paper? “C” paper? Why?
• Are they appropriately rigorous?
• Externally informed?
– Peers
– Employers
– Disciplinary associations
Make Sure Your Curricula
Address Your Big Goals
• Multiple opportunities to achieve key goals
– Course goals
•Multiple classwork & assignments
– Program goals
•Multiple courses
– Gen Ed goals
•Multiple courses
This is what
you’ll learn.
1.
2.
3.
This is how
you’ll learn it.
This is how
you’ll show
that you’ve
learned it.
Use a Variety of
Assessment Strategies & Tools
• Writing
• Group projects & presentations
• Hands-on demonstrations & performances
• Visual presentations
– Charts, graphs, website, PowerPoint
• Multiple choice tests
See Teaching
—Including Assessment—
as a Perpetual Work in Progress.
• A perpetual pilot study
• “Action research”
Communicate & Collaborate
with Colleagues
• Others teaching your course
• In your program
• Cohort programs
• Co-curricular programs
• Institution-wide
• Students
Keep an Eye on the
Cost-Effectiveness of Assessment
– Time and money
• Has this assessment been useful?
• Has its value been in proportion to
the time and money put into it?
Why Are We Assessing?
• Giving individual feedback & grades
• Providing the best possible education
• Stewardship
• Keeping our promises