2013-14
Virginia Commonwealth University
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
ASSESSMENT PLAN
DEVELOPMENT KIT FOR
UNDERGRADUATE AND
GRADUATE CURRICULUM
PROPOSALS
A handbook of practical information
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0
Introduction
This “Assessment Development Kit” provides explanations and worksheets the elements of an
assessment plan. The “kit” can be used to replace, update, or to develop a new plan for
assessing expected student learning. The following list comprises these required elements:
Element
pages attachments
Mission Statement
Goals for the Program
Outcomes/Objectives for Expected Student Learning
Measures of the Expected Learning
Targets for Student Achievement
Curriculum Map
Implementation/Administration Plan
The “kit” contains examples of complete assessment plans for degree programs at VCU and an
empty template to be used for assembling and presenting a new or revised assessment plan.
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013
Page | 1
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0
Assessment and Curriculum: Actions and Procedures
The Office of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness reviews and approves assessment
planning for the following curricular proposal actions:
1. A proposal to revise existing curriculum, including the addition and deletion of courses.
2. A proposal for a new SCHEV approved certificate, baccalaureate degree, or graduate
degree.
Required Procedures
1. When proposing to revise existing curriculum, complete the following:

Contact the Director of Assessment to review the current assessment plan in
WEAVE. The findings will support one of the following recommendations.
Finding
Assessment plan is current;
findings are up-to-date
Assessment plan is current
but findings are incomplete
Assessment plan is not up
to date or is incomplete
Action
Assessment Director Signature
Action required for signature approval:
Develop an action plan for ongoing, sustainable assessment
and reporting (Attachments I, J, K; see History Assessment
Plan, Attachment M)
Action required for approval: Prepare Plan to Assess Student
Learning Outcomes including an action plan for administering
the assessment plan (Attachment N)

Obtain signature approval from the Director of Assessment on the Signature Sheet
PRIOR to submitting the proposal to the school/college curriculum committee.

Upon approval from the appropriate university level curriculum committee (UUCC or
P&C), arrange with the Director of Assessment to enter the revised assessment plan
into WEAVEonline.
2. When proposing a new, SCHEV approved certificate, baccalaureate degree, or graduate
degree complete the following:

In consultation with the Director of Assessment, use the Assessment Plan
Development Kit to prepare the following elements of a plan to assess student
learning outcomes.
 Mission statement
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013
Page | 2
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0






Goals for the program
Objectives/Outcomes for student learning
Measures of student learning
Expected targets
Curriculum Map
Implementation/Administration Plan

Complete the Plan to Assess Student Learning Outcomes (Attachment N) PRIOR to
submitting the New or revised curriculum proposal to the University Undergraduate
Curriculum Committee or the Graduate Programs and Courses Committee.

Obtain the Director of Assessment’s approval on the Signature Sheet.

Upon approval from the appropriate university level curriculum committee (UUCC or
P&C), arrange with the Director of Assessment to enter the assessment plan for the
new degree in to WEAVEonline.
Required: Mission Statement
Mission/Purpose statements name a department’s or program’s purposes for existing.
Normally, these statements present the broadest perspective on what the unit or program does
and what it intends to achieve. Often a mission statement carries an implicit statement of
values as well as the relationship the unit or program has to the institution as a whole.
A useful mission/purpose statement identifies what the program will help students achieve and
states how the program contributes to its wider communities.
Some program accreditors provide explicit directions for mission/program statements. These
programs do not need to create additional language. All other programs should have a
mission/purpose statement.
Attachment A: Writing a Mission Statement
Required: Goals for the Degree Program and Expected Outcomes for Student
Learning
Goals are broad statements about the desired ends of a university, college, school, department,
office, program, or course. Goals are usually too general to actually guide assessment practice,
but they can provide a bridge between the mission statement and the outcomes.
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013
Page | 3
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0
Outcomes/Objectives name the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students are expected to
develop via the curriculum. Outcomes/objectives are concrete and concise, naming what
students should be able to demonstrate upon completing a course, a program, or a degree.
Well written outcome/objective statements




Use action verbs that name what students should know and know how to do over time.
Focus on what students should do, not on what the instructor teaches.
Serve as guidelines for content, instruction, and grading.
Convey to learners exactly what is to be accomplished.
Is it a goal or is it an outcome? Goals are general; outcomes are specific. Frequently, goals are
about the program and outcomes are about the students’ demonstrated learning. Consider the
following excerpt from VCU assessment plans for a graduate degree program:
(Program) Goals
The PHD program in _______ prepares
students to be effective communicators.
The PHD program in ________ provides
rigorous learning experiences leading to strong
research competencies.
(Student Learning) Outcomes
Students will write effectively in appropriate genres for
a variety of audiences.
Students will speak effectively in a variety of contexts
and occasions.
Students will accurately analyze and critically interpret
quantitative and qualitative data.
Students will synthesize a set of diverse, complex
research studies into well-organize literature reviews.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the
major scholarly and practitioner journals in their fields.
Attachment B: Writing Student Learning Outcomes
Attachment C: Bloom & Anderson’s Taxonomy
Align outcome statements with VCU General Education Core Competencies (for
undergraduate degrees only). Aligning outcomes with VCU General Education Core
Competencies demonstrates how a degree program contributes to the general education
mission of the university. NOTE: Concerning the VCU General Education Core Competencies:
a program does not need to have an aligned student learning outcome for each competency.
Attachment D: Aligning Outcomes to VCU General Education Core Competencies
Required: Measures of Expected Student Learning
Measures of student learning are the assessments of student learning.
 Direct measures provide concrete evidence of what students have learned. For
example, a direct measure of quantitative literacy could be a standardized test taken
outside of class or an assignment in a class to pose and solve a problem using
quantitative methods.
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013
Page | 4
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0
 Indirect measures are student perceptions of how well they have achieved the
outcomes. Examples include surveys and interviews.
 A measure/assessment that is not part of the course and for which students receive no
graded credit is an “add-on measure.”
 A measure/assessment that is part of a course, such as a capstone project or a
performance, is an “embedded measure.”
See Attachment E for lists of direct and indirect, and embedded and add-on measures.
Measures need to be aligned with the outcomes. In other words, the link between the
assessment method or measure and the desired learning outcomes must make sense. For
example, public speaking skills cannot be assessed with an essay. Writing effectively cannot be
assessed with a multiple choice exam. Uses of nationally normed tests need to be reviewed for
alignment with the learning outcomes. Alignment of the assessment measures is, for the most
part, common sense: does the method measure what has been taught?
See Attachment F for an example of measures aligned to outcomes and goals.
Required: Curriculum Map
Maps guide us through our travels. Likewise, a curriculum map is an important and useful
reference tool in the hands of students and faculty. If students and faculty have access to and
use the map, then they can better understand the design and purpose of the curriculum. When
students see connections between their learning experiences, their learning is deeper and
more lasting.
The tool most frequently used to assess the intentionality of the program is a curriculum map,
a simple matrix that illustrates in which courses the learning outcomes are taught. We use road
maps to plot a route to where we want to go. Likewise, a curriculum map is a powerful tool to
plot the route through the curriculum.
A curriculum map identifies where outcomes are intentionally supported, areas of overlap, and
outcomes that have been overlooked.
Students need multiple opportunities to develop and practice applying knowledge and skills.
Any curriculum should have a developmental arch for learning outcomes, from introductory
level to appropriate levels of mastery upon graduation.
0-this course does not teach this outcome
1-this course introduces students to this outcome
2-this course gives students opportunities to practice this outcome
3-this course provides students opportunities to demonstrate mastery of this
outcome
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013
Page | 5
Assessment Plan Development Kit 2.0
A Google search for curriculum map will yield other coding schemes.
Attachment G: Sample Curriculum Map
Attachment H: Curriculum Map Template
Page | 6
Required: Implementing and Administering the Plan to Assess Expected Student
Learning
The success of the plan for assessing expected student learning depends upon implementation
and administration. What actions need to be taken? Who will follow through? Who oversees
or coordinates? When will actions be completed? Asking and answering these simple
questions are necessary.
Attachment I: Implementing and Administering the Assessment Plan
Improving Student Learning
Discussion among the faculty about assessment findings is crucial. Has the department or
program defined a process or procedure for bringing faculty together annually to discuss
student learning, the curriculum, and assessment findings?
The most daunting aspect of assessment is “closing the loop.” It is common for programs,
colleges, and universities to collect mountains of data but not commit themselves to using the
data to inform change. Susan Hatfield, from Winona State University in Minnesota, explains
that using assessment findings to inform change is challenging “because in many cases, the
program already takes into account student performance and adjusts the curriculum and
teaching methods accordingly . . . Some changes are the result of personnel decisions, collegewide initiatives, changes in enrollment, leadership agendas, and simply intuition. These
changes, however, are not substitutes for the systematic analysis of program-level student
learning outcomes.”
Attachment J: Discussing Assessment Findings
Attachment K: Using Assessment Findings
References
Maki, Peggy. Assessing for Learning, 2nd ed. Sterling VA: Stylus. 2010.
Suskie, Linda. Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2009.
Walvoord, Barbara. Assessment Clear and Simple. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 2004.
Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness
Office of Planning and Decision Support
September, 2013