Closing The Loop On Assessment (original) (raw)

A perspective on good practice in community college assessment

New Directions for Community Colleges, 2004

Community colleges are increasingly pressed to develop assessment approaches of genuine value to students, faculty, and other stakeholders. Numerous institutional examples illustrate a set of principles for good practice in planning, implementing, and sustaining community college assessment.

Assessment in Community Colleges: Setting the Standard for Higher Education?

1999

This booklet opens with a list of the features that society now demands from higher education and then describes approaches to assessing the community college mission. Twenty-first century expectations for higher education are being shaped by: (1) a change in focus from teaching to learning; (2) the need to base credentials on demonstrated competence; (3) a demonstration of the value added by higher education; (4) the need to deliver workforce training; (5) the use of technology in instruction; (6) the needs of the community; and (7) the effectiveness of strategic alliances. The author addresses assessment in connection with four aspects of the community college mission: general education, career and occupational education, continuing education, and transfer to four-year institutions Also explored are processes for assessing institutional effectiveness, uses of assessment findings, and principles for successful assessment. Through analysis of assessment efforts in the community college setting, faculty and administrators at both two-and four-year institutions may find successful models for improving the assessment of student learning as well as curricula, instruction, and support services. (Contains 23 references.) (VWC) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. recognition in 1997 by the American Productivity and Quality Center for leadership of one of six programs exemplifying best practice in using management information in decision-making.

Assessment and Testing: Myths and Realities. New Directions for Community Colleges, Number 88

New Directions For Community Colleges, 1994

No part of this issue may be reproduced in any formexcept for a brief quination (not to exceed 500 words) in a review or professional work without permission in writing from the publishers. Microfilm copies of issues and arucks are available in 16111111 and 35min. as m ell as nucnifiche in 105111m, through University M8rofilms Inc.. 300 North Zech Road. Ann Arbor. NItchigan 48106-1346.

Design, Results, and Analysis of Assessment Components In a Nine-Course CAC

The case for assessment of college writing programs no longer needs to be made. Although none of us would have chosen the words, we all have come to accept the truth of Roger Debreceny's words: the "free ride" for America's colleges and universities is indeed over (1). All writing programs face difficulties in selecting the means for the most effective evaluations for their individual programs. Key concerns include how appropriately, practically, and cost effectively various assessment tools address this problem.

Lessons learned while conducting educational program assessment

2010

Assessment, accountability, and strategic planning are all processes that are included in accreditation for colleges and universities. For most colleges and universities, starting the reaffirmation process means identifying current assessment practices and reports from academic units and programs. This paper discusses the lessons learned during a successful completion of the reaffirmation process with a regional accreditation entity. The authors will present a model that includes an understanding of strategic planning, inclusion of faculty at all levels and affirms continuous learning and involvement in a dynamic process. Also included in the paper are additional tips and observations found useful by the authors and that could be useful to the reader.

Assessment at the program level

New Directions for Community Colleges, 2004

Program-level assessments at community colleges are particularly challenging because students often achieve their goals without completing a program or select an array of courses that suit their needs but do not fit within an officially recognized program of study.

THE COLLEGIATE LEARNING ASSESSMENT: FACTS AND FANTASIES

Learning Assessment (CLA) as one of " the most comprehensive national efforts to measure how much students actually learn at different campuses " and that the CLA, " promotes a culture of evidence-based assessment in higher education " (p. 22). The Commission went on to recommend that " higher education institutions should measure student learning using quality assessment data from instruments such as, for example, the Collegiate Learning Assessment, which measures the growth of student learning taking place in colleges… " (p. 23). The Association of American Colleges and Universities concurred, as did the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) (2006, p. 4): The best example of direct value-added assessment is the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), an outgrowth of RAND's Value Added Assessment Initiative (VAAI) that has been available to colleges and universities since spring 2004. The test goes beyond a multiple-choice format and poses real-world performance tasks that require students to analyze complex material and provide written responses (such as preparing a memo or policy recommendation). When a relatively novel assessment of student learning receives this kind of praise and attention, it rightfully gets put under the microscope. Questions are raised about what it measures, its technical qualities, and its usefulness. Committees review the instruments, and opinions are formed about their strengths and weaknesses, sometimes by their competitors, rightly or wrongly. The CLA is a case in point. For example, Banta and Pike (2007) have raised questions about the appropriateness of the CLA's value added approach to learning assessment. And Kuh (2006) has expressed concerns about the CLA's reliability and utility. Consequently, the time seems right to present, albeit briefly, the approach the CLA program takes to assessment and score reporting, the types of measures it uses, the similarities and differences between the CLA approach and the methods used by other large-scale programs, and finally, some of the important statistical properties of the CLA's measures, including their reliability.