Development of an Assessment Plan
Contents:
Nine Principles
- "Nine Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student
Learning" (Astin, A, Banta, T., Cross, P., El-Khawas, E.,
Ewell, P., Hutchings, P., Marchese, T., McClenney, K.,
Mentkowski, M., Miller, M., Moran, E., and Wright, B.
(2003), American Association for Higher Education Assessment
Forum, AAHE, Washington, D.C.)
- The assessment of student learning begins with
educational values.
- assessment is a vehicle for educational
improvement.
- assessment is driven by what we most value for
students to learn and gain from their experience
with us.
- Assessment is most effective when it reflects an
understanding of learning as multidimensional,
integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
- learning entails what students know and what
they can do with what they know
- use of diverse methods for assessment
- use of measurements over time to reveal change
and growth
- Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to
improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.
- assessment is a goal-oriented process.
- clear, shared goals and goals that can be
implemented are the cornerstone of assessment that
is focused and useful
- Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also
and equally to the experiences that lead to those
outcomes.
- we need to know where students end up, but also
how they develop along the way
- assessment helps us see how students learn best
- Assessment works best when it is ongoing, not
episodic.
- assessment is a process whose power is
cumulative
- monitor progress toward intended goals in a
spirit of continuous improvement
- 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.
- assessment results in evidence that is relevant
and people will find the results to be credible,
suggestive, and applicable to decisions that need to
be made.
- it is a process that starts with the questions
of decision-makers, that involves them in the
gathering and interpreting of data, and that informs
and helps guide continuous improvement.
- Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement
when it is part of a larger set of conditions that
promote change.
- when the campus values continuous improvement,
assessment results will be sought out
- Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities
to students and to the public.
- we have an obligation to the public to improve
- the public has an obligation to support our
efforts to improve
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Developing a Strategic Plan for Assessment
Note: See the workshop titled "Building an Assessment Plan"
for more information.
- Assessment begins with knowing what you want
- Define your assessment vision: what do you hope to
accomplish?
- Where are we going?
- What have we accomplished so far?
- Define the vision in a short statement that inspires
and motivates others
- Have a wide-ranging discussion that includes how
this assessment vision fits into the larger vision of
Student Affairs and the University
- Consult with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the
University
- Dr. Sandra Holmes of the Psychology Department is
chair of the IRB
- She will provide guidelines for ensuring protection
for participants in research
- Review the type of resources that exist
- Decide on a guiding model, such as the Context, Input,
Process, and Product model (The CIPP Model of Daniel
Stufflebeam) of planning and evaluation (From: Stufflebeam,
D. 2001, Evaluation Models; and Rodgers, R., 1979, "A
Student Affairs Application of the CIPP Evaluation Model",
in Kuh, G. Evaluation in Student Affairs, 1979).
- Examples of other evaluation models
- objectives based studies
- objective testing programs
- outcome evaluation as value-added assessment
- performance testing
- experimental studies
- management information systems
- benefit-cost analysis approach
- case study evaluations
- accreditation/certification approach
- Operationalize your plan: assign responsibilities and
roles
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Defining Your Assessment Vision
- Determine who will be the audience for the results
- Determine the appropriate format(s) of the study
- Involve the key stakeholders in the planning of the
study and allow them to review the instrument drafts
- Example of an assessment vision from Syracuse University
Office of Residence Life: "To develop and enhance our
efforts to gather, analyze, and interpret evidence which
describes institutional, divisional, departmental, or unit
effectiveness."
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Developing an Assessment Model Tied To Your Planning Model
- Describe your departmental mission, vision, priorities,
and values
- Mission: This mission is the concise statement of
the unique, current, and future purposes of the
organization or program (Why do we exist and where are
we going?)
- needs to be concise
- what does the department stand for?
- what does the department do for our students?
- what impact do you have on your students vs.
what programs do you offer
- Vision (Example: ("Changing Lives at UWSP")
- compelling
- inspirational
- calls people to change
- offers a "sound bite"
- Values
- what does your department value?
- Priorities
- based on your department’s vision, mission, and
values, what are your priorities?
- Are these priorities connected to budget
decisions?
- Goals: general description of ultimate intended
benefits or results or desired outcomes for the program
(what core issues and values does the program address?)
- Objectives: measurable statements about specific
intended outcomes that a particular program activity or
service is expected to accomplish in a given time
period.
- has a target group (who)
- has what is to be done (program)
- has a time frame (when)
- has a target performance (how much)
- has a measurement (how it will be measured)
- Objectives that are useful should:
- tell who
- is going to be doing what
- when
- how much, and
- how we will measure it
- Checklist for Evaluating Written Objectives (Ball
State University, "Handbook of Assessment?")
- uses action verbs that specify definite,
observable behaviors
- uses simple language
- describes student rather than staff behavior
- describes a learning outcome rather than a
learning process
- indicates a single outcome per objective
- can be assessed by one or more indicators
(methods)
- is clearly linked to a goal
- is realistic and attainable
- is not simple when complexity is needed
- is clear to people outside the department
- is validated by departmental colleagues
- Example of A Goal and Objective (Anti-Smoking Program)
(From: Grayson, T., "Constructing Logic Models", 2000,
University of Illinois)
- Goal: The life-expectancy of all Americans will
increase to 76 years of age by the year 2020 without
creating any economic downturns in the Nation’s economy.
- Objective: To reduce the number of all teenage
smokers by implementing a Nationally funded anti-smoking
initiative starting in the year 2000 and continuing
until the year 2020, by 98%, as measured by a stratified
random sampling of teenagers each year, beginning in the
year 2000.
- Example of Goal and Objective (Get Ready Program) (From:
Grayson, T., "Constructing Logic Models", 2000, University
of Illinois)
- Goal: Ensure that all individuals with disabilities
acquire self-determination skills necessary for gainful
employment or post-secondary schooling after graduation
from high school.
- Objective: To increase the number of high school
graduates with disabilities securing gainful employment
or entering post-secondary schools within 6 months after
graduation by developing and implementing the Get Ready
Program in all secondary schools in Champaign County.
- Evolution of a Good Objective (From: Grayson, T.,
"Constructing Logic Models", 2000, University of Illinois)
- Stage 1: To increase the reading skills of at risk
students (customer and expected result)
- Stage 2: To increase the reading skills of at risk
students ages 14 to 18 (specific target)
- Stage 3: To increase the reading skills of at risk
students, ages 14 to 18, through tutoring (the program)
- Stage 4: To increase the reading skills of at risk
students, ages 14 to 18, through tutoring, as measured
by the performance on the school district’s reading
comprehension test (means of measuring results)
- Stage 5: to increase the reading skills of at risk
students, ages 14 to 18, through tutoring, as measured
by performance on the school district’s reading
comprehension test to be administered before and after
the program (when the results are expected)
- Stage 6: To increase the reading skill of at risk
students, ages 14 to 18, through tutoring, and as
measured by an average increase of five percent on the
school district’s reading comprehension test to be
administered before and after the program (the standard
of success)
- Stage 7: To increase the reading skills of 25 at
risk students, ages 14 to 18, through tutoring, and as
measured by an average increase of five percent on the
school district’s reading comprehension test to be
administered before and after the program (the number of
program recipients)
- Describe your strategic objective
- Learning outcomes
- Service outcomes
- Program outcomes
- Behavioral indicators
- Key performance indicators
- Describe the activity or program that is designed to
impact students
- A program is an intentional use of resources to
support specific strategies or activities to produce
defined results to address strategic problems to achieve
the department’s mission
- Activities such as training, outreach, maintenance,
and management are major strategies.
- What is to be done to achieve our intended goals and
mission?
- Direct products of the program activities could
include number of individuals served or the number of
training sessions served
- How much do you do and for how many individuals?
- Describe how strategic objectives will be measured
- Describe how reporting of results and feedback from
stakeholders will occur
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Measuring Outcomes
- Examples (Clemson University Residence Life Program)
- Living/learning opportunities for student learning
- goal: provide living/learning opportunities that
promote student learning
- objective: living in housing will be conducive
to residents’ academic success
- outcome measures: (1) First Year Experience
participants will be retained at a higher rate than
the retention rate of all freshmen; (2) the average
GPA for First Year Experience participants will
exceed the average GPA for all new freshmen.
- Living/learning opportunities that encourage
personal growth and community development
- goal: provide living/learning opportunities that
encourage personal growth and community development
- objective: living in housing will encourage
personal growth and community development
- outcome measures: seventy percent of respondents
to the University Educational Benchmarking Survey
will be satisfied with their fellow residents’
attitudes on diversity
- Safety for Residents
- goal: strengthen the campus community by
providing safe on-campus living environments
- objective: residents will feel safe in the halls
and security breaches will be rare
- outcome measure: according to the Police and
Fire Department activity logs, there will be no loss
of life or serious incident injury resulting from a
breech in residence hall security.
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Operationalization of the Assessment Plan
- Assign specific tasks and roles
- Decide on formal and informal reporting plan
- Identify a dissemination plan
- Use your experience to revisit your overall strategic
plan for assessment
- Process Questions
- Do people feel they have the training and knowledge
to carry out the assessment?
- Do people feel they have the support to move forward
with the assessment plan?
- Is our assessment plan being used to continuously
improve our programs and services?
- Are we viewing the assessment plan as a process,
rather than a work written in stone?
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