Assessment Guidelines

Assessment of student learning outcomes at the program level should focus on the student experience through the course of enrollment in the program or major. Program assessment plans should specify how defined student learning outcomes contribute to fulfillment of the program mission through the goals established

A Definition of Assessment:

The following is a concise and useful definition of assessment:
"A systematic process of looking at student achievement within and across courses by gathering, interpreting and using information about student learning for educational improvement” (Thomas A. Angelo, AAHE Bulletin, April 1995, p.11).

"Faculty are finding that valid and reliable information about learning can be gleaned from purposeful, qualitative assessments ranging from short course assignments to yearlong projects, public oral presentations, and observations of internships and other off-campus placements. Such data are vital to improving individuals' learning and are also central to course-level improvements." (Ross Miller, Assessment in Cycles of Improvement: Faculty Designs for Essential Learning Outcomes, AAC&U, 2007).

Integration of assessment into your courses should be a systematic process that measures not only student performance, but emphasizes student learning. Although grades are in essence a way to measure student performance, assessment should be viewed as a way to incorporate student performance with student learning and student learning outcomes (SLO).

A Step-by Step Guide to Developing Assessment Plans:*

Click here for the Assessment Plan template!

An assessment plan is a document that specifies how a program evaluates student achievement of student learning outcomes and program goals, and how the information obtained from that evaluation is used to improve the program.

Step 1) Develop, review, or revise the program mission statement.
A mission statement should:

aim to focus the work of faculty and students in the program by clearly stating the purpose of the program
align with the university’s mission “…as an educational, cultural, and social center, the University stimulates economic development and fosters the academic, artistic and personal freedoms vital to a free society.”
indicate that the program’s efforts are somewhat unique from other programs within the university
be agreed upon by the faculty in the program

Step 2) Develop specific learning outcomes for students in the program. Student learning outcomes should:

be results-oriented and easily understood
be specific statements describing behaviors that the program expects its students to demonstrate at the end of instruction
be measurable (student attainment of learning outcomes should be observable, achievable and measurable)
for more information on student learning outcomes, click here

.Step 3) Develop program goals. Goals should:

state desired learning outcomes of the program (what students should know, care about, or be able to do upon completion of the program)
have an obvious relationship to the mission of the program, college or school, and the university
direct the teaching and learning efforts in the program
be inline with a two-year timeframe (if the program has a five-year goal, we suggest establishing two year goals related to the process of achieving the five-year goal and using the annual report to document progress or need for revisions)

Step 4) Develop measures to assess the student-learning outcomes. These measures should:

yield useful and valid results (the measures should actually evaluate progress on the intended goals and learning outcomes)
be realistic (make sure the program will be able to develop/administer/analyze/utilize the measures)
be comprehensive (taken as a whole, the measures should assess as many learning outcomes as possible)
represent multiple methods of measuring learning outcomes (see examples below)

measures within the instructional setting; i.e.: capstone courses, traditional course exams, performance exams, projects, presentations, surveys, interviews, focus groups, standardized tests
measures outside the instructional setting; i.e. feedback from graduate programs on campus, graduate program enrollments, portfolios, senior projects, thesis or research project, juried performances/presentations, exit interviews, internships, employment within the field…

Step 5) Develop an assessment timeline. This timeline should:

specify when, where, and by whom the measures will be administered
specify a plan to gather data
identify how the program will analyze the information
TIP: it might help to define action steps and assign responsible parties to the steps

Step 6) Gather the measures or assessments.

before you develop a unique assessment, search for similar measures already utilized by other programs/departments/colleges and adapt them to your program
select the best method for your goals based on the following criteria:
- efficiency: a good tool requires a relatively small amount of resources to yield useful information
- directness: a good assessment provides direct evidence of the attainment of program goals/outcomes
- usefulness: a good assessment yields information that will be used by the program for future improvement

Step 7) Administer/conduct the measures according to the timeline.

collect data from the assessments (as described in the timeline)
evaluate the merits of each assessment (should this assessment be used in the future?)
TIP: in order to measure learning over time, embed a few questions in a measure administered upon entry to the program and embed the same questions in measures administered toward the end of the program. track the responses across the experience to find out if particular components need more focus.

Step 8) Analyze the information obtained

analyze data from each assessment separately to see if goals and outcomes are being met

if possible, aggregate data from multiple assessments to provide an overall indicator of progress

track data from similar assessments over time to identify trends

Step 9) Communicate assessment results.

gather faculty and staff involved in the program to discuss information obtained
discuss areas of relative strength and weakness, as well as any trends noticed over time
TIP: WEAVEOnline has the capability of generating a variety of reports - these can be used for not only improvement of assessment efforts, but also for reporting on the Strategic Alignment Plans and in the budgeting process

Step 10) Evaluate the program (and the assessment plan) based on results.

identify potential areas of improvement for the program
revise the goals and outcomes as necessary in line with the results of the assessments
utilize the reports of assessment findings to develop budget priorities, update the department's strategic plan and/or program review document, and update the plan for the next year

*Adapted from: Developing an Assessment Plan to Learn about Student Learning; Peggy L. Maki, Director of Assessment, American Association for Higher Education

9 Best Practices for Assessment*

Assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
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.
Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic.
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 is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change.
Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the public.

*Source: American Association of Higher Education. A more detailed version of these practices is available from the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment at Indiana University, Kokomo

Sample Assessment Plans at NKU:

Assessment Models and Resources at Other Universities:

University of Alabama, Birmingham

University of North Carolina, Greensboro

University of Wisconsin, Madison

National Teaching and Learning Forum

Oxford Brookes University