Dept assessment plan guidelines

Link to "Determining the Status of Department Assessment Plans" Document

Guidelines for Departmental Assessment Plans

Introduction

A number of faculty have asked for more information on departmental assessment plans, including suggestions on what should be included and advice on how to create an assessment plan. Thus we are sharing the following guidelines to help departments as they create, update, or implement their assessment plans.

Some characteristics of a good assessment plan:

The focus is on the major as a whole rather than individual courses or the minor.

The number of critical learning goals is small. Focus on your 5-7 most important goals.
The goals and the assessment plan are a product of input and discussion by the entire department.

The plan is ongoing rather than periodic.

The plan is manageable (Do not try to do everything at once, use sampling techniques, if possible, involve several members of your department, etc.)
The plan uses multiple measures.

Students understand their role in assessment (tell students how assessment will be used and how it can help them).

Faculty use results for decision making.

Steps to Developing a Departmental Assessment Plan:

Develop goals for student learning outcomes

Identify appropriate assessment methods
Evaluate and select measures
Identify performance criterion/criteria for each outcome
Develop a plan and timeline for collecting information
Implement assessment plan
Use information to improve processes
Communicate results

Concordia College Assessment Plan Worksheet

Step 1. Develop Goals for student learning outcomes

List your department’s five to seven most important goals. Identify whether each goal is best described as content, skill, attitude, or a combination. If you have many more learning goals, then prioritize them to identify which are the most important to your department and the most universal (i.e. appropriate for students in different tracks of your program). C=Content S=Skill A=Attitude (Circle as many as apply.)

1.       C     S     A
2.       C     S     A
3.       C     S     A
4.       C     S     A
5.       C     S     A

Step 2. Identify appropriate assessment methods

· Direct measures are methods that specifically test whether or not students have learned the things that you want them to learn. These include subject tests (ETS field tests, Academic Profile) (test locator can be found at http://www.ericae.net/testcol.htm), portfolios, coursework in capstone courses or senior projects,
major projects (research project, major paper, case study, group project), quantitative reasoning tests, foreign language competency tests, critical thinking tests, juried performance (music, speech, art exhibit, poster session), etc.

· Indirect measures include feedback from internship, co-op, or student teaching supervisors, students’ self reports of skill attainment, students’ self reports of knowledge gained, pre and post tests or surveys that measure changes in attitudes, values, or beliefs, journals, interviews, focus groups, etc.

Step 3. Evaluate and select measures

Decide which measures will work best for you to test the outcomes that you have identified.

See the assessment web page or contact Kay for a copy of "Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Assessment Methods."

Step 4. Identify performance criterion/criteria for each outcome

Decide what standards your department expects of its students. For some goals, you may want 100% of your grads to have achieved them. For others, you may feel that 100% is unrealistic but you’d like to shoot for 90% or 75%. In other cases you may just want to find out what proportion of your seniors achieve at a certain level and then resolve to increase that number in coming years. Departments are encouraged to develop a rubric that best meets their needs. (See the assessment web page or contact Kay for examples of scoring rubrics.)

Goal 1:

Indicator student learning has exceeded standards:

Indicator student learning has met standards:

Indicator student learning is below standards

Goal 2:

Indicator student learning has exceeded standards:

Indicator student learning has met standards:

Indicator student learning is below standards:

Step 5. Develop a plan and timeline for collecting information

· Consider possible sampling techniques. How many students will be involved in each assessment effort and how will you select them? Since your goal is to assess the program and not the individual students, it may not be necessary to include every single student in your process. The size of your department will make a difference.

· When will you conduct each type assessment (how often, what time of year)?

· Who will administer, score, and report results of the assessment? These activities should be shared among members of the department. The chair is not solely responsible for conducting assessment activities.

· How will you optimize return rates/encourage students' participation?

· How will results be stored?

· What will you tell students about how you will use the results of the assessment? Consider developing an informed consent form, if appropriate.

· Will students have access to the results of the assessment?

· The grid below is an example of how departments can display critical elements of their assessment plan.

Goal	Method of Assessment	Population /Sample	Timeline/ Frequency	Outcome	Use of Results	Sharing of Results
Goal 1: content	written exam oral exam	fourth year students fourth year students	fall 2000, 02, 04 spring 01, 03, 05	weak in area x, strong in area y average in area m, weaker in area n, strong in area o	modify content of 231 and 422 courses to emphasize area x and n	department meeting: fall dean: annual spring report
Goal 2: Skill	performance senior survey
Goal 3: Ability	performance portfolio
Goal 4: Content	second and fourth year papers
Goal 5: Skill	portfolio

Step 6. Implement the assessment plan

Step 7. Use information to improve your program

The purpose of assessment is not to gather data and return "results." It is a process that starts with the question of "what matters most in student learning?" It includes the gathering and interpretation of information to help guide continuous improvement. Assessment results can help faculty consider: · Curriculum in courses

· Pedagogy in courses

· Structure of major, requirements, etc.

· Advising

· Best use of resources

· Support for requests for additional resources

· Hiring decisions

Step 8. Communicate results

·Assessment results should be summarized in the annual departmental planning reports (due June 30).

· Each department's assessment plan should be on file with the Academic Affairs Office.

Resources available to faculty members:

· Kay Schneider schneide@cord.edu 299-4723

· Chuck Paulson paulson@cord.edu 299-4211

· Assessment Committee: The committee is willing and interested in serving as peer consultants to provide
feedback to departments regardless of which stage of the assessment process they are in. Contact Connie Peterson,
(4102) committee chair, or Kay Schneider for more information.

· Assessment web page: http://www.cord.edu/dept/assessment/index.htm

· North Central Association web page: http://www.cord.edu/dept/assessment/index.htm

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