Assessment: Institutional and Programmatic Student Outcomes Assessment

Ephraim Schechter, a specialist in outcomes assessment, states that student outcomes assessment is for program planning and improvement as well as accountability reporting--"telling the story," with program improvement the primary goal. Many institutions of higher education have developed well-designed programs for institutional assessment that interconnect accountability and program improvement and have put this information on a website. The resources below provide information and Internet links on all aspects of student outcomes assessment at the institutional and programmatic level, with multiple examples of programs in place at colleges and universities throughout the United States and elsewhere. For student outcomes assessment in the classroom, please see other topics under assessment on this website.

Nine Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning (American Association of Higher Education).
Guidelines for developing an effective student outcomes assessment program.
Link: http://www.nwhealth.edu/ctl/asmnt/ninepgp.html

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education: Some Concepts and Principles (The National Academy of Academic Leadership).
Reviews concepts, definitions, and methods to guide effective practices in institutional evaluation and assessment.
Link: http://www.thenationalacademy.org/readings/assessandeval.html
Also see: http://www.thenationalacademy.org/resources/assess.html for an annotated bibliography of assessment readings and websites.

Assessment at Slippery Rock University
A useful resource for designing a student outcomes assessment program. Links are in five categories: general, assessing student achievement in the major, assessing student achievement in general education, assessing student development and progress, and assessment at the classroom level.
Link: http://www.sru.edu/pages/11341.asp

Assessment Resources from Bucknell University.
Contains information useful for developing student outcomes assessment plans including a list of sites that maintain workbooks/tool kits and examples by discipline of assessment plans currently in place at other institutions. Many of the articles listed under "Readings from AAHE" (AAHE closed in summer 2005) can be accessed by typing the title of the article into a Google search.
Link: http://www.bucknell.edu/x5191.xml

Assessment Web Sites (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville).
A set of links to assessment websites with information on student outcomes assessment.
Link: http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/weblinks.html

Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment (North Carolina State University).
An enormous mega-site with annotated Internet links for all aspects of institutional and programmatic student outcomes assessment. Includes links to examples of outcomes assessment programs and rubrics from numerous higher education institutions throughout the United States and elsewhere. Copyright by Ephraim I. Schechter.
Link: http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/assmt/resource.htm#area

North Central Association (NCA) Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement, Postsecondary.
This site offers information on postsecondary accreditation with links to information dealing with the NCA review process. Includes materials to download for the self-study in preparation for NCA accreditation team visits plus other resources and NCA reports.
Link: http://www.ncacasi.org/postsecondary/

“An Overview of E-Portfolios,” George Lorenzo and John Ittleson, edited by Diana Oblinger (EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, E11 paper 1: 2005). PDF.
This report describes 3 types of e-portfolios: student e-portfolios; teaching e-portfolios for faculty; and institutional e-portfolios for department, program, and institutional accreditation processes. Summarizes key issues in portfolio development; discusses material for inclusion; reviews e-portfolio technology; and provides links to examples of e-portfolio initiatives at several universities.
Link: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI3001.pdf

MSU Resources

MSU Director of Assessment: Kelly Funk: funkk@msu.edu