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Assessment: Coming of Age
by
Sherwyn P. Morreale, Ph.D.
Associate Director
National Communication Association
Philip A. Backlund, Ph.D.
Dean, Central Washington University
In the 1970s, the U.S. educational system begot the assessment movement. Many
thought – and perhaps hoped – it would be a passing fancy, an educational fad
that would fade away, if effectively ignored. But during the 1980’s, assessment grew
to adolescence and, like any troubled teenager, it had its supporters and detractors. More
embraced by legislators and academic administrators, some faculty depreciated the
assessment process as unnecessary and time consuming, an inappropriate expectation of
overburdened instructors and academic departments. But on to the 1990’s! Assessment
gurus emerged on the national and local scene and within disciplines, spawning
conferences, workshops and a cottage industry of consultants. Assessment developed and
matured into a vigorous young adult, to such an extent that it is institutionalized at
virtually every level of education. State legislatures mandate it; accrediting bodies
require it; professional educational associations support it and create tools for its
implementation; and teachers have begun to think of it is as good idea for themselves and
their students.
If assessment has come a long way – and become an integral part of the
educational endeavor – that raises a question as to whether it’s a good thing or
a bad thing. This article – written by two would-be gurus of assessment in the
communication field – argues that assessment is a good thing by describing its benefits and providing a
snapshot of what an effective assessment program might look like. But first, we begin by
clarifying some terms and processes for the benefit of the novice reader and as a point of
departure for our discussion.
Clarifying Terms… the "A" Words!
Assessment, accountability, and accreditation are activities conducted by or done to
the academy that are related to one another and to the evaluation of the process, impact,
and outcomes of education.
Assessment is a process by which faculty and administrators evaluate
the worth of one of their main activities:
educating students. More specifically, assessment is a program of planned activities that
includes tools and
measurement devices which, when applied, evaluate student learning.
This definition provides a clue to why assessment has become institutionalized. It is a
process by which instructors, departments, and educational institutions know if they are
accomplishing what they intend in the classroom and in their educational programs. In an
era when those processes are under scrutiny, assessment provides evidence of accomplishing
one’s pedagogical goals.
Accountability
is the broad process by which academic institutions, on behalf of the public, are held
responsible by legislatures
and other interested regional and local agencies. One part of accountability is being held responsible for
providing evidence that students are learning what you claim they are learning,
whether in a course, a
department, or an entire school. Of course, schools are held accountable regarding factors other than student
learning, such as fiscal responsibility, responsiveness to community needs, and the caliber of scholarship of
their faculty.
Given this description, one can see that the results of assessing student learning
inform the process of being held accountable. That is, if you prove through valid,
reliable, and multiple assessment techniques that students are learning x, y, and z, and
if you said that x, y, and z is what they should learn, then the results of assessing
student learning are a useful part of the institution’s accountability report.
Accreditation is what happens for or to an academic institution or
program – such as a teacher education
program – if by being held accountable, the school proves it is carrying out its
responsibilities efficaciously.
Accreditation is granted by the U.S. Department of Education, and sanctioned by regional
accrediting associations and discipline-specific organizations.
So assessing student learning can be viewed as supporting and informing accountability
and accreditation. It has become an integral part of the educational fabric of our
culture, in part, because of a desire for increased accountability in education.
Additionally, at any school and on any campus, assessment has other benefits that may not
be immediately apparent to its detractors.
Benefits of Assessment
Legislatures, accrediting bodies, state boards of education, and internal reviewers all
want to know if the education of students is having the desired effect. While the form of
questions and requirements posed by these groups may vary, they seem to come down to six
fundamental questions that are asked of faculty teaching courses, administrators chairing
departments, and heads of academic institutions:
- Who are you and why do you exist (Mission)?
- What do you want to accomplish (Goals and Objectives)?
- What procedures will you use to determine if the goals/objectives have been met
(Assessment)?
- What are the results of your assessment processes (Analysis)?
- What changes will you make to your goals/objectives/outcomes/processes based on these
results (Application of Results)?
- What evidence do you have that this is a continuous cycle (Continuous improvement)?
As you can see from this list of questions, assessment is a circular process of
educational program definition, review, and revision. It may be this circularity that
interests agencies responsible for educational accountability. However, the processes also
make good academic sense. Answering these questions provides a number of advantages for
students, schools, and faculty and teachers.
Benefits to students. By answering the above questions, students reap the reward of
a more dynamic and enhanced education. The end product, of which students are the
beneficiaries, is constantly monitored, improved, and more responsive to their needs.
Also, the results of assessing their learning can be shared with the students, so they can
monitor and take pride in their own individual and collective achievements.
Benefits to schools. When teachers have a clear idea of their school or
institutional mission (and you may be surprised how many different concepts of "why
we exist" are present on the average college campus), teachers are more able to act
in concert with each other to meet that mission. When schools, departments, and teachers
clearly describe their educational outcomes, then students, the public, and teachers
themselves have a better sense of what students are to learn. This leads to more
effectively designed educational programs and strategies, and therefore to overall
improvement in the schools themselves.
Benefits to teachers and faculty. The result of a dialogue about pedagogy and how
to assess it, is a better informed and less competitive group of instructors,
regardless of grade level. Not only is their end product improved, faculty who work
together toward positive reform typically are more enthusiastic and committed and less
defensive. The process of developing an assessment program together invigorates both
academic content and the academic professional.
Characteristics of Good Assessment Programs.
Given that assessment is here to stay and has benefits for various stakeholders in
education, an important question to ask is what it looks like when you are doing it well.
Here is a top ten list of the characteristics of good assessment programs, derived from
the literature of accreditation associations, academic campuses, and professional
associations. Variations on this list have proven useful for developing assessment
programs for courses, academic departments, and entire schools.
A Successful Assessment Program…
- Flows from an institution’s mission, the educational purposes and department's
mission and goals, and course-specific goals and student outcomes.
- Emerges from a conceptual framework for student learning.
- Is marked by faculty ownership, responsibility, and involvement.
- Has institution-wide support.
- Relies on the use of multiple methods and measures.
- Supports equal access and equity, and honors diversity.
- Provides feedback to students, teachers, and the institution.
- Is cost-effective.
- Leads to desirable and valuable change and improvement.
- Includes a process for evaluating and assessing itself – the assessment program.
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