Reedley College AssessmentWorkbook - Final

Student Learning Outcomes Assessment
Student Learning Outcomes Assessment

Janet Fulks, Faculty, Bakersfield College ASCCC
Bob Pacheco, Researcher, Barstow College - RP
Assessment Cycle. he assess!ent cycle refers to the "rocess called closing the loo"
and is figurati#ely re"resented abo#e$
Closing the Loop. Closing the loo" refers to the use of assess!ent results to i!"ro#e
student learning through collegial dialogue infor!ed by the results of student ser#ice or
instructional learning outco!e assess!ent$ %t is "art of the continuous cycle of
collecting assess!ent results, e#aluating the!, using the e#aluations to identify actions
that will i!"ro#e student learning, i!"le!enting those actions, and then cycling back to
collecting assess!ent results, etc$
Begin with a few definitions from the ASCCC/RP SLO Glossary
&
Goals Objectives Otcomes
A goal is a state!ent of intent
or #ision that is not
necessarily !easurable$ he
ai!, the #ision, usually the
catalog descri"tion of a course
or "rogra!$
'easurable (b)ecti#es
are s!all ste"s that lead
toward a goal$
S*(s o#erarching s"ecific
obser#able characteristics,
de#elo"ed by local faculty, to
deter!ine or de!onstrate
e#idence that learning has
occurred as a result of a s"ecific
course, "rogra!, acti#ity, or
"rocess$
Objectives. (b)ecti#es are s!all ste"s that lead toward a goal, for instance the
discrete course content that faculty co#er within a disci"line$ (b)ecti#es are usually
!ore nu!erous and create a fra!ework for the o#erarching Student *earning
(utco!es which address synthesi+ing, e#aluating and analy+ing !any of the
ob)ecti#es$
Student Learning Outcomes (SLO). Student learning outco!es ,S*(s- are the
s"ecific obser#able or !easurable results that are e."ected subse/uent to a learning
e."erience$ hese outco!es !ay in#ol#e knowledge ,cogniti#e-, skills ,beha#ioral-, or
attitudes ,affecti#e- that "ro#ide e#idence that learning has occurred as a result of a
s"ecified course, "rogra! acti#ity, or "rocess$ An S*( refers to an o#erarching
outco!e for a course, "rogra!, degree or certificate, or student ser#ices area ,such as
the library-$ S*(s describe a student0s ability to synthesi+e !any discreet skills using
higher le#el thinking skills and to "roduce so!ething that asks the! to a""ly what
they0#e learned$ S*(s usually enco!"ass a gathering together of s!aller discrete
ob)ecti#es ,see definition abo#e- through analysis, e#aluation and synthesis into !ore
so"histicated skills and abilities$
1
!aclty and Assessment " #hy is this wor$ so im%ortant&
Post secondary assessment done right must be rooted in the course and in the
classroom, in the individual cells, to speak metaphorically, where the metabolism
of learning actually takes place (Wright, 1999
!lassroom assessment is the purest form of assessment"for"improvement,
because the information gleaned can be immediately used to improve teaching
and learning #the further away from the individual classroom you get, the harder
it becomes to turn assessment data into useable information ($iller, 199%
Princi%les of !aclty'led Assessment
2a#ing a clearly defined "rocess for creating, assessing and analy+ing student
learning creates an en#iron!ent founded in good educational "ractices$ %n addition,
this infrastructure "ro#ides a clearly docu!ented course of action so that faculty
college-wide ,full and "art-ti!e-, students and ad!inistration understand the
e."ected outco!es and !eans to ascertain whether the outco!es ha#e been !et$
his allows the! to beco!e "artici"ants in the "rocess and to own and contribute to
student success in ways a""ro"riate to their role$
his !ay look like additional work or e.ternally !andated re/uire!ents$ 3et in !any
cases this is !erely docu!enting what we already do and re!o#ing our work fro!
the 4black bo.5 to a trans"arent and clear "rocess$ his allows other disci"lines,
student ser#ices and students to see "athways$ 6hile faculty often ha#e tunnel
#ision within their own courses or "rogra!s, creating and docu!enting this
infrastructure assures linkages across the institution to su""ort and contribute to the
work done$
() Reflection and research on corse* %rogram and instittional
otcomes
7
*e#el Benefits to starting at this le#el Challenges
Course *e#el 6orking with faculty at this le#el is i!"ortant
enabling faculty to "artici"ate in the learning
"rocess about S*(s and assess!ent which
is !ost i!"ortant and fa!iliar to the!$
his le#el of outco!es assess!ent has the
greatest "otential to #alidate and i!"ro#e
grading ,generally recogni+ed as o#erall
course outco!es- and to directly i!"ro#ing
student learning$
%deally this assess!ent is integrated with
grading$
Re/uires the greatest a!ount of training
and indi#idual in#ol#e!ent
8ecessitates disci"line e."ertise
%n#ol#es ad)unct faculty
%ncludes best disci"line "ractices
%f not integrated with grading this re"resents
additional workload on the faculty$
Progra!
*e#el
6orking with faculty and staff at this le#el is
essential because it is the basic unit of
institutional change$ Progra! outco!es and
assess!ent translate into the i!"ortant role
of institutional i!"ro#e!ent$
his le#el of outco!es assess!ent has the
greatest "otential to i!"ro#e student
"athways and o#erall achie#e!ent$
Results are ideally integrated in to "rogra!
re#iew$
%n#ol#es discussion with colleagues on
"rere/uisites and transfer courses and with
co!!unity stakeholders for )ob
e."ectations and co!!unity$
Re/uires all "rogra!-le#el faculty to
understand, contribute, and discuss
i!"acts$
9e"ends on substanti#e linkage to
budgeting and "lanning, through "rogra!
re#iew ,the single !ost difficult task in all
the CCCs-$ *ack of integration with "rogra!
re#iew and budget under!ines the workload
and findings$
%nstitutional
*e#el
his is the !ost i!"ortant le#el for the "ublic$
hese outco!es, though large and
o#erarching such as general education
outco!es of a liberally educated "erson$
his le#el of outco!es assess!ent should
focus on good sa!"ling techni/ues and good
co!!unication$
Results are ideally incor"orated with strategic
"lanning$
:etting buy-in college-wide, often
de"ending u"on the leadershi" and
co!!ittee structure and line of re"ort$
Creating cost and workload effecti#e,
sustainable assess!ents that re"resent the
institution$
%dentify assess!ents and !etrics that
contribute to success
General Education Student Learning Outcomes. :; S*(s are the knowledge, skills, and abilities a
student is e."ected to be able to de!onstrate following a "rogra! of courses designed to "ro#ide the
student with a co!!on core of knowledge consistent with a liberally educated or literate citi+en$ So!e
colleges refer to these as core co!"etencies, while others consider general education a "rogra!$
nstitutional Learning Outcomes (LO). %nstitutional *earning (utco!es are the knowledge, skills, and
abilities a student is e."ected to lea#e an institution with as a result of a student0s total e."erience$ Because
:; (utco!es re"resent a co!!on core of outco!es for the !a)ority of students transferring or recei#ing
degrees, so!e but not all, institutions e/uate these with %*(0s$ %*(s !ay differ fro! :; S*(s in that
institutional outco!es !ay include outco!es relating to institutional effecti#eness ,degrees, transfers,
"roducti#ity- in addition to learning outco!es$ 9escri"tions of %*(s should include dialogue about
instructional and student ser#ice outco!es$
+) Clearly defined* measreable stdent learning otcomes
<
A re#iew of the Fresh!an &A S*(s in => CCCs re#ealed that there is a great deal of
i!"ortance in the way we craft our S*(s$ 9o they re"resent the higher le#els of
Bloo!0s a.ono!y or the dee"er le#els of 6ebb0s 9e"th of ?nowledge@ S*(s are
not a laundry list of acti#ities, they are not a content-directing guideline, and they are
not what the faculty !e!ber will do$ S*(s are the high le#el outco!es a student can
de!onstrate after a learning e."erience$ his state!ent should re/uire e#idence of
the student0s ability to integrate, synthesi+e, e#aluate, and use the knowledge, skills
and #alues they learned in a course of study$ Poorly written S*(s are hard to assess
and do not create a clear !essage to the students or others about the results of
learning in a "rogra! of study$ Poorly written S*(s focus on !inute, rote or low le#el
e."ectations or outco!es that are not ty"ical of real world a""lications$ See
A%%endi, A for general S*( guidelines and A%%endi, B for a "otential tool to
assess S*(s$
-) Careflly designed and condcted assessments
&$ %dentify the true "ur"ose of your assess!ents
=
1$ 3ou get what you design and what you !easure is what you get ,63'%63:- so
target assess!ent on the i!"ortant as"ects of the course, "rogra! or ser#ice
7$ Re#iew the current assess!ents ,assign!ents, /ui++es, tests, "ro)ects, etc- you use
in a course and analy+e the! first as "otential assess!ent tools to link grading and
S*(s$
<$ See the sa!"le list of attached "otential assess!ent "ractices A%%endi, C$
=$ Select an assess!ent that re"resents real world a""lications
o Authentic Assessment & raditional assess!ent so!eti!es relies on indirect
or "ro.y ite!s such as !ulti"le choice /uestions focusing on content or facts$
%n contrast, authentic assess!ent si!ulates a real world e."erience by
e#aluating the student0s ability to a""ly critical thinking and knowledge or to
"erfor! tasks that !ay a""ro.i!ate those found in the work "lace or other
#enues outside of the classroo! setting$ See A%%endi, .)
A$ 9ifferentiate or clearly define where and how grades will be used$ :rades are not
e/ui#alent to assess!ents but can be if designed around outco!es$ See A%%endi, /)
a. Grades$ :rades are the faculty e#aluation of a student0s "erfor!ance in a
class as a whole$ :rades re"resent an o#erall assess!ent of student class
work, which so!eti!es in#ol#es factors unrelated to s"ecific outco!es or
student knowledge, #alues or abilities$ For this reason e/uating grades to
S*( assess!ent !ust be done carefully$ Successful course co!"letion is
indicated by a C or better in California Co!!unity College data, such as that
re"orted in the Accountability Re"ort for Co!!unity Colleges ,ARCC-$
b) #hat is the difference between assessment and grading@
Paul 9ressel ,&BCA- has defined a grade as 'an inade(uate report of an inaccurate
)udgment by a biased and variable )udge of the e*tent to which a student has
attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite
material& $iller, +mrie, , !o* 199-, p& ./
c) Assessment Reflects /,%licit Criteria
Pro#ides a clear definition of skills, knowledge or #alues
9escribes le#els of !astery
Pro#ides feedback on content or skill deficiencies
Black and 6ilia! re"orted that diagnostic feedback "roduced an effect si+e of D$< D$C, the largest of
any inno#ation in education$ ranslated this !eans that the a#erage "u"il in international co!"arati#e
studies in !athe!atics would ha#e raised the score of a nation in the !iddle of the "ack of <&
countries ,e$g$ the E$S$- to one of the to" fi#e$ (r alternati#ely, an a#erage gain of 7D "ercentile
"oints, two letter grades, or &DD "oints on the SA scale$
d) Assessment /,hibits Reliability
Re"eat testing "ro#ides si!ilar results
esting between students shows sa!e skills or knowledge
A
8ot de"endent on words or situations
d) Assessment Re%resents 0alid Content
and Conte,t
Assesses 2igher *e#el *earning
Si!ulates real world e."eriences
%ncludes 'ulti"le 9o!ains
Sa!"les of the i!"ortance of conte.t
C$ Ese assess!ent techni/ues that re/uire higher
order learning such as Bloo!0s ta.ono!y or 6ebb0s
9e"th of ?nowledge ,See A%%endi, !$-
1) 'ake e#ery atte!"t to include the correct ty"e of data to e#aluate the outco!es$
a. !ualitative data. Fualitati#e data are descri"ti#e infor!ation, such as
narrati#es or "ortfolios$ hese data are often collected using o"en-ended /uestions,
feedback sur#eys, or su!!ary re"orts, and !ay be difficult to co!"are, re"roduce, and
generali+e$ Fualitati#e data "ro#ide de"th and can be ti!e and labor intensi#e$
8onetheless, /ualitati#e data often "in"oint areas for inter#entions and "otential
solutions which are not e#ident in /uantitati#e data$
b. !uantitative data. Fuantitati#e data are nu!erical or statistical #alues$ hese
data use actual nu!bers ,scores, rates, etc- to e."ress /uantities of a #ariable$
Fualitati#e data, such as o"inions, can be dis"layed as nu!erical data by using
*ikert scaled res"onses which assign a nu!erical #alue to each res"onse ,e$g$, < G
strongly agree to & G strongly disagree-$ hese data are easy to store and !anage
"ro#iding a breadth of infor!ation$ Fuantitati#e data can be generali+ed and
re"roduced, but !ust be carefully constructed to be #alid$
C) "irect data. 9irect data "ro#ide e#idence of student knowledge, skills, or
attitudes for the s"ecific do!ain in /uestion and actually !easuring student learning,
not "erce"tions of learning or secondary e#idence of learning, such as a degree or
certificate$ For instance, a !ath test directly !easures a studentHs "roficiency in !ath$
%n contrast, an e!"loyer0s re"ort about student abilities in !ath or a re"ort on the
nu!ber of !ath degrees awarded would be indirect data$ ,A%%endi, G-
d$ ndirect data . %ndirect data are so!eti!es called secondary data because
they indirectly !easure student "erfor!ance$ For instance, certificate or degree
co!"letion data "ro#ide indirect e#idence of student learning but do not directly indicate
what a student actually learned$ ,A%%endi, G-
B$ 9eter!ine the "ositi#e and negati#e as"ects of each assess!ent$
&D$ Ese the checklist in A%%endi, 2 to e#aluate your assess!ent tool$
&&$ ;!bed, i!"lant, insert, incor"orate your assess!ent
o Embedded assessment. ;!bedded assess!ent occurs within the regular
class or curricular acti#ity$ Class assign!ents linked to student learning
C
outco!es through "ri!ary trait analysis ser#e as grading and assess!ent
instru!ents ,i$e$ co!!on tests /uestions, CAs, "ro)ects or writing
assign!ents-$ S"ecific /uestions can be e!bedded on e.a!s in classes
across courses, de"art!ents, "rogra!s, or the institution$ ;!bedded
assess!ent can "ro#ide for!ati#e infor!ation for "edagogical i!"ro#e!ent
and student learning needs$
&1$ ?ee" it si!"le, sa!"le where "ossible, focus on what you can learn$
>
#OR3 S2//4
#hat SLO are yo creating an assessment for&
Assessment in Corses
/,amine e,isting assessments yo se)
1. 9o they ade/uately e.a!ine the student0s ability
to do the learning outco!e@
2. 2a#e you considered real world a""lications@
3. %s there ade/uate for!ati#e assess!ent to
assure fairness in the su!!ati#e assess!ents@
4. Are there assess!ents you could share between all those teaching the course@
5. 2ow do you grade, assess, or nor! your )udg!ents@ 6hat are those )udg!ents
based u"on@
6. 2ow will ad)uncts be in#ol#ed@
7. 2ow will this relate to "rogra! assess!ent, "rogra! re#iew, general education
assess!ent, institutional assess!ent@ Can you kill !ulti"le birds with one
acti#ity@
Program Assessments
&$ ;.a!ine the broader as"ects of "rogra! outco!es e.ternal re/uire!ents such
as transfer, business, co!!unity, other de"art!ents$
1$ Can any of the course assess!ent be used
here@
7$ 2ow will "rogra!s !eet to consider these@
<$ %s this "art of your "rogra! re#iew@
=$ 6ill this data hel" i!"ro#e your "rogra!, student
"athways and docu!entation of your "rogra!s
success and needs for i!"ro#e!ent@
B
&D
5) Analysis of Assessment .ata
Plan a !ethod for collecting the data
Consider whether the data should be aggregated or disaggregated for "articular
#ariables
o %n general, it is best to aggregate sections rather than re"ort out indi#idual
sections where faculty or student identities !ay be easily identifiable
o %n general, where "ossible, it is always a good idea to disaggregate by
ethnicity
See a""endi. F for an e.a!"le of course success disaggregated by
ethnicity
o (ften it is hel"ful to disaggregate by the ti!es the section are offered i$e$ is
there a difference between !orning, afternoon or e#ening sections@
o %t is useful to disaggregate by se!ester i$e$ fall, s"ring, winter intersession,
su!!er
o 6here "ossible as you consider assess!ent results you will identify other
#ariables to consider 9id so!e of the students take basic skills course
work, was the success rate different for those who did and those who did not@
6hich students co!"leted "otentially useful "rere/uisites such as reading or
!ath and did it affect the success of the students@ %f there is a se/uence of
courses students are suggested to take, did the course i!!ediately
"receding this course "ro#ide the necessary entry skills@
o 6here "ossible include the conce"t of other #ariables that !ay influence
success 9id the students who used the library ha#e a higher rate of
success@ Are the students with Student ;ducation Plans co!"leted retained
in the course longer@ 9id the students that accessed tutoring show a higher
le#el of success@
Consider the i!"act of the data you collected you collected$ 9irect data often
indicates areas of success or needs for i!"ro#e!ent$ %ndirect data often "ro#ide
e#idence of where inter#ention can be designed$ See A""endi. : for e.a!"les of
direct and indirect data$
See A%%endi, 6 for 4:eneral Princi"les for Analy+ing 9ata5
7) 4he Assessment Re%ort
Create and share assess!ent su!!aries that are useful to you and your
colleagues$
Find the story in your assess!ent results, and tell that story effecti#ely$
&&
Focus assess!ent su!!aries on decisions that the results can infor!$
Celebrate and "ublici+e good assess!ent results$ Ese duty days, o"ening days or
con#ocations to celebrate the good work you ha#e done$
Analy+e the "ossible causes of disa""ointing resultsI goals, "rogra!s, "edagogies,
or assess!ents
Consider sustainability only assess and create re"orting for!ats that can be
sustained
Start si!"le and focus on discussion and analysis
;#eryone has disa""ointing or une."ected data$ 6ork with the data you get without
bla!e or deficit thinking$ %nclude the data and "lans for i!"ro#e!ent in your re"ort$
8) 6m%roved Practice
6n general* the %rocess of assessment and SLO develo%ment9
2el"s to i!"ro#e teaching "ractices
For!ali+es thoughts about courses and "ro#ides a holistic "icture of the course
fro! beginning to end
Focuses teaching "ractices, syllabi, daily acti#ities, and assess!ents on a single
target--S*(s
%!"ro#es feedback to students which "owerfully i!"ro#es success
Jalidates both what we are teaching and why we are teaching it
Pro!otes robust dialogue a!ong the faculty K sti!ulates "roducti#e
de"art!ental con#ersations
Reduces de"art!ental fa#oritis! because it is based on "erfor!ance
;nhances interdisci"linary coo"eration
Produces useful discussions concerning se/uential courses
Contributes to !ore rigorous curriculu! re#iew with a focus on outco!es
;ncourages consistency of standards between sections
&1
'aintains high standards
9irects teaching to be !ore learning-centered
%!"ro#es student learning by focusing on good "ractices
Seven Princi%les for Good Practice in :ndergradate /dcation
(
:ood "ractice in undergraduate educationI
&$ ;ncourages contact between students and faculty,
1$ 9e#elo"s reci"rocity and coo"eration a!ong students,
7$ ;ncourages acti#e ,#erses "assi#e- learning,
<$ Pro#ides "ro!"t feedback,
=$ ;!"hasi+es task on ti!e,
A$ Co!!unicates high e."ectations, and
C$ Res"ects di#erse talents and ways of learning$
!or /,am%les of 6m%roved Practice in corses* %rograms and instittions in the
California Commnity Colleges ' see A%%endi, ;
&
Chickering and :a!son
&7
#hy !aclty are the .rivers in Assessment&
!aclty ha#e the "ri!ary res"onsibility for facilitating learning ,deli#ery of instruction-
!aclty are already hea#ily in#ol#ed in assess!ent ,classroo!, !atriculation-
!aclty are the content e."erts
6ho knows better what students should learn than faclty@
6ho Pro#ides the Assess!ent Jehicle and ?ee"s :as in %t@
Ad!inistratorsL
4he Role of Administrators
;stablish that an assess!ent "rogra! is i!"ortant at the
institution
;nsure college0s !ission and goals reflect a focus on student learning
%nstitutionali+e the "ractice of data-dri#en decision !aking ,curriculu! change,
"edagogy, "lanning, budget, "rogra! re#iew-
Create a neutral, safe en#iron!ent for dialogue
4he Role of Researchers
Ser#e as a resource on assess!ent !ethods
Assist in the selectionMdesign and #alidation of assess!ent instru!ents
Pro#ide e."ertise on data collection, analysis, inter"retation, re"orting, and use of
results
Facilitate dialogue - train and e."lain
2el" faculty i!"ro#e their assess!ent efforts
Faculty .O<=4sN
A#oid the S*( "rocess or rely on others to do it for you$
Rely on outdated e#aluationMgrading !odels to tell you how your students are learning$
Ese only one !easure to assess learning
9on0t critici+e or inhibit the assess!ent efforts of others$
Faculty .Os$$$
Partici"ate in S*( assess!ent cycle
'ake your learning e."ectations e."licit
Ese assess!ent o""ortunities to teach as well as to e#aluate$
9ialogue with colleagues about assess!ent !ethods and data$
Reali+e you are in a learning "rocess too$
0ocus on assessment as a continuous improvement cycle&
&<
Corse Assessment .oes and .on=ts
.o>s .on>ts
9o define e."ectations and criteria
e."licitly, hand out S*(s and rubrics$
9onHt nor! or rank students based on their
hard work or "artici"ation, assess!ent is
based on co!"etence and ability to !eet
criteria$
9o describe which assess!ents are "art
of the grading "rocess and which are
anony!ous and for feedback only$
9onHt be e!barrassed when needs for
i!"ro#e!ent beco!e e#ident - no one is
"erfect
9o focus on the a""ro"riate le#el of
Bloo!Hs ta.ono!y and the three do!ains$
9onHt focus on effortless recall, si!"listic
thinking skills, or factoids$
9o reflect on the cogniti#e, "sycho!otor,
and affecti#e outco!es$
9onHt neglect i!"ortant outco!es because
they a""ear difficult to assess$
9o !ake assign!ents and grading criteria
"ublic$
9onHt ignore the "ublic de!and for
accountability - you ha#e reasons for doing
things the way you do, )ust articulate these$
9o create !ulti"le !ethods to assess
studentsH ability$
9onHt de"end u"on a #ery few assess!ents
that are all identical in nature, allowing only
certain students to dis"lay what they can do$
9o "ro#ide ade/uate o""ortunity for
for!ati#e assess!ent$
9onHt create high stakes assess!ents
without o""ortunities to i!"ro#e$
9o "ro#ide detailed and diagnostic
feedback$
9onHt allow assigning grades or scoring to
take "recedence o#er "ro#iding !eaningful
feedback$
9o o"enly discuss and critically re#iew one
another0s assess!ents with the goal of
enhancing classroo! instru!ents$
9onHt de#elo" graded ele!ents last or in a
hurry, inde"endent of desired outco!es or
lacking in scoring criteria$
9o use assess!ent as a teaching tool to
"ro!"t learning$
9onHt assu!e that assess!ent is an add-on,
use it to i!"ro#e learning as a strong
!oti#ational force$
9o "ay attention to confidentiality$
9onHt share or re"ort data that !ay re#eal
indi#idual studentHs "erfor!ance$
9o consider workload and use realistic
and effecti#e assess!ent "lans$
9onHt try to do e#erything at once without
closing the loo" and i!"ro#ing anything$
9o use student feedback to ad)ust S*(s,
assign!ents, rubrics, and "edagogy
9onHt be afraid to change and use collegial
dialogue to #alidate changes$
&=
A%%endi, A ' Start with #ell'designed SLOs
*earning outco!es clearly state what a student is able to 9( at the
co!"letion of a course or student ser#ices "rogra!$
Focus on what the student can do$
Ese acti#e #erbs$
%nclude an assessable e."ectation$
Share the outco!es with your students$
'odify as you learn fro! e."erience$
1earning outcomes provide a focus and a standard for the classroom or the student
services program&
*earning outco!es articulate what the instructor or institution e."ect the students to be
ca"able of doing after e."osure to a course or ser#ice$
S*(s should be an integral "art of the syllabus$
S*(s act as a guide for class acti#ities, assign!ents, and e.a!s$
S*(s "ro#ide a focus for what and how content should be co#ered$
S*(s for! a fra!ework for ser#ices that su""ort student learning$
S*(s "ro#ide a discussion ne.us for faculty and an i!"ortant starting "lace for
course, de"art!ent, and "rogra! learning outco!es$
Shar"ly focused S*(s will indicate and direct the choice of #alid and a""ro"riate
assess!ent !ethods$
&A
A%%endi, B " SLO Chec$list
Stdent Learning Otcomes ?SLO@ Chec$list Aes <o
9o the S*(s include acti#e #erbs@
Co!!entsI
9o the S*(s suggest or identify an assess!ent@
Co!!entsI
9o the S*(s address !ore so"histicated or dee"er le#el of learning such
as described in Bloo!0s a.ono!y or 6ebb0s 9e"th of ?nowledge as
guidelines@
Co!!entsI
9oes the set of S*(s address !ore than one do!ain ,cogniti#e,
"sycho!otor, and affecti#e-@
Co!!entsI
Are the S*(s written as outco!es rather than as ob)ecti#es@
*anguage indicates an i!"ortant o#erarching conce"t #ersus s!all
lesson or cha"ter ob)ecti#es$
(utco!es address what a student will be able to do at the
co!"letion of the course$
S*(s address student co!"etency rather than content co#erage$
Co!!entsI
Are the S*(s a""ro"riate for the course or "rogra!@
Consistent with the curriculu! docu!ent of record
Re"resents a funda!ental result of the course
Aligns with other courses in a se/uence, if a""licable
Re"resents collegiate le#el work
Co!!entsI
9o the S*(s reflect as #alue seen at other colleges, "rofessional
organi+ations or #ocational e."ectations@
Co!!entsI
&C
6ill students understand the S*(s@
Co!!entsI
As yo tal$ colleages abot SLOs* $ee% these things in mindI
;ach class section, course, "rogra! and institution has uni/ue factors$
9isci"lines ha#e uni/ue language and culture$
Cross disci"linary con#ersations are in#aluableO do not do this in a #acuu!$
Elti!ately disci"line-s"ecific con#ersations best define co!"etencies for
students$
;#eryone is a learner when it co!es to assess!ent$
&>
A%%endi, C Choosing the Right Assessment 4ools
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
#hat so%histication of thin$ing does this assess &
Bloom>s 4a,onomy - ?nowledge, Co!"rehension, A""lication
or AnalysisMSynthesisM;#aluation
#ebb=s .e%th of 3nowledge Recall, Basic A""lication,
Strategic hinking, ;.tended thinking
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
'ulti"le
Choice
;.a!
'ulti"le choice testing assesses knowledge based on the
correct selection of gi#en "otential answers$ his usually
e#aluates direct recall and so!e a""lication in the lower
le#els of Bloo!0s ta.ono!y, but so!e co!"le. !ulti"le
choice /uestions test !ore so"histicated thinking$ Creating
good /uestions is co!"le.$ Publisher0s test banks are
usually not aligned with s"ecific course outco!es$
9
Fuant
easy to grade
ob)ecti#e
co#ers a lot of content or
!aterial
reduces assess!ent to
"ro#ided answers
often si!"listic and low le#el
this ty"e of testing fa#ors a
single learning style o#er
others
*icensing
;.a!s
here are licensing e.a!s re/uired for nu!erous
"rofessional licenses$ hese e.a!s are officially
ad!inistered by "articular boards or "rofessions on
s"ecific content and knowledge and are usually !ulti"le
choice$ Because these e.a!s define a !ini!u!
/ualification, it is a""ro"riate to ha#e for!ati#e
assess!ents si!ulating these ty"es of e.a!s in a course$
;.a!"lesI 8C*;Q ,nursing-, Q-Ray Board ;.a!s, AS;
Auto!oti#e Ser#ice ;.cellence ;.a!, C8A - Certified
8ursing Assistant, ;' - ;!ergency 'edical echnician
9
Fuant
easy to score
allows co!"arisons a!ong
students and across
"rogra!s and colleges
should be included in any
"rogra! assess!ent
in#ol#ing a ter!inal licensing
e.a! for e!"loy!ent
not authentic testing
!ay outdate
often has content #alidity
"roble!s !ay !ini!i+e or
si!"lify actual knowledge
others
Standardi+e
d Cogniti#e
ests
Standardi+ed cogniti#e tests are de#elo"ed and
ad!inistered at a cost by educational testing co!"anies$
hese tests are generally !ulti"le choice and are nationally
nor!ed$ hese tests often assess reading writing, !ath,
gra!!ar, #ocabulary$ Additionally, there are !a)or field
tests that !ay be used to assess student learning in the
!a)or$ ;.a!"les includeI :R;, SA, *SA, 'CA, 'illerHs
Analogies, Stanford-Binet etc
9
Fuant
co!"arable between
students
hea#ily de"endent on
e."osure to to"ics on test s"
content #alidity is a concern
others
Checklists
A checklist basically deter!ined by criteria or "ri!ary traits
necessary for a gi#en outco!e$ Checklists are good for
9
#ery useful for skills or can !ini!i+e large "icture and
&B
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
See
e.a!"le at
end of
table
si!"le "sycho!otor skills or low le#el recall
Fuant
"erfor!ances
students know e.actly what is
!issing
interrelatedness
e#aluation feedback is
basically a yesMno -
"resentMabsent - without detail
;ssay
A short literary or narrati#e co!"osition on a single
sub)ect, concerning a "articular thesis, su""orted by
e#idence$ his could be assigned within any "articular
rhetorical !ode ,e$g$ argu!entati#e, infor!ati#e, definiti#e,
etc- and within any disci"line$
9
Fual K
Fuant
dis"lays analytical and
synthetic thinking well
allows assess!ent of
student0s writing and thinking
ability
ti!e consu!ing to grade
can be sub)ecti#e without a
rubric
artifacts !ay be influenced by
"lagiaris!
Co!"rehen-
si#e factors
list
%n this assess!ent the student is re/uired to list any and all
factors "ertinent to a gi#en outco!e, e#ent, illustration,
article or "erfor!ance$$
9
Fual K
Fuant
dis"lays ability to identify
wide-ranging as"ects of a
gi#en conce"t
!ust be well-defined to be
!anageable and reduce
irrele#ant guessing andMor
#olu!es of factors
Case Study
Case studies use an Rin situR a""roach to si!ulate real life
situations and "roble!s$ he 8ational Center for Case
Study eaching in Science is a good e.a!"le of "re-
"ackaged assess!ents and assign!ents that can be
ada"ted in a #ariety of courses
htt"IMMublib$buffalo$eduMlibrariesM"ro)ectsMcasesMcase$ht!l
;ngineering case studies
htt"IMMwww$ci#eng$carleton$caM;C*M
;thics case studies
htt"IMMethics$sandiego$eduMresourcesMcasesM2o!e(#er#iew
$as"
9
Fual K
Fuant
connects other knowledge to
the to"ic
dis"lays critical thinking and
analytic ability
%nitially creating the case study
is ti!e consu!ing
results !ay test student
knowledge fro! !ulti"le areas
not necessarily fro! a
"articular "rogra! of study
9ebate 9ebate is a co!"etiti#e assess!ent where students !ust 9 "ro#ides i!!ediate feedback re/uires a good grading rubric
1D
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
take a "osition and argue their thesis against the o""osing
"osition$ his ty"e of assess!ent in#ol#es nu!erous high
le#el thinking skills and re/uires "lanning and "artici"ation
on the "art of the student$ 9ebates can be done
indi#idually or in tea!s$
Fual K
Fuant
to the student
re#eals thinking and ability to
res"ond based on
background knowledge and
critical thinking ability
in#ol#es listening and
res"onsi#eness as well as
out"ut
!ore than one e#aluator is
hel"ful
difficult for ;S* students
stressful for students
takes course ti!e
usually ends u" with a winner
and a loser - co!"etition
Proble!
Sol#ing
Proble! sol#ing uses the sa!e a""roach as case studies
but !ay lea#e !ore de#elo"!ental "roble! sol#ing to the
student$ For instance, the student !ust de#elo" the
e."eri!ent or tests to obtain data$ Rice Eni#ersity has a
great collection of these$
htt"IMMwww$ruf$rice$eduMSlaneMr#ls$ht!l
Eni#ersity of 9elaware has sa!"le "roble!s
htt"IMMedweb$sdsu$eduMclritMlearningtreeMPB*MwebassessM6
ebAssess!ent2o!e$ht!l
Sa!ford Eni#ersity has a website describing PB* -
Proble! based learning
htt"IMMwww$sa!ford$eduM"blMdefinitions$ht!l
S9SE has a site on assessing "roble! based learning
htt"IMMedweb$sdsu$eduMclritMlearningtreeMPB*MwebassessM6
ebAssess!ent2o!e$ht!l
9
Fual K
Fuant
authentic if real world
situations are used
re#eals thinking and ability to
res"ond based on
background knowledge and
critical thinking ability
difficult to grade due to
!ulti"le !ethods and "otential
!ulti"le solutions
these !ust be loosely
structured to allow !a.i!u!
creati#ity on the "art of the
student
1&
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
(ral S"eech
or
(ral
"resentation
(ral "resentations assess nu!erous as"ects of learning
including co!!unication and s"ecific content skills$
6ell defined oral "resentations that in#ol#e research and
analysis also allow faculty to assess infor!ation
co!"etency within a "articular disci"line$
9
Fual K
Fuant
easily graded with rubric
allows other students to see
and learn what each student
learned
connects general education
goals with disci"line-s"ecific
courses
difficult for ;S* students
takes course ti!e
!ust fairly grade course
content beyond deli#ery
(ral
;.a!ination
(ral e.a!inations usually in#ol#e /uestioning a student
concerning indi#idual !astery of a "articular to"ic$ he
/uestions are generally o"en-ended or in#ol#e
identification of "articular ite!s$ 9e"ending u"on the ty"e
of /uestions asked ,this assess!ent has "otential to re#eal
nu!erous areas of content !astery and critical thinking$
9
Fual K
Fuant
allows students to really
e."ress what they know
does not fa#or "articular
learning styles
can si!ulate real world
e."eriences #ery well
can re/uire a lot of ti!e
e/ually difficult and fair
/uestions for all students is
challenging
!ust ha#e rules and
boundaries for res"onses
Products,
S"ecial
Re"orts or
Poster
sessions
his assess!ent re/uires students to use the knowledge
fro! a learning e."erience to create a "roduct dis"laying
that learning$
Si!ulates real world or acade!ic outco!es and
e."ectations$
9
Fual K
Fuant
students can dis"lay skills$
knowledge, and abilities in a
way that is suited to the!
allows creati#ity
re/uires research and
analysis
!ust ha#e clearly defined
criteria and e#aluati#e
!easures
Rthe lookR can not o#er-ride the
content
hought
Balloon
%n this assess!ent a "articular situation, reaction, or thesis
state!ent is analy+ed fro! other "eo"le0s "ers"ecti#es,
not the student0s own$ he student !ust analytically
deter!ine what so!eone else0s conclusions or thoughts
about an issue are and draw a thought balloon to illustrate
what so!eone else is thinking$
9
Fual
in#ol#es student ability to
understand di#erse
"ers"ecti#es
assesses critical thinking and
analysis
!ay unwittingly create
o""ortunity to biased
res"onses
re/uires well-defined
assign!ents
Flowchart or
9iagra!
A flowchart is a #isual or gra"hic illustration of a "rocess or
syste! used to sol#e a "roble! or "roduce a "roduct$
9 dis"lays original synthetic
thinking on the "art of the
directions !ust be #ery clear
!ore difficult to grade,
11
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
See
e.a!"le at
end of
table
Cogniti#e researchers ha#e said that "lacing infor!ation in
a flowchart or diagra! re"resents one of the highest le#els
of cogniti#e achie#e!ent re/uiring analysis and synthesis
of !any conce"ts$ Flowcharts are e.cellent ways to
co!!unicate the logic in#ol#ed in a syste!O students !ust
recall the a""ro"riate infor!ation and associated content
but !ust also analy+e how the co!"onents fit with the
entire syste! or "rocess$ Flow charts allow students the
o""ortunity to gain confidence in their ability to describe the
entire syste! or "rocess$ hese assess!ents can be
assign!ents or on the s"ot assess!ents$
Fual K
Fuant
student
a good way to dis"lay o#erall
high le#el thinking and
articulation abilities when
nu!erous factors are
in#ol#ed
short bullet "oints or
state!ents allow !ore
infor!ation to be shared
re/uiring a checklist or rubric
for a #ariety of different and
so!eti!es une."ected
answers
difficult for so!e students to do
on the s"ot
does not allow writing
"roficiency assess!ent
Cause and
;ffect
9iagra!s
e$g$
Fishbone
See
e.a!"le at
end of
table
Cause and effect diagra!s assess the student0s ability to
dis"lay relationshi"s$ he assess!ent !ay start with a
cause and work forward or with an effect and work
backwards$ Students should always be re!inded not to
o#er-si!"lify causal relationshi"s and always to think about
other relationshi"s and "ossibilities, not )ust the !ost
ob#ious$
9
Fual K
Fuant
dis"lays a #ariety of causes
that relate to a gi#en outco!e
re/uires e#aluati#e and
synthetic critical thinking
e."ansi#e and inclusi#e
allows co!"rehensi#e
assess!ent of understanding
works best with grou"s
relying on collaborati#e
thinking
re/uires ti!e
assess!ent !ust allow
creati#e thinkingO eli!inating
si!"le right wrong answers
tea!work !ay in#ol#e
co!"lications
Significant
e#ents
analogy
Students are re/uired to describe a real life situation that
illustrates key conce"ts, "olicies, outco!es or "rinci"les as
an analogy to so!ething within their real! of e."erience
9
Fual
Allows students to scaffold
knowledge
2el"s long ter! retention
directions !ust be #ery clear
re/uires ade/uate grading
techni/ues
Portfolios
Portfolios were de#elo"ed based u"on the art "ortfolio
!odel that dis"lays the studentHs abilities through a
collection of artifacts$ Portfolios are a collection of student
artifacts o#er a "eriod of ti!e$ 'any institutions use
9
Fual K
Fuant
"ro#ides the students with a
clear record of their work and
growth
"ortfolios are ti!e consu!ing
to assess, re/uiring ti!e
outside the nor!al faculty load
17
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
"ortfolio "ro)ects to assess de#elo"!ent and change o#er
ti!e$ Portfolios benefits student !etacogniti#e growth and
result in a resu!e-like "roduct which students can use
beyond their schooling$ So!e institutions use electronic
student "ortfolios that are co!!ercially a#ailable ,see links
to the right-$$ %nstructions to the students !ust be e."licit,
based u"on the "ur"ose and uses of the "ortfolio$ Sa!"le
electronic "ortfolios$
htt"IMMwebcenter&$aahe$orgMelectronic"ortfoliosMinde.$ht!l
Sa!"le of a digital "ortfolio for students
htt"IMMwww$h"cnet$orgMu"loadMattach!entsMhe9AT7B1>C
CT1DD7&&D7D>1717$doc
8u!erous sa!"les of "ortfolios for student grading are
found at htt"IMMwww$aahe$orgMteachingM"foliosearch7$cf!
best e#idence of growth and
change o#er ti!e
"ro!otes self-assess!ent
different content in "ortfolios
!akes e#aluation difficult and
!ay re/uire training or
nor!ing
the artifacts are bulky to
!anage, store and trans"ort,
de"ending on si+e
Rthe lookR can not o#er-ride the
content
Peer Re#iew
Peer re#iew has been used #ery well in art and
"erfor!ance courses for a long ti!e$ his !ethod of
assess!ent si!ulates the 4real world5 e."osing students to
the kind of criti/ues and feedback they would get as an
artist or "erfor!er$ %t is essential that a rubric with s"ecific
criteria be used for res"onses and that the rubric is aligned
with the a""ro"riate goals and le#els of e."ectation$
9
Fual
students learn to recei#e and
res"ond to criticis!, as well
as how to gi#e it$
#aluable to the student being
criti/ued as well as those
!aking the criti/ue$
students !ust ha#e ade/uate
knowledge and self-confidence
to e#aluate and criti/ue
the e."ectations of the faculty
!ust be #ery clear
the faculty !e!ber !ust
deter!ine how the criti/ue will
infor! the final assess!ent
%nternshi"s,
Field
;."eriences
Clinical
;#aluations
his is usually seen as an acti#ity or e."erience rather than
an assess!ent$ 2owe#er, if ade/uate e#aluations of the
e."erience and the "erfor!ance of the student with
regards to s"ecific outco!es, skills or work are conducted,
this beco!es an e.tre!ely "owerful assess!ent as well as
a learning e."erience$
9, %
Fual K
Fuant
students re"ort that this
"ro#ides the best learning
and "ersonal assess!ent of
their abilities
si!ulate real world
ti!e consu!ing to set u"
e#aluations that are co!"eted
by key "artici"ants are
essential
1<
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
e."eriences liability issues !ay be a
concern
;.it Sur#eys
hese sur#eys are conducted to assess student
"erce"tions of a course, "rogra! or institution following a
learning e."erience$
%
Fual K
Fuant
"ro#ides good su!!ati#e
data
easy to !anage data if *ikert-
scaled res"onses are used
*ikert scales li!it feedback,
o"en-ended res"onses are
bulky to !anage,
Perfor!anc
e
Assess!ent of student "erfor!ance "ro#ides a uni/ue
o""ortunity to assess skills and abilities in a real-ti!e
situation$ 6hile "erfor!ance assess!ent a""ears a
natural tool for fine arts, it has also been used in the
hu!anities in the for! of debates or re-enact!ents$ R2igh-
/uality "erfor!ance as a goal, whether at the course or
"rogra! le#el can !ake the curriculu! !ore trans"arent,
coherent, and !eaningful for faculty and students alike$
Clarity and !eaningfulness, in turn, can be "owerful
!oti#ators for both faculty and students, "articularly if the
"erfor!ance is a "ublic one$ And "ublic "erfor!ances
"ro#ide !odels for other studentsR ,6right, &BBB-$
9
Fual K
Fuant
"ro#ides best dis"lay of skills
and abilities
"ro#ides e.cellent o""ortunity
for "eer re#iew
!ay take course ti!e
so!e students !ay take the
e#aluation #ery hard -
e#aluati#e state!ents !ust be
carefully fra!ed
"erfor!ance assess!ents
re/uire well-designed
instru!ents, criteria, rubrics,
and nor!ing between
re#iewers
;ornals
Journals or learning logs are used as a tool for increasing
student writing and !oti#ation for writing and for assessing
studentsH writing skills$ Journals focused on studentsH
educational goals and #alues are useful for institutional
assess!ent$
9, %
Fual
"ro#ides students longitudinal
"ers"ecti#es
reflects student growth o#er
ti!e
students !ust #alue "rocess
ti!e consu!ing to e#aluate
difficult data to collect and
re"ort
Ca"stone
"ro)ect or
course
A ca"stone is defined as a cul!inating e#ent or crowning
achie#e!ent$ Ca"stone Courses or Pro)ects are high
stakes courses or "ro)ects integrating !ultidisci"linary
education with a "roble! or course$ So!e institutions ha#e
de#elo"ed ca"stone courses for "rogra!s which integrate
an entire se/uence of study$ Ca"stone courses, where the
course itself is an assess!ent instru!ent, "ro#ide uni/ue
9
Fual K
Fuant

best !ethod to !easure
growth o#erti!e with regards
to a !a)or, course or
"rogra!$
ca"stones assess cu!ulati#e
knowledge, skills and abilities
ade/uate focus and breadth of
assess!ent are i!"ortant
understanding all the #ariables
to "roduce assess!ent results
is i!"ortant e$g$ "otential
1=
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
and challenging o""ortunities for students to integrate and
de!onstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities$ Ca"stone
courses "ro#ide a!"le and focused for!ati#e ti!e to
synthesi+e and ce!ent s"ecific skills and co!"etencies$
Ca"stone courses are a significant learning e."erience as
well as a "owerful assess!ent tool$
;.a!"le of ca"stone "ro)ects in :eneral ;ducation
htt"IMMgenedhonors$bingha!ton$eduM"ro)des$ht!l
Ca"stone Course in ;ducation
htt"IMMwww$wgu$eduMwguMs!artcatalogMclassTdescri"tion$as
"@courseTkeyGCD77
Sa!"le Ca"stone Pro)ects
htt"IMMwww$uno!aha$eduMSwww"aM"ro)ectM"re#se!esters$h
t!l
better than a single
assess!ent or a licensing
e.a!$
designed to e#aluate
synthesis and integration
across a course of study,
!a)or or "rogra!$
e.ternal #ariables$
ca"stones should be aligned
and coordinated with criteria or
standards for the breadth and
de"th of the course of study
ea!
Pro)ect
his is another ter! for collaborati#e "ro)ects, either within
the course, in con)unction with other courses, or with
co!!unity "artners$ %t uses collaborati#e learning to
assess !ulti"le le#els of understanding and a""lication$
'any of the assess!ents abo#e can be conducted in
tea!s or collaborati#ely$ here is, howe#er, a difference
between collaborati#e and coo"erati#e assess!ents$
9 can connect general
education goals with
disci"line-s"ecific courses$
see
htt"IMMwww$c"cs$u!b$eduM"art
nersT"ro)ectsM"artnersT"ro)ec
tsTcollaborations$ht!
!ust fairly grade indi#iduals as
well as tea!
fair grading for all "artici"ants
!ay be co!"licated
student interaction !ay be a
challenge
Reflecti#e
self-
assess!ent
essay
hese ty"es of essays ask the students to assess their
own growth and de#elo"!ent using e#idence to su""ort
their conclusions$ Correctly structured, student self-
assess!ent can "ro#ide insight into affecti#e de#elo"!ent
and !etacogniti#e growth that other assess!ent can not$
RSelf-assess!ent is a !ethod that allows -indeed forces-
students to take stock of and analy+e their own learning$
As such, it can be not only an e#aluati#e tool but an
educational "rocess in its own right$R 6right &BBB
9, % "ro#ides in#aluable ability to
e#aluate affecti#e growth in
students
can "ro#ide "owerful
infor!ation that can not be
acco!"lished by any other
!eans of assess!ent
the rubric to e#aluate the self
assess!ent should be e."licit
students should "ro#ide
e#idence of any conclusions
they !akeO this !ay include
artifacts to su""ort these
conclusions$
1A
Assessment 4ools
#hat $ind of
data&
9irect or
%ndirect
Fualitati#e ,P-
or Fuantitati#e
Assessmen
t 4ool .efinition
Benefits Challenges
Satisfaction
and
Perce"tion
Sur#eys
here are nu!erous co!!ercial standardi+ed sur#eys
a#ailable to gather data on student, faculty, staff, e!"loyer,
and co!!unity satisfaction or "erce"tions$ ;.a!"les are
the
CCSS; and 8SS; on student engage!ent
8oel-*e#it+ SS% ,Student Satisfaction %n#entory-
CS;F College Student ;."eriences Fuestionnaire
%
Fual or
/uant
"ro#ides good indirect data
data can be co!"ared
longitudinally
can be used to deter!ine
outco!es o#er a long "eriod
of ti!e
res"ondents !ay be
influenced by factors other
than those being considered
#alidity and reliability !ost be
closely watched
occasionally o#er-relied u"on
by student ser#ices
!ocs
Gro%s
A focus grou" is a directed "o"ulation sa!"le where s!all-
grou" discussion is used to elicit /ualitati#e res"onses
beyond that of a sur#ey$ in-de"th /ualitati#e infor!ation$
%ndi#iduals are s"ecifically in#ited to "artici"ate in a
discussion focused on a, usually no !ore than three to fi#e$
he discussion is infor!al as "artici"ants are encouraged
to talk with each other about their e."eriences,
"references, needs, obser#ations, or "erce"tions$
sur#eys with *ikert scaled
answers "ro#ide /uantitati#e
data but lack so!e i!"ortant
direction for i!"ro#e!ent
focus grou"s "ro#ide answers
the e#aluators !ay ha#e
ne#er considered
!ust restrict to"ics and
carefully guide discussion
data collection techni/ues are
essential as to not o#er-
e!"hasi+e indi#idual
res"onses
getting the "eo"le to !eet
together !ay re/uire so!e
incenti#e
!oderator role is essential
!lowchart or .iagram
A flowchart is a #isual or gra"hic illustration of a "rocess or syste! used to sol#e
a "roble! or "roduce a "roduct$ Cogniti#e researchers ha#e said that "lacing
infor!ation in a flowchart or diagra! re"resents one of the highest le#els of
cogniti#e achie#e!ent re/uiring analysis and synthesis of !any conce"ts$
Flowcharts are e.cellent ways to co!!unicate the logic in#ol#ed in a syste!O
students !ust recall the a""ro"riate infor!ation and associated content but !ust
also analy+e how the co!"onents fit with the entire syste! or "rocess$ Flow
1C
charts allow students the o""ortunity to gain confidence in their ability to describe the entire syste! or "rocess$ Follow-u"
case study /uestions concerning the syste! or "rocess, in#ol#ing "otential "roble!s or ada"tations, allow the students to
use the flowchart to e#aluate syste! changes$
9irections for this ty"e of assess!ent !ust be #ery s"ecific$
&$ 9escribe a "rocess using a flowchart or diagra!$ A flowchart is a #isual or gra"hic illustration of a "rocess or
syste! used to sol#e a "roble! or "roduce a "roduct$
1$ Chart the "rocess the way it really occurs$
7$ Pre"are a single lined title for the flowchart or diagra! that ade/uately describes the "rocess being described$
<$ Begin with an e#ent that initiates the "rocess$
=$ Record each succeeding action or reaction clearly identifying its relationshi" to the "rocess$
A$ Ese standard sy!bols for reoccurrences
C$ %f !ulti"le sti!ulators or !ulti"le conse/uences occur, try to include these$
>$ 'ake notes or reference anything that needs e."lanation and any assu!"tions that are not e#ident$
B$ 9eter!ine and end "oint or whether the "rocess is cyclic and draw it in this way$
&D$ Run through the flowchart to be sure you ha#e not left anything out and that it flows in the way you ha#e drawn it$
6$;$ 9e!ing, the /uality guru is re"orted to ha#e said, RR9raw a flowchart for whate#er you do$ Entil you do, you do not
know what you are doing, you )ust ha#e a )ob$R %n the sa!e way we !ight tell our students to draw a flow chart, until they
do they ha#e only !e!ori+ed factoids$
Fishbone 9iagra! 9is"laying Cause and ;ffect
1>
Title:
Author, Page Number, Date

Effect
Category
Category
Category Category Category
Category Category Category
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
cause
1B
Reflecti#e Self-Assess!ent ;ssay
hese ty"es of essays ask the students to assess their own growth and de#elo"!ent using e#idence to su""ort their conclusions$ An
e.a!"le of this kind of essay is gi#en below$ his essay is fro! a !ultidisci"linary ca"stone class in Ad#anced Co!"osition and
Critical hinking taught by four instructors at Bakersfield College$ he assign!ent is
o"icI 9iscuss your de#elo"!ent as a writer this se!ester$
AudienceI All four instructors
9ue 9ateI &A 'ay 1DD1 at the beginning of class
PointsI &DD
For!atI '*A for!at
Prewriting ProcessI
&$ Carefully reread all of your writing assign!ents for this class$
1$ Choose the one you feel is the strongest$ *ist the reasons$
7$ Choose the one you feel is the weakest$ *ist the reasons$
<$ Characteri+e yourself as a writer and as a thinker, referring to any work you ha#e done for this class$
=$ 6hich "arts of the class were !ost hel"ful@ 6hy@ 6hich "arts need to be i!"ro#ed@ 6hy@
Esing your answers to /uestions 1-< as a basis for your essay, discuss your de#elo"!ent as a writer this se!ester$ Answer /uestion
= on se"arate "age,s-$
%n addition to your final essay, turn in the followingI
%nitial Baseline ;ssay "a"er
Strongest "a"er
6eakest "a"er
Answers to the Prewriting Process /uestions ,1-=-$
Esed with Per!ission fro! ?ate Pluta Bakersfield College
7D
Checklist
A checklist basically determines whether a criterion is present or not, in contrast
to how well or at what performance leel! "hecklists are good for simple psychomotor skills or low leel recall!

#and washing "hecklist
Ad$usted to appropriate water temperature
#ands wetted
%oap applied
&ather worked'up
Applied cleansing friction of at least () seconds
Applied friction between fingers
Applied friction on back of hands
*sed fingernail brush for nail beds
+insed off all soap
Dried appropriately
7&
71
77
A%%endi, . ' 4he Case for Athentic Assessment9 #2A4 6S A:42/<46C
ASS/SSB/<4&
By :rant 6iggins
Assess!ent is authentic when we directly e.a!ine student "erfor!ance on worthy intellectual
tasks$ raditional assess!ent, by contract, relies on indirect or "ro.y Hite!sH--efficient, si!"listic
substitutes fro! which we think #alid inferences can be !ade about the studentHs "erfor!ance
at those #alued challenges$
9o we want to e#aluate student "roble!-"osing and "roble!-sol#ing in !athe!atics@
e."eri!ental research in science@ s"eaking, listening, and facilitating a discussion@ doing
docu!ent-based historical in/uiry@ thoroughly re#ising a "iece of i!aginati#e writing until it
RworksR for the reader@ hen let our assess!ent be built out of such e.e!"lary intellectual
challenges$
Further co!"arisons with traditional standardi+ed tests will hel" to clarify what RauthenticityR
!eans when considering assess!ent design and useI
U Authentic assess!ents re/uire students to be effecti#e "erfor!ers with ac/uired knowledge$
raditional tests tend to re#eal only whether the student can recogni+e, recall or R"lug inR what
was learned out of conte.t$ his !ay be as "roble!atic as inferring dri#ing or teaching ability
fro! written tests alone$ ,8ote, therefore, that the debate is not Reither-orRI there !ay well be
#irtue in an array of local and state assess!ent instru!ents as befits the "ur"ose of the
!easure!ent$-
U Authentic assess!ents "resent the student with the full array of tasks that !irror the "riorities
and challenges found in the best instructional acti#itiesI conducting researchO writing, re#ising
and discussing "a"ersO "ro#iding an engaging oral analysis of a recent "olitical e#entO
collaborating with others on a debate, etc$ Con#entional tests are usually li!ited to "a"er-and-
"encil, one- answer /uestions$
U Authentic assess!ents attend to whether the student can craft "olished, thorough and
)ustifiable answers, "erfor!ances or "roducts$ Con#entional tests ty"ically only ask the student
to select or write correct res"onses--irres"ecti#e of reasons$ ,here is rarely an ade/uate
o""ortunity to "lan, re#ise and substantiate res"onses on ty"ical tests, e#en when there are
o"en-ended /uestions-$ As a result,
U Authentic assess!ent achie#es #alidity and reliability by e!"hasi+ing and standardi+ing the
a""ro"riate criteria for scoring such ,#aried- "roductsO traditional testing standardi+es ob)ecti#e
Rite!sR and, hence, the ,one- right answer for each$
U Rest #alidityR should de"end in "art u"on whether the test si!ulates real-world RtestsR of
ability$ Jalidity on !ost !ulti"le-choice tests is deter!ined !erely by !atching ite!s to the
curriculu! content ,or through so"histicated correlations with other test results-$
U Authentic tasks in#ol#e Rill-structuredR challenges and roles that hel" students rehearse for the
co!"le. a!biguities of the Rga!eR of adult and "rofessional life$ raditional tests are !ore like
drills, assessing static and too-often arbitrarily discrete or si!"listic ele!ents of those acti#ities$
6iggins, :rant ,&BBD-$ he case for authentic assess!ent$ Practical 2ssessment,
3esearch , 4valuation, 1,1-$ Retrie#ed February &A, 1DD< fro!
htt"IMMPAR;online$netMget#n$as"@#G1KnG1 $
Co"yright &BBD, PAR;online$net$ Per!ission is granted to distribute this article for non"rofit,
7<
educational "ur"oses if it is co"ied in its entirety and the )ournal is credited$ Please notify the
editor if an article is to be used in a newsletter$
7=
A%%endi, / Loo$ing at Grades ?as measres of sccess@ and .isaggregating by /thnicity
African American 7 1 1 1 10 90.0% 80.0%
0.0% 70.0% 10.0% 10.0% 0.0% 10.0% 4.7%
Ameri can Indian / Other, Non!hite 2 2 4 100.0% 100.0%
50.0% 50.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.9%
A"ian/ #i$i%ino/ &acific I"$ander 4 9 8 1 1 3 26 88.5% 80.8%
15.4% 34.6% 30.8% 3.8% 3.8% 11.5% 12.2%
'i"%ani c 2 23 15 1 1 42 97.6% 95.2%
4.8% 54.8% 35.7% 2.4% 0.0% 2.4% 19.7%
(n)no*n 2 5 3 10 100.0% 100.0%
20.0% 50.0% 30.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 4.7%
!hite 41 66 8 1 1 4 121 96.7% 95.0%
33.9% 54.5% 6.6% 0.8% 0.8% 3.3% 56.8%
51 112 35 4 2 9 213 95.8% 93.0%
23.9% 52.6% 16.4% 1.9% 0.9% 4.2% 100.0%
African American 1 10 8 1 1 1 22 95.5% 86.4%
4.5% 45.5% 36.4% 4.5% 4.5% 4.5% 5.5%
Ameri can Indian / Other, Non!hite 1 7 2 10 100.0% 100.0%
10.0% 70.0% 20.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 2.5%
A"ian/ #i$i%ino/ &acific I"$ander 5 23 16 1 1 1 47 97.9% 93.6%
10.6% 48.9% 34.0% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 11.7%
'i"%ani c 4 35 55 11 2 4 111 96.4% 84.7%
3.6% 31.5% 49.5% 9.9% 1.8% 3.6% 27.6%
(n)no*n 1 5 1 1 8 87.5% 87.5%
12.5% 62.5% 12.5% 0.0% 0.0% 12.5% 2.0%
!hite 35 94 61 2 1 11 204 94.6% 93.1%
17.2% 46.1% 29.9% 1.0% 0.5% 5.4% 50.7%
47 174 143 15 5 18 402 95.5% 90.5%
11.7% 43.3% 35.6% 3.7% 1.2% 4.5% 100.0%
98 286 178 19 7 27 615 95.6% 91.4%
15.9% 46.5% 28.9% 3.1% 1.1% 4.4%
Bakersfield College
BIOL B16 Grade Distributi ons wit !etention and "u##ess b$ %tni#it$ & "e#tions 'au(t b$ )anet *u+,s
*a++ 1998 trou( *a++ 2007 +Note, No -ection" *ere ta./ht i n -%rin/ 20030
"tudents
-o./+etin(
BIOL B16
between
*a++ 1998 and *a++
2002
"tudents
-o./+etin(
BIOL B16
between
*a++ 2003 and *a++
2007
0++ "tudents between *a++ 1998 and *a++ 2002
!etention
+A,1, 2, 3, #0
"u##ess
+A, 1,20 4 and % of
5ot a$ in 5ime
&eriod
1
*ina+ Grade 'ota+
Grades
0++ "tudents between *a++ 2003 and *a++ 2007
0++ BIOL B16 "tudents 2*a++ 1998&*a++ 20073
4 and % of tota$ f or each /rade
'i.e 4eriod %tni#it$ 0 B - D *
7A
A%%endi, / " A Com%arison of Bloom=s 4a,onomy and #ebb=s .e%th of
3nowledge
BLOOMS TAXONOMY WEBBS DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE
,The recall of specifics and uniersals,
inoling little more than bringing to mind
the appropriate material-
RECALL
+ecall of a fact, information, or procedure .e!g!, /hat
are 0 critical skill cues for the oerhand throw12
COMPREHENSION
,Ability to process knowledge on a
low leel such that the knowledge
can be reproduced or communicated
without a erbatim repetition!-
APPLICATION
,The use of abstractions in
concrete situations!-
BASIC APPLICATION OF SKILL/CONCEPT
*se of information, conceptual knowledge,
procedures, two or more steps, etc! .e!g!, E3plain why
each skill cue is important to the oerhand throw!
,4y stepping forward you are able to throw the ball
further!-2
ANALYSIS
,The breakdown of a situation into
its component parts!-
STRATEGIC THINKING
+e5uires reasoning, deeloping a plan or se5uence of
steps6 has some comple3ity6 more than one possible
answer6 generally takes less than 7) minutes to do
.e!g!, Design ( different plays in basketball and
e3plain what different skills are needed and when the
plays should be carried out!2
SYNTHESIS AND EVALATION
,Putting together elements 8 parts
to form a whole, then making alue
$udgments about the method!-
EXTENDED THINKING
+e5uires an inestigation6 time to think and process
multiple conditions of the problem or task6 and more
than 7) minutes to do non'routine manipulations .e!g!,
Analy9e 0 different tennis, rac5uetball, and badminton
strokes for similarities, differences, and purposes!
Then, discuss the relationship between the mechanics
of the stroke and the strategy for using the stroke
during game play!2
6yo!ing School 2ealth and Physical ;ducation 8etwork ,1DD1-$ Cognitive
Com%le,ity ?Com%aring Bloom>s 4a,onomy C #ebb>s .e%th of 3nowledge$
Retrie#ed 9ece!ber &<, 1DDB, fro! htt"IMMwww$uwyo$eduMwyh"enet
7C
A%%endi, G /,amining .irect and 6ndirect .ata
"irect data. 9irect data "ro#ide e#idence of student knowledge, skills, or attitudes for
the s"ecific do!ain in /uestion and actually !easuring student learning, not
"erce"tions of learning or secondary e#idence of learning, such as a degree or
certificate$ For instance, a !ath test directly !easures a studentHs "roficiency in !ath$
%n contrast, an e!"loyer0s re"ort about student abilities in !ath or a re"ort on the
nu!ber of !ath degrees awarded would be indirect data$
Sa!"le 9irect 9ata Re"ort
7>
ndirect data. %ndirect data are so!eti!es called secondary data because they indirectly
!easure student "erfor!ance$ For instance, certificate or degree co!"letion data "ro#ide
indirect e#idence of student learning but do not directly indicate what a student actually learned$
he Conference Board, %nc ,1DDA-$ 2re they really ready to work5 6 4mployers7 perspectives on the basic
knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the .1
st
century 8&9& workforce ,"age >-& he 6orkforce
Readiness Pro)ect$ Retrie#ed 8o#e!ber 1D, 1DD>, fro!
htt"IMMwww$1&stcenturyskills$orgMdocu!entsMF%8A*TR;P(RTP9FDB-1B-DA$"df
7B
A%%endi, 2 " Assessment Chec$ list
Assess!ent ool Checklist
&$ 9oes the assess!ent ade/uately e#aluate acade!ic "erfor!ance rele#ant to the desired
outco!e@ ,#alidity-
1$ 9oes this assess!ent tool enable students with different learning styles or abilities to show
you what they ha#e learned and what they can do@
7$ 9oes the content e.a!ined by the assess!ent align with the content fro! the course@
,Content #alidity-
<$ 9oes this assess!ent !ethod ade/uately address the knowledge, skills, abilities, beha#ior,
and #alues associated with the intended outco!e@ ,9o!ain #alidity-
=$ 6ill the assess!ent "ro#ide infor!ation at a le#el a""ro"riate to the outco!e@ ,Bloo!0s-
A$ 6ill the data accurately re"resent what the student can do in an authentic or real life
situation@ ,Authentic assess!ent-
C$ %s the grading sche!e consistentO would a student recei#e the same grade for the same work
on !ulti"le e#aluations@ ,Reliability-
>$ Can !ulti"le "eo"le use the scoring !echanis! and co!e u" with the sa!e general score@
,Reliability-
B$ 9oes the assess!ent "ro#ide data that is s"ecific enough for the desired outco!es@
,align!ent with S*(-
&D$ %s the assess!ent su!!ati#e or for!ati#e - if for!ati#e does it generate diagnostic feedback
to i!"ro#e learning@
&&$ %s the assess!ent su!!ati#e or for!ati#e - if su!!ati#e, is the final e#aluation built u"on
!ulti"le sources of data@ ,AA2; :ood "ractice-
&1$ %f this is a su!!ati#e assess!ent, ha#e the students had a!"le o""ortunity for for!ati#e
feedback and "ractice dis"laying what they know and can do@
&7$ %s the assess!ent unbiased or #alue-neutral, !ini!i+ing an atte!"t to gi#e desirable
res"onses and reducing any cultural !isinter"retations@
&<$ Are the intended uses for the assess!ent clear@ ,:rading, "rogra! re#iew, both-
&=$ 2a#e other faculty "ro#ided feedback@
&A$ 2as the assess!ent been "ilot-tested@
&C$ 2as the e#aluation instru!ent been nor!ed@
&>$ 6ill the infor!ation deri#ed fro! the assess!ent hel" to i!"ro#e teaching and learning@
,AA2; :ood Practice-
&B$ 6ill you "ro#ide the students with a co"y of the rubric or assign!ent grading criteria@
1D$ 6ill you "ro#ide the students e.a!"les of !odel work@
<D
A%%endi, 6 ' General Princi%les for AnalyDing .ata
Statistically s"eaking, "eo"le often refer to data #alidity, reliability and significance$ But these
technical disci"line ter!s are not what work best to influence "ractice, to "ro#ide infor!ation for a
direction or to ca"ture the heart of an educational endea#or$ Faculty need not beco!e
statisticians to skillfully find and use data$ ;ducational data, like health care industry data, ha#e
!any #ariables such as socioecono!ic influences, genetic ca"acity, en#iron!ental o""ortunity,
cultural i!"acts, "ersonal inter-relationshi" skills, learning styles, teaching styles, nutritional
le#els, language "roficiency, etc$ he #ariables are enor!ous$ hus there are se#eral "rinci"le we
should acknowledge when looking at educational data and assessing its usefulness$
*et0s e.a!ine the use of data in a realistic scenario using ten "rinci"les$ Student Success Center
ScenarioI Funding i!"lications ha#e led to a "ro"osal to close a student success center where
!entoring, tutoring te.tbook and co!"uter access, dro" in counseling and s"ecific learning
acti#ities occur$ 6hat kind of data should we e.a!ine@
Princi%le ( " Longitdinal data 6hile data for a gi#en "o"ulation, class or "rogra! are hel"ful
these re"resent only a sna"shot of the current conditions and #ariables which !ay or !ay not
change drastically o#er ti!e$ 9ata collected at one !o!ent in ti!e will change, "articularly in
co!!unity colleges where our di#erse student$ herefore looking at data, o#er ti!e "ro#ides a
better "icture of the dyna!ics at work influencing whate#er issue you are e.a!ining$ 3ou !ight
ask, how do we !easure use of this facility@ 2ow do we !easure the effect on student success
after using this facility@ 6hat has this looked like o#er the last decade@ 6hat future trends are
e#ident that we want to su""ort or redirect@
Princi%le + " Conte,tal data - 9ata without an accurate conte.t are !eaningless$ 2ere you
6(E*9 8( want to co!"are student :PA0s of those using the facility with another "o"ulation$
%n conte.t, you ha#e a selected "o"ulation of students that access this additional hel" their :PA
!ay be consistently higher the !oti#ated "o"ulation, or consistently lower, the basic skills
students are directed here$ Conte.tuali+e the ty"e of students, their needs, their educational
as"irations and other i!"ortant factors$ 9o !ore underser#ed students access this facility@ %s
there an access issue or cultural issue in#ol#ed@ A single "ers"ecti#e 8;J;R describes the full
story$ 9on0t be afraid to throw data out as inaccurate or irrele#ant to a gi#en conte.t$
Princi%le - " .irect and indirect data$ 9irect data actually !easures the s"ecific infor!ation
you want e$g$ did students that attended a "articular acti#ity actually learn the skills intended as
!easured through so!e assess!ent$ %ndirect data are those !etrics that either !easure
"erce"tion of effect of the acti#ity$ 9id students re"ort that access the facility was hel"ful@ 6hile
direct data are often !ore accurate as to the actual acti#ity, they do not often "ro#ide infor!ation
about how to i!"ro#e$ %ndirect data often "ro#ide insights into how to i!"ro#e current "ractices$
:ood "ractice uses data fro! both "ers"ecti#es$
Princi%le 5 " Case and /ffect warnings - 9o no o#ersi!"lify cause and effect of data$ %n
science deter!ining so!ething does not ha#e a cause on a s"ecific effect is !ore i!"ortant than
concluding a s"ecific cause resulted in an effect$ 6hy@ Because until you ha#e ade/uately tested
all #ariables, how do you know that this s"ecific cause was really the trigger for a "articular effect@
2owe#er if you know that, for instance, all students that attended the success center i!"ro#ed
their "erfor!ance in a "articular course regardless of their ethnicity, you know that ethnicity was
not a factor$ :ood data ne#er o#ersi!"lifies or o#er-#alues a single cause with an effect$
<&
Princi%le 7 " Correct levels of data 'ake decisions based on the a""ro"riate le#el of data$ 9o
not use 7D,DDD foot "ers"ecti#es to !ake changes to ho!ework assign!ents$ Esing data about
degree and certificate awards of those who accessed the student success center !ay be useful to
so!e e.tent, but it would be at too high a le#el to infor! hours of o"eration or nu!bers of
co!"uter ter!inals within the center$ %n another #ersion, student "erce"tion data would not be
authoritati#e concerning the disci"line e."ertise of the faculty running the center$ :ood data
e.a!ines the a""ro"riate le#el and authority for the i!"le!entation decisions using the data$
Princi%le 8 " Perce%tion verss data - Re!e!ber "erce"tion is the reality "eo"le o"erate on$ %f
they "ercei#e so!ething in a "articular way, you !ust deal with that "erce"tion$ %f a "erson is wed
to a "articular inter"retation use of data will not influence that "erce"tion unless used #ery
carefully$ 9eter!ine what the "erce"tion is and s"eak to that "erce"tion$
Princi%le E " .ata access Ese of data should be trans"arent and access to data should be
facilitated for e#eryone$ At the end of this article are so!e data sources anyone can access which
"ro#ide data fro! the national and regional conte.t, to the institutional and "rogra!!atic le#el$
Princi%le 1 " Aggregation or disaggregation of data 9o we need to aggregate the data to
"rotect confidentiality issues@ 9o we need to disaggregate the data to deter!ine !ore discrete
infor!ation and address co!"onents of the issue !ore effecti#ely@ %n the student success center
scenario you !ight ask if this facility is closed what effect will it ha#e on night students, basic skills
students, students with a s"ecific ethnicity, students that first generation college-attendees$
Princi%le F " .ata that is actionable - Beware of data that is used to grade or rank issues
unless they are based on real #alues for the institution and the college$ ES 8ews and 6orld
Re"ort ranks colleges and uni#ersities based on issues such as endow!ents, selecti#ity, and
assess!ent by "eer institution, alu!ni acti#ity, etc$ %f this !ethodology is not consistent with the
#alues of those institutions then ranking "resents a false sense of deter!inis! resulting in such
aberrations as the use of ES 8ews and 6orld Re"ort0s ranking to deter!ine whether institutions
recei#e grants or not$ ,%!agine how this i!"acts institutions that #alue di#ersity, o"en access,
etc-$ 8o Child *eft Behind ,8C*B- re#eals another ano!aly and danger in ranking$ (nce you
ha#e achie#ed the BD
th
"ercentile, does a stable ranking at this "ercentile !ean lack of
i!"ro#e!ent@ Rather select data that can be acted u"on, e#en if it is )ust asking better /uestions
and getting better data$ For the student success center don0t )ust ask how !any students used the
center, ask how students found the center, what additional features would !ake it !ore useful
!ore in#iting to student use$ Concentrate on data that you can i!"act through action$
Princi%le (G " #hat if& %t is always i!"ortant to re!e!ber that data collection does not e/uate
to action or i!"ro#e!ent$ ;#en the !ost #alid and reliable data is not a substitute for action and
will not by itself, !oti#ate action$ (nce you e.a!ine the data ask - what if we do nothing with this
data, where will the trends "ro)ect we are going@ 6hat if we act u"on this data how will we
!onitor the effect@ Consider future i!"lications ten years or twenty years out$ 8e#er sto" with
the data itself$ Ask what if this data is true, what influenced it@
'any educational researchers ha#e described educational data as une#en, #ariable, lu!"y, not
"recise, difficult to ca"ture and describe, !ultifaceted, a real challenge$ But none of these
difficulties !ake it so!ething we should ignore$ %gnoring data lea#es us with only intuition, gut
feeling, non-substantial argu!ents and ineffecti#e ad#ocacy$ 6e owe students and our
institutions !ore than that$
H/dcation is not the %iling on of learning* information* data* facts* s$ills* or abilities '
that>s training or instrction ' bt is rather ma$ing visible what is hidden as a seed)I Sir
4homas Boore
<1
A%%endi, ;' 6m%roved Practice
/,am%les of 6m%roved Practice throgh Corse Assessment
Spanish at Glendale College
;.a!"les of assess!ent resulting in i!"ro#e!ent abound in California co!!unity colleges$ (ne
e.a!"le of changes at the course le#el include work done by Stacy ;aDan at :lendale
Co!!unity College$ Stacy Ja+an took the lead in the *anguage Arts di#ision by learning about
#aluable assess!ents on her own$ She began in 1DDC with an assess!ent re"ort that "ri!arily
used grade distribution as her data - RFor the rest that "assed with a C or better, they all achie#ed
the stated Student *earning (utco!esR$ Fuickly, she caught on that there was !ore to it, and
she co!"leted an i!"ro#ed second assess!ent in 1DD>$ %n 1DDB, she co!"leted a third
assess!ent cycle, which statesI R:enerally, the students did worse on the /uestions that had to
do with the #ocabulary related to the cha"ter the!es than the #ocabulary that dealt with calcos,
idio!atic e."ressions, 4S"anglish,5 and ho!o"hones, his tells !e that the students were
"aying attention to the "roble!s that heritage s"eakers tend to ha#e ,which is a "ri!ary ob)ecti#e
of S"anish &&= and a stated S*(- and that ho!ework and in-class acti#ities were generally
effecti#e, but "erha"s they didn0t s"end as !uch ti!e studying the general #ocabulary$R Stacy
was able to "resent these three successi#e assess!ent cycles at a Staff 9e#elo"!ent worksho",
and the "artici"ants were able to learn fro! her learning e."erience$ %t was an o""ortunity for
"eo"le to see how running assess!ents are a learning e."erience in the!sel#es for the
instructor, and that if done the Rright wayR, they are #aluable and infor!ati#e$ Stacy beca!e
co!"etent in doing assess!ents on her own initiati#e, beginning by attending the S*( worksho"s
when they were being offered early on, and she is an e.cellent e.a!"le for her colleagues in her
di#ision$ 6hen faculty work in areas of their own disci"line e."ertise and use their e."erience to
clearly state outco!es, de#elo" assess!ents and a""ly what they ha#e learned to i!"ro#e their
"ractice, it is the core of S*( assess!ent and the "owerful ability to i!"ro#e learning$
#arsto$ College Anatomy and %hysiology
9r$ Robert Stinson has e.celled in researching, assessing and "ro!oting S*(s in his Anato!y
and Physiology course at Barstow College$ 2e assesses e#ery S*( in !ulti"le !ethods e#ery
se!ester, and kee"s a running tally of his results and the changes he has !ade$ 2e is continually
altering that way he teaches conce"ts and the !ethod of assess!ent$ %n addition, he has
disco#ered !any things about his students and their test-taking skills e$g$ certain ty"es of
/uestions ,rueMFalse- actually generate !ore wrong answers than !ost other ty"es of /uestions$
(ff ca!"us, 9r$ Stinson has "resented on learning styles and outco!es at the 2u!an Anato!y
and Physiology 'eeting in 1DD>$ 2is data was "ublished in their educational news !aga+ine$
/,am%les of 6m%roved Practice at the Program level
Athletic program College o& 'arin
College of 'arin0s athletic "rogra! is an e.cellent e.a!"le of how re-fra!ing the "ur"ose of the
"rogra! can and did change the culture for students$ he historical record of success for student
athletes was dis!al$ 'ost athletes were hea#y on the athletic co!!it!ent and light on the
student co!!it!ent, ha#ing co!e to "lay a s"ort$ hey "attern was that the student athlete took
as few units as "ossible and they took classes they were not likely to fail$ 'any did not co!"lete
the school year and others likely !o#ed on to another school to continue "laying s"orts$ Student
athletes left with few co!"leted units on their transcri"ts$ he new athletic director was an.ious
to re#erse this trend and the "athwaysMout"ut-!easures !odel ga#e hi! the o""ortunity to re-
fra!e the "ur"ose of the athletic "rogra! and "ro#ide inter#entions to !ake sure the focus was
on student athletes and not si!"ly athletes$ he athletic "rogra! instituted student bench!arks
to hel" insure student successI
All athletes are re/uired to take ;nglish and 'ath
<7
All athletes attend a !andatory study hall
%nstructors of athletes are /ueried regularly about attendance and "erfor!ance of athletes in
their classes
Coaches e!"hasi+e student-first by not allowing "laying ti!e to those who !iss study halls
or classes
he #arious s"orts "rogra!s are "artnering with the ;nglish and ;nglish Skills de"art!ents
to "ro#ide *earning Co!!unities courses s"ecifically for athletes$
his was a "rogra! in des"erate need of inter#ention and our change in thinking about
"erfor!ance !easures for the college ga#e the "rogra! an o""ortunity to !ake critical changes
on behalf of students$
#a(ers&ield College #iology %rogram
Beginning in 1DD1-1DD7, the Bakersfield College biology de"art!ent, which was organi+ed as a
single acade!ic "rogra! by disci"line, began e.a!ining the "rogra! and curriculu! using
student learning outco!es$ his 4outco!es "ers"ecti#e5 guided faculty to conclude that the
biology de"art!ent really ser#ed three significant "athways which were "rogra!s of study
contributing to different outco!es$
Biology major otcomes
- "re- and core/uisites
included college-le#el-reading,
transfer-le#el !ath, che!istry,
"hysics,
- biology course re/uire!ents
e!"hasi+ed core global and
organis!al biological conce"ts
with less content focused on
hu!ans
- the goal, unit load and course
so"histication was hea#y,
a""ro"riate to transfer biology
Conclsions9
Few students could co!"lete the
Biology AA degree and :;
re/uire!ents "rior to transfer,
"articularly in light of the nu!ber
of units that can be transferred$
2istorically this was the !ain
e!"hasis of the biology
de"art!ent to !ake biologists$
But this "athway was intensi#e
and the nu!ber of students was
shrinking$
Pre''allied health otcomes
- "re-re/uisites included "re-
transfer-le#el !ath and a brief
che!istry course
- included intensi#e hu!an
biology courses ,anato!y,
"hysiology, !icrobiology-
focused on core hu!an
biological conce"ts with far less
organis!al and global
e!"hasis
- the goal of the "athway was a
#ocational "rogra! and
e#entual e.ternal certification
Conclsions9
'any students went this
"athway$
oo !any students ne#er
actually co!"leted the
#ocational "rogra!$
he hu!an biology courses are
not transferable as Biology
degree electi#es$
hese students had nothing to
show for the course success
e.ce"t a transcri"t, they had
co!"leted no degree$
General edcation otcomes
- "rere/uisites only college-
le#el reading
- ser#ed as the only science
"ortion for !any studentHs
general education briefly
touching all core biological
conce"ts hu!an, organis!al,
and global
- the goal was a liberal studies
degree "ri!arily in education or
transfer in another area of
e!"hasis
Conclsions9
he biology "ortion of this
"athway was easily
acco!"lished by students
seeking transfer and :;
re/uire!ents only$
'any of these were headed
towards ?-&1 education !a)ors$
%t was essential they had a
gras" of scientific thinking as
well as a global understanding
of biology$
- the liberal studies degree with
an area of e!"hasis
re"resented the greatest
nu!ber of single degrees
awarded at Bakersfield college
<<
he outco!es of these "athways "ro!"ted the biology de"art!ent to re-e#aluate the degrees
awarded$ %n fact, the !a)ority of students taking biology were "re-allied health, followed by the
ne.t largest nu!ber of students which were only taking a single course for general education and
this was distantly followed by a handful of Biology !a)ors, !ost of which ne#er co!"leted any
degree$ he outco!es and e."ectations for students taking only one course to !eet a general
education science re/uire!ent differed significantly fro! e."ectations for "re-allied health
students and biology !a)ors$ %t was e#ident that a single set of outco!es and a single degree for
all students taking biology was not reasonable$ he intensity, breadth, focus and de"th of study
#aried significantly$ he Biology Associate of Science degree was refra!ed to be a degree which
students could reach through #arious "athways deter!ined by the area of e!"hasis$ he old
Biology degree was !odified into two degree "athwaysI a Biology Associate of Science degree
with an e!"hasis in 2u!an Biology ,the "re-allied health track- or a Biology Associate of Science
9egree with an e!"hasis in Biology ,for !a)ors-$ he course re/uire!ents for these degrees
differed significantly due to the different student goals$ he "rogra! assess!ents were different
because the final outco!es were #ery s"eciali+ed to assess the student "athway and ter!inal
goal$ 9ata was used to i!"ro#e all three biology "athways$
8e.t the biology de"art!ent began to reconsider these "rogra! "athways in order to !ore
effecti#ely organi+e the curriculu!$ All the "re-allied health courses were rewritten integrating
anato!y and "hysiology and creating a ca"stone course in Patho"hysiology$ he "rogra! and
ser#ice to students was redesigned based on data fro! rele#ant "rogra! assess!ents and the
needs of students along the "athway$ he new degree, e!"hasi+ing hu!an biology, allowed
students a !ilestone after co!"letion of the "re-allied health "athway ,1 or !ore years of
intensi#e education- and "rior to co!"letion of additional s"ecific allied health degrees such as
nursing, radiology, etc$ Achie#ing the Biology AS degree with e!"hasis in 2u!an Biology
enabled students waiting to get into "rogra!s the o""ortunity to get better and higher "aying )obs
because they now had a degree indicating their ability to co!"lete a "rogra! in contrast to a
transcri"t that si!"ly indicated they had taken a lot of biology courses$ he ca"stone course
"ro#ided a !eans of re!ediation for those students who did not !ake the cut-off for!ula for the
nursing "rogra! and for those struggling in the nursing "rogra! to get a refresher$
he nu!ber of biology degrees awarded increased ten-fold as seen in the table below$ Students
e."ressed e.tre!e satisfaction in graduating and being awarded a degree for co!"leting an
educational "athway which truly re"resented an acco!"lish!ent and co!"letion of a course of
study$
(ld Biology
Progra!
Re/uiredI Courses
in Che!istry,
'ath, Biology
argetI (nly
ransfer as a
Biology 'a)or
8ew Biology Progra! ;!"hasis in Biology
Re/uiredI Courses in Che!istry, 'ath, Biology
argetI (nly ransfer as a Biology 'a)or
;!"hasis in 2u!an Biology Re/uiredI (ne course in Che!istry, (ne course in
'ath, Biology courses related to the 2u!an Biology
argetI Students seeking !ulti"le local Allied 2ealth Pathways including transfer in
Allied 2ealth areas
Award Progra!
&BB>-
BB
&BBB-
DD
1DDD-
D&
1DD&-
D1
1DD1-
D7
1DD7-
D<
1DD<-
D=
1DD=-
DA
1DDA-
DC
1DDC-
D>
Biology
B &D C = &1 &> <A => =A >C
"ance at Glendale College
9ora ?rannig0s "rogra! assess!ent at :lendale College resulted in two new courses and a new
certificate ,9ance eaching Certificate- to bring the "rogra! u" to the le#el of todayHs industry
re/uire!ents$ At the course le#el writing and e#aluating the course outco!es led to the re#ision
of all the dance courses$ he ongoing assess!ent "rocess encourages u"dating of courses to
<=
kee" u" with the industry$ he "rocess of writing the S*(Hs for the course outlines, de"art!ent,
AA 9egree, and the certificates has led to a !uch dee"er understanding of the student and
dance industry re/uire!ents$ Besides the re#ision of all courses, new courses ha#e been added,
the e.isting certificate has been strea!lined and also a new 9ance eaching Certificate was
written$ %ndustry internshi"s are now u" and running and the dance de"art!ent is well on the way
to be well res"ected internationally$
Allied )ealth %rogram at Glendale
?athy 'c8eese is another :lendale Co!!unity College faculty in 2ealth Science$ She e!braced
the S*( "hiloso"hy by re#iewing outside sources, and "artici"ating in college S*( acti#ities$
?athy has !entored the entire faculty in the 2ealth Science 9i#ision as they created their S*(0s
and co!"leted their S*(AC0s ,S*( assess!ents- with a""ro"riate Course u"grades$ She
de#ised a grading rubric for care "lans, across all nursing courses, to assist with the launching of
the e*u!en software to tract student success for S*(AC in nursing courses$
his work addressed i!"ortant as"ects of student success in nursing courses by a""lying good
nursing care "ractices to students and effecti#e student assess!ent to our teaching$ hrough
sharing ideas and statistics that reflect the success of different inter#entions that can hel"
students succeed and energi+e faculty about "lanning successful strategies to aid studentsH
success$
/,am%les of 6m%roved Practice at the 6nstittional level
College o& 'arin
Research at College of the 'arin led the entire college to re-think the use of Rbutts in seatsR
!easures and to look instead at what each "rogra! was trying to achie#e for students and align
!easurable goals with outco!e assess!ent$ As a result of the research and #ision, 'arin re-
organi+ed the college around student "athways - basic skillsM;S*O transferO career K occu"ational
trainingO "ersonal growth K enrich!ent$ (utco!es were written for each, e$g$ RFull-ti!e transfer
students will be able to co!"lete their "rogra!s and transfer within two years$R Baseline data
and longitudinal data track the "rogress of each "athway to show us our success ,and not-$
hree years ago, the College of 'arin Acade!ic Senate went through a radical transfor!ation in
thinking about the way we !easured our success$ 6e had traditionally looked to in"ut !easures
to deter!ine the success of our "rogra!sI head count, 6SC2MF; ,load-, class si+e$ Research
"re"ared by faculty !e!ber Robert ?ennedy and "resented to the Senate led us to understand
that we would better ca"ture the effecti#eness of our "rogra!s if we looked at out"ut !easures
includingI )ob "lace!ent, nu!ber of transfers, the success of our transfers, the nu!ber of
degrees granted, the efficiency of "rogra!s, co!"letion rates, ;S* transitioning, and student
satisfaction$
"tudent 4atwa$s
%n looking at these data we reali+ed that the out"ut !easures used to deter!ine success
de"ended u"on the goals of a "articular cohort of students$ his led us to co!"letely re-think the
way we organi+ed the college$ 6e designed an organi+ation !odel based u"on student goals$ %n
doing so, we de#elo"ed, with the coo"eration of the ad!inistration and !ost s"ecifically the
college "resident and the #ice "resident of student learning, fi#e student "athwaysI
<A
;ach "athway defines its own goals for students and its own !easures of success$ hese are
reflected in the "rogra! re#iews and the student learning outco!es "resented by the "rogra!s in
each "athway$ %f "rogra!s ha#e students fro! !ore than one "athway, such as art or "hysical
education, they address se"arate cohort needs, goals, and bench!arks in the "rogra! re#iew
and S*(s ,See able &-$
his transfor!ation to a student-centered a""roach has led to interesting, often re#olutionary
changes in the college$ For one, the conce"t of "athways has "er!eated the #ocabulary and the
thinking of faculty, staff, and ad!inistration$ 6e no longer ha#e con#ersations about what is good
for my "rogra! or my disci"line$ he con#ersation is about students within a "athway and how
our "rogra! or disci"line blends with other "rogra!s and disci"lines to !eet the needs of
students within a "articular "athway$
Refocusing on i!"ro#ing education based u"on assess!ent has contributed to funding changes$
<C
Resorces
AA2; A!erican Association for 2igher ;ducation$ ,&BB>-$ :ine Principles of ;ood
Practice for 2ssessing 9tudent 1earning$ A!erican Association for 2igher
;ducation Assess!ent Foru!$ htt"IMMwww$aahe$orgMassess!entM"rinci"l$ht!
Angelo, $ A$, K Cross, ?$ P$ ,&BB7-$ !lassroom assessment techni(ues6 2 handbook for
college teachers ,1
nd
ed$-$ San Francisco, CAI Jossey-Bass

Angelo, $ A$ ,&BB=a-$ %!"ro#ing classroo! assess!ent to i!"ro#e learningI :uidelines
fro! research and "ractice$ 2ssessment 8pdate, %,A-, &-&7$

Angelo, $A$ ,&BB=b-$ Reassessing ,and 9efining- Assess!ent$ 2ssessment <ulletin,
/-,7-, C&

Angelo, $A$ ,'ay, &BBB-$ =oing 2ssessment 2s +f 1earning $atters $ost&
htt"IMMaahebulletin$co!M"ublicMarchi#eMangelo!ayBB$as"
Astin, A$6$ ,&BB7-$ 2ssessment for e*cellence6 >he philosophy and practice of
assessment and evaluation in higher education$ Phoeni., AVI (ry. Press
Bers, $ ,1DD<-$ 2ssessment at the Program 1evel$ Retrie#ed 9ece!ber 1B, 1DDB fro!
htt"IMMwww$eric$ed$go#M;R%C6ebPortalMcusto!M"ortletsMrecord9etailsMdetail!ini$)s"
@
Tnf"bGtrueKTK;R%C;.tSearchTSearchJalueTDG;JCADBBAK;R%C;.tSearchTSear
chy"eTDGnoKaccnoG;JCADBBA
Black, P$ J$, K 6ilia!, 9$ ,&BB>-$ %nside the black bo.O Raising standards through
classroo! assess!ent$ Phi =elta ?appan, -@ ,1-, &7B-&<<$
Boud, 9$ ,&BB=a-$ 2ssessment for learning6 contradictory or complementary5 Retrie#ed
January <, 1DD<, fro! Eni#ersity of echnology Sydney 6eb siteI
htt"IMMwww$education$uts$edu$auMostaffMstaffM"ublicationsMdbTBTboudTsedaTB=$"dfy
Brookhart, S$ '$ ,&BBB-$ >he art and science of classroom assessment6 >he missing part
of pedagogy$ AS2;-;R%C 2igher ;ducation Re"ort ,Jol$ 1C, 8o$&-$ 6ashington,
9C
Creel, 9$6$ ,n$d$-$ 8orthern Jirginia Co!!unity College :eneral ;ducation Assess!ent$
3etrieved =ecember .A, .@@9 from htt"IMM www$n#cc$eduMabout-no#aMdirectories--
officesM$$$M assessment M$$$Minde.$ht!l
Fair esting website$ >he 1imits of 9tandardiBed >esting&
htt"IMMwww$fairtest$orgMfactsM*i!its of ests$ht!l
<>
Fair esting 6ebsite& 8niversity >esting6 0act 9heets
htt"IMMwww$fairtest$orgMuni#Muni#factsheets$ht!
2uba, '$ ;$, K Freed, J$ ;$ ,1DDD-$ 1earner"centered assessment on college campuses6
9hifting the focus from teaching to learning& 8eedha! 2eights, 'AI Allyn and
Bacon$
?auff!an, ?$ ,1DD>-$ 8sing 2vailable =ata and 2nalysis to +nform !omprehensive
Program 3eview$ PowerPoint retrie#ed 9ece!ber 1B, 1DDB, fro!
htt"IMMwww$rcc$eduMad!inistrationMacade!icaffairsMeffecti#enessMre#iew$cf!
'aki, P$ ,1DD1c, January-$ 8sing multiple assessment methods to e*plore student
learning and development inside and outside of the classroom& Retrie#ed 'ay 1,
1DD7, fro! the 8ational Association of Student Personnel Ad!inistrators,
8etResults 6eb siteI htt"IMMwww$nas"a$orgM8etResultsMarticle$cf!@%9G==>
'eehan, ?$ ,1DD<-$ =eveloping a <lueprintI ?ey performance indicators Part +& Retrie#ed
9ece!ber 1B, 1DDB fro! www$cccco$eduMPortalsM<M;69MC;MResourcesMfa/M"irg-
fullTdoc$"df
'iller, '$ A$ ,&BBC-$ *ooking for resultsI he second decade$ %n A!erican Association for
2igher ;ducation ,;d$-, 2ssessing impact6 4vidence and action ,""$ 17-7D-&
6ashington, 9CI A!erican Association for 2igher ;ducation$
8ational Research Council W8RCX$ ,1DDD-$ Cow people learn6 <rain, mind, e*perience,
and school& 6ashington, 9CI 8ational Acade!y Press$
8ational Research Council W8RCX$ ,1DD&a-$ !lassroom assessment and the national
science education standards& 6ashington, 9CI 8ational Acade!y Press$
8ational Research Council W8RCX$ ,1DD&b-$ ?nowing what students know6 >he science
and design of educational assessment& 6ashington, 9CI 8ational Acade!y Press$
8orth Jirginia Co!!unity College Assess!ent 'ethods$ ,n$d$-Retrie#ed 9ece!ber 1D, 1DDB
fro! htt"IMMwww$n#cc$eduMabout-no#aMdirectories--officesMad!inistrati#e-
officesMassess!entMre#iewMa""endi.-bMinde.$ht!l
Southern ;astern 'issouri State Eni#ersity$ <usy !hairpersons ;uide for 2ssessment&
Retrie#ed 9ece!ber 1B, 1DDB from
htt"IMMwww1$se!o$eduM"ro#ostMass!tMguide$ht!
6al#oord, B$ ;$, K Anderson, J$ ,&BB=, 8o#e!ber-9ece!ber -$ An assess!ent riddleI
:uidelines fro! research and "ractice$ %n $ 6$ Banta ,;d$-, 2ssessment 8pdate,
%, >-&&$
6al#oord, B$ ;$ K Anderson, J$J$ 4ffective ;rading6 2 >ool for 1earning and
2ssessment$ San Francisco, CAI Jossey-Bass$ &BB>$
<B
6iggins, :$ ,&BBD-$ >he !ase for 2uthentic >esting& at htt"IMM"areonline$netMget#n$as"@
#G1KnG1
6iggins, :$ P$ ,&BB7a-$ 2ssessing student performance6 4*ploring the limits of testing&
San Francisco, CAI Jossey-Bass$

6iggins, :$P$ ,&BB7b-$ Assess!entI authenticity, conte.t, and #alidity$ Phi =elta ?appan,
%A, .@@".@-&
6right, B$ 9$ ,&BBB-$ 4valuating learning in individual courses& Retrie#ed June &D, 1DD7
fro! the California Assess!ent %nstitute 6ebsite$ htt"IMMwww$ca-assess!ent-
inst$orgMResourcesM6right1$doc
Vull, J$ ;$ ,1DD7-$ >he art of changing the brain6 4nriching the practice of teaching by
e*ploring the biology of learning& Sterling, JAI Stylus$
=D

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