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Principles
of Good Assessment Practice Assessment of student outcomes must be guided by sound principles to be meaningful. The American Association for Higher Education proposes nine principles of effective assessment practices: 1. What kinds of learning do we value most for our students? Assessment of student learning begins with educational values, which should drive not only what we choose to assess, but how we do so. 2. Learning is complex and requires a diverse array of methods to give a more complete and accurate picture of learning. Thus, assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time. 3. Assessment as a process moves us forward and helps us focus more clearly on where to aim and what standards to apply. Thus, assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear and explicitly stated purposes. 4. Where students “end up” matters greatly, but to improve assessment we also need to know how they got there (the student experience along the way). Thus, assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the experiences that lead to those outcomes. 5. Assessment has a “cumulative” effect when it entails a planned, purposeful, linked series of events over time. Thus, assessment works best when it is ongoing and not episodic. 6. Student-learning is a campus-wide responsibility. It’s not a task for a small group of “experts,” but a collaborative activity. Thus, assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved. 7. To be useful or make a difference, assessment is connected to issues or questions people really care about. The point of assessment is not to gather data and return “results”; it is a process that starts with questions decision-makers have, involves them in the gathering and interpreting of data, and informs and helps guide them in continuous improvement efforts. 8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger set of conditions that promote change. Assessment alone changes little. Its greatest contribution comes when the quality of teaching and learning is valued and is central to the University’s planning, budgeting, and personnel decisions. 9. There is a compelling public stake in education. Our deeper obligation – to ourselves, our students, and society – is to improve. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students, parents and the public.Adapted from BYU-Hawaii. “Assessment Handbook for Academic and Administrative Departments.” http://w3.byuh.edu/about/pair/accreditation/forms/AssessmentGuidebook.pdf |
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