Assessment Forum
Organizations, Articles and Books of Note
(We welcome your suggestions for additions to this page.)
Liberal Arts Education
LEAP (Liberal Education and America's Promise)
Massachusetts Higher Education
Department of Higher Education
Vision Project
Phase One Report of the Working Group on Student Learning Outcomes (July 2010)
Phase Two Report of the Working Group on Student Learning Outcomes (March 2011)
Report of the Working Group on Graduation and Student Success Rates (June 2011)
Federal Government and Higher Education
Higher Education Opportunity Act
Education Organization Sites
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA)
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) Complete College America (CCA)
Foundations and Funding for Higher Education Initiatives
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Articles/Reports
Down and In: Program-level Assessment Practices. NILOA, June 2011.
This report details the findings of a survey given to program heads and compares their responses to those of Chief Academic Officers on a previous survey about assessment practices at their insitutions. This very readable document presents evidence that what really drives assessment at the program level is a desire to improve.
Among the findings were that employers want their employees to use a broader set of skills and have higher levels of learning and knowledge than in the past to meet the increasingly complex demands of the workplace. They also believe that colleges should place a greater emphasis on a variety of learning outcomes developed through a liberal education.
Recent Books
Arum, Richard and Josipa Roksa (2011). Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. University of Chicago Press.
Drawing largely on results of the Collegiate Learning Assessment of more than 2,300 undergraduates at twenty-four institutions, the authors found that "forty-five percent of these students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills - including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing - during their first two years of college....Academically Adrift holds sobering lessons for students, faculty, administrators, policy makers, and parents - all of whom are implicated in promoting or at least ignoring contemporary campus culture."
Walwoord, B. E. F.(2010). Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education. John Wiley &Sons, Inc.
Walvoord's book takes what can be a time-consuming and complex process and guides faculty through a common sense approach.
Bowen, William G. Matthew M. Chingos and Michael S. McPherson (2009). Crossing the Finish Line. Princeton University Press.
The authors provide a detailed analysis of graduation rates at 21 flagship public universities and four state systems. They examine the factors that contribute to the dismal fact that only about 60% of students that enter 4-year colleges actually graduate.
