The next step is to evaluate how well your standards are met. This is the most intensive step, and is that which is most frequently associated with “assessment.” Standards must be mapped to a rubric, by which student performance will be graded and ranked to give a statistical insight into how well students are meeting standards (and, by extension, how well a program is ensuring that its standards are met).
Data must be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. The collection can be done using surveys, assessment of a final project or portfolio, or standardized testing.
Whatever the means, the final task that must be completed in this step is the assessment report. Completed assessment reports from Baruch can be seen on the Assessment Reports page. The purpose of an assessment report is to present and interpret the assessment results, presenting suggestions on how a program might find better success. Both successes and failures should be highlighted and discussed in-depth.
- Assessment Framework for Academic and Administrative Support Services (.pdf)
In 2008, the Office of Institutional Research and Program Assessment prepared this document, providing a framework by which assessment can be conducted, as well as including information on logic models, improvement strategies, and how assessment differs from standard yearly reporting. Although this document is not recent, it is not outdated, and it is still a valuable resource. - Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally
As previously mentioned, when designing an assessment, it is useful to have familiarity with Bloom’s Taxonomy, which identifies several different layers of learning, from lower order (knowledge) to higher order (evaluation). This way, students will be assessed at all levels of knowledge, rather than just one or two. This Taxonomy has been revised several times, and this article by Andrew Churches, hosted by Techlearning.com, provides in-depth information on several different versions of it.