Hallmarks of effective outcomes assessesment : assessment update collections Assessment Update Collections Assessment Update Special Collections Series

Even though there is no, single, step-by-step approach for getting started in assessment, there is good solid guidance that pioneers and experienced practitioners have assembled over the years. Now, for the first time, much of this important guidance is available in a concise, easy-to-use booklet. This booklet brings together the best guidance and practices that have appeared in the award-winning newsletter Assessment Update to illustrate time-tested principles for all aspects of assessment from planning and implementing to sustaining and improving assessment efforts over time.  The booklet details the specific hallmarks that are required for the success of any assessment programfrom leadership and staff development to the assessment of processes as well as outcomes, ongoing communication among constituents, and more. It presents a range of articles that reveal what these hallmarks look like in action and that provide examples of institution-wide approaches as well as specific strategies that have been used to ensure success and ongoing improvement. For the reader who is new to assessment this is an excellent and easy-to-use tool for getting a good understanding of what quality assessment looks like. For those with more experience, this booklet provides a wealth of specific strategies for improving existing programs or introducing new ones. Also, included is a matrix of hallmarks and articles, to help readers better match the articles to the hallmarks they illustrate.

Introduction: What Are Some Hallmarks of Effective Practice in Assessment? (Trudy W. Banta).

Institution Wide Approaches.

Toward Excellence in Outcomes Assessment: The Middle States Approach (George Santiago, Jr.).

The Syracuse Model: A Collaborative Approach to Assessment (Ronald C. Cavanagh, Franklin P. Wilbur, Peter J. Gray).

The Assessment Outcomes Program at California State University, Northridge: A Model for Program Improvement (Roberta E. Madison, Norman Fullner, Paul Baum).

Assessment of a Multidisciplinary Curriculum: The West Point Experience (James JF Forest, Bruce Keith).

Assessment at the University of Scranton (Peter J. Gray).

Specific Strategies for Advancing the Hallmarks.

That Second Look at Student Work: A Strategy for Engaging Faculty in Outcomes Assessment (Trudy W. Banta).

Lessons Learned in the Assessment School of Hard Knocks: Guidelines and Strategies to Encourage Faculty Ownership and Involvement in Outcomes Assessment (Carolyn J. Haessig, Armand S. La Potin).

Enlisting Student Aid in Assessing Department Objectives (Daniel Nelson, Kari J. Nelson).

Using Student Satisfaction Assessment Data to Influence Institutional Planning (Stephanie Juillerat, Laurie A. Schreiner).

Using Classroom Based Assessment for General Education (Ann Janine Morey).

Assessment and Program Review: Linking Two Processes (Dwight Smith, Douglas Eder).