Higher Education Assessments: Leadership Matters (The American Council on Education Series on Higher Education)

287 Pages·2010·1.6 MB·English

by  Gary L. Kramer

Higher Education
Assessments
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PART OF THE AMERICAN COUNCIL ON EDUCATION
SERIES ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Susan Slesinger, Executive Editor
Other Titles in the Series
Leading the Campaign: Advancing Colleges and Universities
by Michael J. Worth
Leaders in the Labyrinth: College Presidents and the Battlegrounds of Creeds
and Convictions
by Stephen J. Nelson
Academic Turnarounds: Restoring Vitality to Challenged American Colleges/
Universities
edited by Terrence MacTaggart
Managing Diversity Flashpoints in Higher Education
by Joseph E. Garcia and Karen J. Hoelscher
The Art and Politics of Academic Governance: Relations among Boards, Presidents,
and Faculty
by Kenneth P. Mortimer and Colleen O’Brien Sathre
Strategic Leadership: Integrating Strategy and Leadership in Colleges and Universities
by Richard L. Morrill
Leadership Legacy Moments: Visions and Values for Stewards of Collegiate Mission
by E. Grady Bogue
The Indispensable University: Higher Education, Economic Development, and the
Knowledge Economy
by Eugene P. Trani and Robert D. Holsworth
Peak Performance for Deans and Chairs: Reframing Higher Education’s Middle
by Susan Stavert Roper and Terrence E. Deal
Presidential Transitions: It’s Not Just the Position, It’s the Transition
by Patrick H. Sanaghan, Larry Goldstein, and Kathleen D. Gaval
Changing Course: Making the Hard Decisions to Eliminate Academic Programs,
Second Edition
by Peter D. Eckel
Searching for Higher Education Leadership: Advice for Candidates and Search
Committees
by Jean A. Dowdall
Other Duties as Assigned: Presidential Assistants in Higher Education
edited by Mark P. Curchack
The “How To” Grants Manual: Successful Grantseeking Techniques for Obtaining
Public and Private Grants, Sixth Edition
by David G. Bauer
Leaders in the Crossroads: Success and Failure in the College Presidency
by Stephen James Nelson
International Students: Strengthening a Critical Resource
edited by Maureen S. Andrade and Norman W. Evans
Faculty Success through Mentoring: A Guide for Mentors, Mentees, and Leaders
by Carole J. Bland, Anne L. Taylor, S. Lynn Shollen, Anne Marie Weber-Main, and
Patricia A. Mulcahy
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Higher Education
Assessments
Leadership Matters
Edited by
Gary L. Kramer
and
Randy L. Swing
Published in partnership with the
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published in partnership with the American Council on Education
Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2010 by Gary L. Kramer and Randy L. Swing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Higher education assessments : leadership matters / edited by Gary L. Kramer and
Randy L. Swing.
p. cm. — (The American Council on Education series on higher education)
“Published in partnership with the American Council on Education.”
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4422-0620-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4422-0622-9 (electronic)
1. Universities and colleges—United States—Evaluation. 2. Education, Higher—
United States—Evaluation. 3. Universities and colleges—United States—Administration.
4. College administrators—United States. 5. Leadership—United States. I. Kramer, Gary
L., 1945– II. Swing, Randy L., 1954–
LB2331.63.H54 2010
378.1'07—dc22
2010020803
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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Contents
List of Figures and Table vii
Foreword ix
Peter T. Ewell
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
Gary L. Kramer and Randy L. Swing
PART I: LEADING ASSESSMENTS ON THE CAMPUS
1 Championing the Assessment of Learning: The Role of
Top Leaders 3
Trudy Bers and Randy L. Swing
2 Assessment Frameworks That Can Make a Difference in
Achieving Institutional Outcomes 27
Gary L. Kramer, Coral Hanson, and Danny Olsen
PART II: BRIDGING LEARNER OUTCOMES:
FINDING COMMON GROUND
3 Assessment and Student Diversity 59
Vasti Torres
4 Assessments in Student Services That Foster Student and
Program Success 73
John H. Schuh
v
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vi Contents
5 Documenting Student Learning: Valuing the Process 95
Kay H. Smith and Raymond D. Barclay
6 Learning Outcomes, Assessment, and Program Improvement 119
Russell T. Osguthorpe, Bryan D. Bradley, and Trav D. Johnson
PART III: ASSESSMENTS THAT TRANSFORM THE
LEARNING CULTURE
7 Student Engagement and a Culture of Assessment 135
Jillian Kinzie
8 Assessment in the Disciplines 161
John Muffo
9 Assessment That Transforms an Institution 179
Peter J. Gray
10 Putting Students First as Partners in the Learning Enterprise 213
Gary L. Kramer and Thomas E. Miller
Epilogue 237
Gary L. Kramer and Randy L. Swing
Subject Index 241
Name Index 247
About the Contributors 253
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Figures and Table
FIGURES
2.1 Factors with Institution-Level, Program-Level, and
Course-Level Assessment Plans 30
2.2 Stakeholder Benefits of a Systems Approach 31
2.3 Model for Culture Change: Moving toward a
“Culture of Evidence” 46
2.4 Establishing a Culture of Evidence: A Systems Approach 47
2.5 Hypothetical Institutional Strategic Plan: History of Activity 48
2.6 Hypothetical Unit Review Data Flow: Degree-Level
Assessment 49
2.7 Hypothetical Department Path to Graduation: Timing of
Direct and Indirect Assessments 50
5.1 Assessment for Learning 99
9.1 Assessment Process 180
9.2 Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation Matrix 197
10.1 Partnerships That Lead to Student Success, Development,
and Learning 233
TABLE
6.1 A Framework for Linking Student Learning with Program
Improvement 122
vii
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Foreword
The second decade of the twenty-first century promises tough times for higher
education. Money is short, infrastructure continues to crumble, and there
are far too many students for an increasingly contingent and discontented
faculty to teach. For a president or academic leader to put aside these urgent
problems and consider assessment seems the height of indulgence. Why pay
any attention to this topic at all?
The answer is that the assessment of student learning and development is
at the heart of all these other problems and one of the key management tools
available to colleges and universities to work their way out of them. At the
most visible level, the aftermath of the Spellings Commission has signaled
accountability for results as a major immediate challenge for American
higher education. And unlike previous accountability surges in our history,
this one is unlikely to go away. Policy and corporate leaders are aware that
the performance of higher education in turning out capable and thoughtful
citizens and workers is critical to our future. They also know that our perfor-
mance in doing this as a nation in a global context is no longer unmatched.
These accountability demands are real, they are justified, and they are likely
to be permanent. Evidence about the academic achievements of our students
is at the heart of them. These developments mean that assessment now con-
stitutes a noticeable slice of every academic administrator’s mental pie chart.
As I have written elsewhere, an institution today can no more do without as-
sessment than it can do without a development office.
All academic leaders at some level already know this. This is why the level
of attention devoted to assessment has become so generally pervasive, as results
of the recent survey—More Than You Think, Less Than We Need—released by
the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) reveals.
ix
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