Originally posted on June 24, 2018, on LindaSuskie.com
A recent paper co-sponsored by AALHE and Watermark identified some key professional development needs of assessment practitioners.
While a book is no substitute for a rich, interactive professional development experience, some of the things that assessment practitioners want to learn about are discussed in my books Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (new 3rd edition) and Five Dimensions of Quality: A Common Sense Guide to Accreditation and Accountability. Perhaps they’re a good place to kick off your professional development.
Analyzing and Interpreting Assessment Data
See Chapter 24 (Analyzing Evidence of Student Learning) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.).
Analyzing and Interpreting Qualitative Results
See “Summarizing qualitative evidence” on pages 313-316 of Chapter 23 (Summarizing and Storing Evidence of Student Learning) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.)
Reporting Assessment Results
See Chapter 25 (Sharing Evidence of Student Learning) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.) and Chapter 16 (Transparency: Sharing Evidence Clearly and Readily) of Five Dimensions of Quality.
Assessment Culture
This is such a big issue that the 3rd edition of Assessing Student Learning devotes six chapters to it. See Part 3, which includes the following chapters:
Chapter 9 (Guiding and Coordinating Assessment Efforts)
Chapter 10 (Helping Everyone Learn What to Do)
Chapter 11 (Supporting Assessment Efforts)
Chapter 12 (Keeping Assessment Cost-Effective)
Chapter 13 (Collaborating on Assessment)
Chapter 14 (Valuing Assessment and the People Who Contribute)
A good place to start is Chapter 14, because it begins with a section titled, “Why is this so hard?” Even better, see the chapter that section summarizes: Chapter 4 (Why Is This So Hard?) of Five Dimensions of Quality.
Also see Chapter 17 (Using Evidence to Ensure and Advance Quality and Effectiveness) in Five Dimensions of Quality.
Culture of Change
See Chapter 18 (Sustaining a Culture of Betterment) of Five Dimensions of Quality along with the aforementioned Chapter 4 (Why Is This So Hard?) in the same book. For a briefer discussion, see “Value innovation, especially in improving teaching” on pages 180-181 of Chapter 14 (Valuing Assessment and the People Who Contribute) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.).
Effective/Meaningful/Best Assessment Practices
See Chapter 3 (What Are Effective Assessment Practices?) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.) and Chapter 14 (Good Evidence Is Useful) of Five Dimensions of Quality.
Co-Curricular Learning Outcomes and Assessment
Information on co-curricula is scattered throughout the new 3rd edition of Assessing Student Learning. See the following:
“Learning goals for co-curricular experiences” on pages 57-58 of Chapter 4 (Learning Goals: Articulating What You Most Want Students to Learn)
“Planning assessments in co-curricula” on pages 110-112 of Chapter 8 (Planning Assessments in Other Settings)
Chapter 20 (Other Assessment Tools)
Chapter 21 (Assessing the Hard-to-Assess)
Rubrics
See Chapter 15 (Designing Rubrics to Plan and Assess Assignments) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.).
Establishing Standards
See Chapter 22 (Setting Meaningful Standards and Targets) of Assessing Student Learning (3rd ed.) and Chapter 15 (Setting and Justifying Targets for Success) of Five Dimensions of Quality.
Program Review
See Chapter 20 (Program Reviews: Drilling Down into Programs and Services) of Five Dimensions of Quality.