Elements of an Assessment Plan

At Champlain College program review is a process designed to orchestrate self-improvement through learning to the betterment of the entire institution. As such, it supports efforts to maximize our understanding of how, and how well, our students are learning and our programs are delivering on their promises to students, the institution, and the greater community. Seeking an external perspective is a required part of the program review because Champlain College is so intentionally connected to the marketplace that external support and validation of our self-understanding is critical. (Photos by Paula Wayne)

Champlain College Program Review must be: Black and white grainy effect still life Paula Wayne.jpg

1. Systematic:

Ongoing, over a period of years,
Able to show patterns over time; taking a longitudinal view of student success,
Plans for who will collect and consider data

2. Outcomes-based:

Defined by faculty and based on program mission, vision and competencies
Attentive to College Competencies (undergraduate)
Focused on understanding what causes individual students to achieve at higher and lower than average levels

3. Comprehensive:

Representative of student demographics and range of performances
Attending to all the Program Learning Outcomes over a period of time
Considers achievement of College Competencies by students in the program
Considers institutional-level data related to student learning and student experience (NSSE, SSI, IDEA PRO, IDI)

4. Transparent:

Available to the campus community and up-to-date
In a format that allows selected portions to be made available and comprehensible to a wider audience
Receptive to feedback

Program Review at Champlain College is an ongoing holistic assessment of student learning complemented by program management (reported annually) and periodic inclusion of an external perspective, all of which point to and inform subsequent action planning. The model takes a rolling and cumulative approach that, when viewed within a four-year cycle time frame, captures a full picture of program and divisional performance.

Each year, the Program Director submits an activities report that is included with the Dean’s report on program management. The annual program assessment report describes the results of assessments of the competencies reviewed in that year of the four-year assessment plan cycle and any plans for improvement resulting from analysis of the evidence of student achievement.

Before you start!

Think about what you already have in place. Existing curriculum, courses and assignments in your program can most likely provide all the ingredients you need to develop an effective assessment plan.

The most effective departmental assessment plan is one that is closely linked to the curriculum and uses available information and resources to the greatest degree possible. -Program-based Review and Assessment, University of Massachusetts

Getting Started

Thinking about answers to these questions¹ can help you get started:

What outcomes are you aiming to assess, and what kinds of outcomes are they?
What purposes do you want your assessment process to serve?
What evidence, or items that could be turned into evidence, do you already have?
What kinds of comparisons within or beyond your institution might be useful?
Who will do what with the evidence that will be gathered?

1. Jo Beld, Building Your Assessment Toolkit: Strategies for Gathering Actionable Evidence of Student Learning, Southern Education Foundation, Atlanta, 2015.

Steps in Designing a Program Assessment Plan

Like all good educational design, creation of an assessment plan works best if you start from the endpoint and work backwards. Begin with the definition of the learning outcomes or competencies that are critical to success for a college graduate in your discipline.

A 2016 publication² from the National Institute of Learning Outcomes Assessment lays out the rationale behind assessing learning and steps for doing so effectively.

2. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (2016, May). Higher education quality: Why documenting learning matters. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, Author.

Assessment as Structured Inquiry

Champlain College Program Learning Outcomes (PLO) Assessment should be designed to (1) evaluate the degree to which students meet PLOs and (2) monitor the impact of changes made to address shortfalls. In other words, assessment will answer these questions:

What do you expect a graduate of this major to know and be able to do? (PLOs and College Competencies)
What have students gained as a result of their education? To what degree have students achieved the PLOs and the College Competencies? What barriers do they face? Do different groups of students have different achievement levels? Where would you like to see improvement in students learning?
Are your program's curricular design, course design and teaching methods optimal for student academic development? Are improvements needed to curricular design, course design or teaching methods in order for students to better meet Program Learning Outcomes and College Competencies?
What is the impact of previous improvements made to curriculum, courses or teaching? Have changes led to improved student learning?
Is your program meeting the standards of the discipline? How do you know that graduates are ready for the workplace? (External perspective)
What have you learned about the PLO assessment process itself? Is your plan giving you the information needed to answer these questions? What changes might you need to make to the assessment process?

The Four-year Program Assessment Plan

The Four-year Program Assessment Plan should contain the following elements:

1. Name of Program and Division; Date
2. Program and/or Division Mission Statement
3. Program Outcomes (as approved by the Curriculum Committee)
4. Curriculum Map

Include all program competencies
Map program competencies to required courses in the curriculum
Map division competencies to required courses, if applicable
Map College Competencies to required courses

5. Assessment Implementation Timetable

Each outcome measured at least twice in a four-year cycle
Two methods for each outcome; at least one must be direct
External perspective required at least once in a four-year cycle (external reviewers, internship supervisor feedback, employer feedback, alumni feedback, advisory boards, etc.)

6. Assessment Measures (Evidence)

Describe what artifacts you will gather from which course(s) as evidence of student attainment of competence (or level achieved toward competence)
- Two methods for each outcome; at least one must be direct

7. Taking Action or “Closing the Loop”

Describe how you will analyze results, reach conclusions based on the evidence and make course, curricular or pedagogical improvements
Describe how you will share results with colleagues and work collaboratively to design and implement curricular or pedagogical improvements

8. Collaboration

Describe how full-time and adjunct faculty participate in the PLO assessment process. Describe how students participate in the PLO assessment process
Describe how you will work with colleagues (and students?) to analyze results, reach conclusions based on the evidence and devise course, curricular or pedagogical improvements
Describe how students will learn through the assessment process (optional/aspirational)
Describe how the assessment process impacts teaching (optional/aspirational)

Annual Program Assessment Report

The Program Assessment Report should be submitted annually to the Dean. The report should be about two to four pages in length. The report should contain the following elements:

Part I: Program Assessment Information

Program Name, Date Author
PLOs assessed this year
Evidence
Faculty participation
Student participation
Comparisons
All current PLOs

Part II: Assessment Findings

1. A presentation of assessment data by PLO or College competency in table and/or chart form
2. Must include frequency data for achievement levels by PLO

Part III: Making Meaning of the Results

Student Learning
- What do the evidence, measurements and analysis tell you about student learning?
  - Specifically, describe what the assessment results tell you about what and how students are learning. What have students gained as a result of their education? What barriers do they face?
Teaching, Courses and Curriculum
- What do findings tell you about teaching, courses, or curriculum?
  - Specifically, describe what the assessment results tell you about curricular design, course design, teaching methods or faculty development.
Effectiveness and Impact of Initiatives
- What changes did you put in place this past year based on previous years' program assessment findings and how effective were they?
  - Specifically, describe what the assessment results tell you about how previous changes made to curriculum, courses or teaching have impacted student learning .

Part IV: Integrating Program Management Data

Program Strengths and Challenges
- What does the Program Management data set tell you about the strengths of your program as well as the challenges and opportunities?
Program Strengths and Challenges
- What do management data and student LO assessment data together tell you about the success of students in your program? Do the data raise any concerns? Do the data suggest actions that can be taken to address these concerns?

Part V: Assessment Plan for Next Year

1. Describe the actions accomplished this past year.
2. Describe the actions you will take in the coming year.
3. Describe you Assessment plan for the next academic year:
  - Describe the PLO(s) that will be examined next academic year (and the courses, if appropriate).
  - Describe what, if any, changes you will make to the Assessment Plan in light of this year’s assessment.
  - Impact study: Explain whether (and if so, how) next year’s assessment will examine the effectiveness of changes made to curriculum, courses or teaching based on this or previous years’ assessment findings.

Guidelines for Program Assessment Plans and Reports

Download the most up-to-date Guidelines:
Program Assessment Plan and Report Guidelines 2023.docx

Copy a Program LO Assessment Report Template in Google Docs.

Find your PALS shared working Google folder.

Program Assessment Audit

Beginning in 2015, the Institution Research office began an audit of program assessment, evaluating each program's assessment plan, along with its implementation and reporting, with an emphasis on using assessment as a learning and improvement process. Assessment work is evaluated against this rubric:

Assessment Plan and Report Audit RUBRIC.docx