Tips for Writing SACSCOC Academic Program Assessment Reports Office of Planning, Institutional Research, and Assessment (PIRA)

Fall 2014

• • • • • • Ideally you already assess students’ learning Ideally you already improve your program to increase student achievement Program Assessment Reports should describe these activities using SACSCOC guidelines and terminology Data or other findings that measure student learning should be included, as should interpretation of findings But don’t create special data collection process for SACSCOC; just summarize existing processes Initiatives to improve should be included

• • • defined desired mission, student learning outcomes (SLOs), and related measures, collected and evaluated results from ongoing assessment, undertaken actions to continuously improve learning.

Define SLOs & Measures Implement Change (Improve) Collect Findings Evaluate Results

Help reviewers find key components quickly & easily

• • • • • • •

mission

and program outcomes (objectives)

student learning outcomes

(3+) and related

measures

(2+ each, 1 should be direct)

assessment findings

: results for measures of student learning from

multiple years

(if feasible)

discussion of results: faculty review of

findings, including whether performance of students meets

expectations discussion of changes: initiatives to improve

student learning and/or program evidence

clear continuous improvement

has occurred narrative and organization to make compliance obvious (does everything make sense?)

Program Assessment at the University of Miami Office of Planning, Institutional Research, and Assessment (Rev 3-2013) Your mission statement and program outcomes (objectives) should align with the mission of the University and your program’s strategic plan.

Student Learning Outcome 1 (Definition) Capstone reviewed with faculty developed rating grid Assessment Measures Graduating Student Surveys Student Learning Outcome 2 (Definition) Exam questions that clearly relate to outcomes Graduate School Dissertation & Thesis Rating Grid Course Evaluations Student Learning Outcome 3 (Definition) Other Direct Measures Other Indirect Measures • • • A program should have 3-5 measurable outcomes, each tied to the program mission.

Student learning outcomes relate to attainment of knowledge, skills, behaviors, or values.

Common outcomes include: knowledge of theory and research in the field, ability to think critically about the field of study, oral and written communication skills.

• • • For each outcome 2-3 measures are required; at least one must be a direct measure (

direct - dark blue

, indirect - light blue) A single measure (e.g., rating grid) can assess more than one outcome. Build operationally realistic assessments into your annual departmental calendar.

Discussion for Continuous Improvement

3) 2) 1)

Faculty Review: Do findings show continuous improvement?

Program Improvement:

What changes should be made?

Assessment

Findings: Data for EACH measure for 2+ years • • Assessment findings should assist in identifying areas for improvement within programs.

Identified and resolved changes should be reflected in the discussion section of reports to PIRA.

• • tie it to UM Mission: “ The University of Miami’s mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of the diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world.

” and your strategic plan describe program outcomes/objectives (e.g., prepare graduates to . . ., teach gen-ed courses, research, service)

• • • describe reasonable expectations for student learning (knowledge, skills, values, and behaviors) include at least 3 SLOs, each with correct structure and language make SLOs easy to identify (e.g., use bolding & numbering) and clearly stated (follow expected structure

Most common error:

Programs describe what they do.

Solution:

Describe what you want students to learn.

• • • • Start with words like Students… Graduates… We want students to… Include verbs or phrases like will demonstrate… should have ability to … will analyze and synthesize… Include words like …breadth of understanding of… …mastery of… …a capacity for… Describe expected competence (e.g., broad knowledge, communication, critical thinking)

“Help students develop research skills by providing opportunities for supervised laboratory practice.” write “Graduates will demonstrate the ability to conduct laboratory research.” ----------------------

“

Students will participate in interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational communicative activities and be guided in the development of literacy skills in the language of study through the communicative acts of reading, writing, and creating discourse around texts of all types.” write “Students will demonstrate literacy skills in the language of study through the communicative acts of reading, writing, and creating discourse around texts of all types.”

• • • • • Students should demonstrate an overall knowledge and understanding of the core concepts in [

insert program here

], including the essential skills to conduct research in the [

insert program here

].

We want students to graduate with strong written [and/or oral] communication skills.

Our doctoral students should be able to conduct independent research worthy of publication.

Graduates should have an understanding and capability to work with the systems and hardware components that support software. Students should demonstrate critical thinking, including the ability to analyze, synthesize, and draw valid conclusions.

• • • • • ensure each SLO has 2+ measures ensure at least 1

direct

measure (objective outside source —see p. 4 of Resources) ensure

indirect

measure (usually self-reported measure) accompanied by direct —see p. 4 of Resources Instead of course grades or pass rates used (SACSCOC discourages), substitute project grades (plus description relating exam/project to SLO) consider rating grids since easier to trend over time and 1 grid can be used for all SLOs —see pp. 8 & 9 of Resources

Most common error:

Programs describe how faculty provide feedback to help individual students.

Solution:

Describe aggregate measures used to evaluate student learning.

“Students are given tests…” write “Grades from tests that measure the students’ ability to [

describe what test is for

] will be used to assess [

SLO

].” --------------------- Table of grades for

course

use Table of grades for

final paper

(plus description of assignment using language of SLO)

• • • • • • • Graduate School Rating Grid at final defense (already supposed to be using); fast and easy (PIRA will analyze — see pp. 8 & 9 of Resources) Same rating grid, but used for proposal defense (and/or for each year in program) —use same standards for both to show students’ progress Qualifying/comprehensive exam (but need to explain what’s tested so link to SLO is clear) Rating grids from supervisors of TAs, RAs, GAs, internships Ratings from audience for presentations on student research Number of publications, conference presentations, grants Graduating Master’s Student Survey (items similar to ones on p. 10 of Resources available from PIRA)

• • • • • • Graduating Senior Survey —very easy (PIRA/Toppel collect, analyze, send); small programs should use combined years (green column) rather than trends (orange columns) —see p. 10 of Resources Rating grids for capstone papers, projects, etc. (see p. 8 of Resources for sample you can adapt) Grades from items on tests or assignments that directly measure a given SLO Rating grids from supervisors of internships, practica Additional items relating to improvement in each SLO that are added to faculty evaluations or final exams Existing items on New General Form for faculty/course evaluations that relate to critical thinking or communicating on the subject

• • • ensure each measure has corresponding findings (and no findings without earlier measure) insert corresponding outcome/measure as heading for each set of results ensure multiple years or insert explanation that data not provided for new program/revised measures: “As part of the major three-year “continuous improvement update” of our program assessment report in 2013, we decided to start using rating grids in conjunction with XXX [e.g., senior projects] to allow us to more easily monitor changes in student learning over time. Because this is a new measure, we have data for only the 2013-14 academic year, but we will continue to update the data in upcoming years to monitor continuous improvement in student learning.”

• • • • if measure is a narrative rather than data, ensure summary plus sample evaluations or insert statement (see p. 6 of Resources) ensure results are presented clearly (tables) decide if appendix of findings, survey instrument, etc. will be necessary (usually not) put findings related to Program Outcomes under new sub heading:

Findings Relating to Program Outcomes

Most common errors:

Programs simply state they evaluate student learning or omit measure(s).

Solution:

You should provide evidence of assessment activity (table/text summary of findings).

• • • • • statement that faculty

as a group

reviewed (e.g., dates/minutes of meeting) discussion of whether faculty think students demonstrated desired level of learning initiatives you implemented to improve student learning –see p. 6 of Resources whenever possible, an indication of which SLO is affected whether improvements seem to be working

Most common errors:

o No statement indicating faculty reviewed o o o No statement of how faculty think students are doing No mention of which SLO affected by improvement initiatives No mention of whether there has been improvement over time

Solutions include:

o o Dates or minutes of faculty meetings Evaluation of how well each SLO achieved o o Which SLO will benefit from improvement (if relevant) Effectiveness of prior initiatives and how learning will be improved

• • • • • • • Add bold, indents, and/or underlines to assist reviewers Nest measures under related SLOs Label/nest Outcomes/Measures in Findings section Include discussion of improvements/changes in Discussion section, not in SLO or Findings sections • Remove yellow template instructions • Use SACSCOC terminology (Student Learning Outcomes, Measures of SLOs, etc.) Delete extraneous text and data (

clarity more important than length

) Expand acronyms (e.g., RSMAS, PRISM) Spell check; fix typos

• • • • • • Study resources and checklist before starting Use existing assessments and available student work whenever possible (saves time and effort) Consider developing a rating grid with 1-2 items per each learning outcome —see p. 8 of Resources Contact PIRA for summary of results Graduate School Rating Grid; email PIRA scanned forms for students we don’t have Use Graduating Senior Survey (GSS) or Graduating Master’s Student Survey (GMSS) summary Consider starting with measures and then writing SLOs to go with them instead of the other traditional order

• • Need to provide evidence of improvement based on initiatives, wherever possible (though sometimes hard to see, especially with small Ns and short time periods) New emphasis

from SACSCOC

: Need to add material (Findings, Improvements, and Discussion) related to • • • • •

Program Outcomes

(

NOT

Processes

). Examples: Retention/graduation rates, average time to degree (from PIRA) Ratings from GSS or GMSS (from PIRA) Job placement (from Grad Program Review profile) Graduate program review, professional accreditation Other measures of

program

success (e.g., quality, effectiveness, interdisciplinary opportunities).

Contact: Dr. David E. Wiles

Executive Director, Assessment and Accreditation Institutional Accreditation Liaison (305) 284-3276