Three Steps of Assessment

[From Assessment Clear and Simple, by Barbara Walvoord, Josey-Bass (2004): 3]

1. Articulate your goals for student learning (“When they complete our program, students will be able to …”)

2. Gather evidence about how well students are meeting the goals.

• Direct measures directly evaluate student work. Examples of direct measures include exams, papers, projects, computer programs, interaction with a client, or musical performances.
  
• Indirect measures include asking students or alumni how well they thought they learned, tracking their graduate school or job placement rates, and so on.
  
• Evidence includes qualitative as well as quantitative information. No one forces you to use standardized tests.

3. Use the information for improvement.

Last updated Thursday, August 30, 2007