Program Overview

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 ARE WE ACHIEVING OUR MISSION? GETTING THE BIG PICTURE OF ASSESSMENT

Presenter: Dr. Lisa Beatty, Executive Director | ABHE Commission on Accreditation
Overview: Developing and implementing an effective assessment plan requires a clear-eyed understanding of your unique mission and the overarching purposes of assessment. Assessment plans that demonstrate mission achievement fuel a culture of assessment and drive continuous improvement. What are the big picture issues that bring meaning and value to the work of assessment? 

• Understanding your unique institutional goals
• Developing YOUR OWN assessment plan and process
• Answering the big questions
• Investing in a culture of assessment

 WHAT ARE OUR AIMS? ACADEMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENT & OUTCOMES

Presenter: Dr. Michael Jackson, Associate Director | ABHE Commission on Accreditation
Overview: Assessment is made possible by the creation of clear statements of intention and the actual outcomes that demonstrate results. How do you appropriately communicate your intended results and actual results in the domains of student learning and institutional effectiveness?

• Defining the domains of institutional effectiveness and student learning
• Crafting student learning objectives
• Writing institutional effectiveness or administrative unit objectives
• Appropriately describing actual outcomes (results) with clarity and precision

HOW WILL WE KNOW IF WE ACHIEVED OUR GOALS? IDENTIFYING EFFECTIVE MEASURES AND BENCHMARKS

Presenter: Dr. Janet Starks, VP for Institutional Effectiveness | Kingswood University
Overview: Effective assessment requires the right tools, and there is no shortage of available measures to assess student learning and institutional effectiveness. How do you assess the value of various options and set meaningful achievement targets? 

• Identifying criteria for effective assessment measures
• Matching measures with desired outcomes
• Understanding the value of a well-crafted rubric
• Articulating benchmarks that make sense and lead to meaningful analysis and effective action 

 HOW DO WE MAKE SENSE OF OUR EVIDENCE? COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DATA

Presenter: Charles Faber, Academic Dean | Boise Bible College
Overview: The point of embracing assessment is to ensure that our institutions make wise course corrections that are guided by a meaningful analysis of accurate and timely data. How do we create an environment that encourages decision makers to regularly rely upon data that has been collected?

• Focus on what matters
• Consistently and systematically collect and store needed data
• Compile and present data so that it paints an accurate and compelling story
• Engage the right stakeholders in collaborative analysis

 WHO NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT WE LEARNED? REPORTING ASSESSMENT RESULTS 

Presenter: Dr. Sheri Popp, Senior Director, Professional Development and Accreditation Strategy | WEAVE Education
Overview: Sharing assessment results internally motivates change and provides a context for celebrating successes. Sharing your findings externally engenders public confidence and meets federal guidelines for transparency of institutional outcomes. So…what do you share, and how do you summarize your findings for public and regulatory audiences? 

• • • Summarizing assessment findings in written reports and data visualizations
    • Communicating assessment results to the campus community 
    • Finding ways to make assessment results meaningful to outside audiences
    • Meeting regulatory requirements to make institutional outcomes public

HOW DO WE CLOSE THE ASSESSMENT LOOP? USING ASSESSMENT DATA TO DRIVE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Presenter: Dr. Aaron Profitt, Vice President for Academic Affairs | God’s Bible School and College
Overview: Institutional improvement lies at the heart of the assessment process. How do you take what you have learned and use it to improve student learning and institutional effectiveness outcomes? And how will you know if your changes made a difference?

• • • Listening to the data and developing effective action plans for improvement
    • Deciding what to act on and what to watch
    • Implementing data-informed change and circling back to assess the effects
    • Connecting assessment to your planning and budgeting processes

WHAT DOES AN EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT PROCESS LOOK LIKE? AN INSTITUTIONAL EXAMPLE

Presenter: Alicia Carrasco, Vice President of Academics | Christ Mission College
Overview: You’ve heard the theory and best practices for assessment, but what does an assessment system look like in real life at an institution where assessment processes are assigned to an individual wearing multiple hats?

• • • Developing a manageable assessment plan
    • Building an assessment calendar
    • Asking questions from assessment data
    • Sharing meaningful assessment results

HOW CAN I MAKE PROGRESS WITH ASSESSMENT AT MY INSTITUTION? AFFINITY GROUP ROUNDTABLES

Panel — Conference Presenters
Overview: A hands-on session designed to help you move the assessment process forward at your institution. Commission staff and assessment colleagues from ABHE-accredited institutions serve as moderators for roundtable discussions about specific assessment questions and effective assessment strategies.

• • • Documenting assessment plans and processes 
    • Implementing best practices for assessment
    • Motivating faculty and staff to engage with assessment processes
    • Celebrating assessment wins

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