What is Assessment

At East Stroudsburg University, assessment is deliberate data collection and analysis to support meaningful improvement. This can and does happen at the individual, course, program, or department level and aims to aid in better decision making and improve student learning outcomes and institutional processes.

Assessment itself is a broad term that is used in a variety of disciplines. Applied to higher education, the term is used to describe the processes of creating improvement goals, collecting and analyzing data, and implementing quality change to support student learning and well-being and ensure effective use and allocation of resources.

Assessment can happen at many levels and can make improvements for individuals, groups, and programs. Assessment results are used to support decisions about program quality, instructional needs, student needs, systems change, institutional improvement, and resource allocation. Please visit Assessment Resources Page for more help in beginning or improving your assessment processes.

The process of assessment can be described as See-Plan-Do-Measure: a problem or need is noticed, a plan is created, the plan is implemented, and then the plan is measured to ensure the problem or need has been resolved.

At East Stroudsburg University, systematic processes are in place to evaluate:

 Why Do We Assess?

Assessment helps to verify that the institution is on track to meet its stated mission, vision, and goals. Currently, the university is working toward fulfillment of the East Stroudsburg University 2025-2028 Strategic Plan: Creating Opportunities through Community, Engagement, and Belonging

Assessment has been identified as a primary improvement across the strategic plan, particularly for academic improvement and ensuring appropriate resource allocation.

Appropriate assessment will help to:  

Improve Teaching and Learning

Assessment is a crucial part of the learning process:

• Good assessment design leads to good instructional design
• Learning is demonstrated through authentic assessment
• Learning is constantly being assessed
• Assessment provides the information faculty need about the level of student understanding
• Students learn best when they are provided with timely and informative feedback

Faculty become better instructors when:

• They focus on the essential skills and knowledge
• They engage in the principles of Backward Design*

*Wiggings and McTighe developed the process of backward design, which entails considering the end points, or learning objectives, first. Then, meaningful assessments of those end points are developed and finally, instructional activities are developed. By starting at the end, curriculum developers and faculty can remain focused on the desired results or standards when planning instruction and activities.

Improve Programs

Assessing programs will:

• Help program faculty identify areas of success and area of improvement in a program by showing the actual impact
• Bring program faculty together to discuss standards, content, skills, and how and why faculty teach
• Helps link courses and co-curricular activities together intentionally to form coherent program structures

• Assessment results can be used as evidence of quality teaching and solid program design, which can improve recruitment and retention efforts.

Improve or Increase Recruitment and Retention

• Assessment provides parents, potential students, and other stakeholders with evidence of the value of a program or institution.

• Assessment can also be used to convince donors, employers, and/or legislators to invest time or money in your program or institution.
• Both qualitative and quantitative data can be used to increase or improve recruitment, as both provide valuable insight into student performance and attitudes.

Document Accountability

• Assessment meets university and state annual program reporting and review requirements
• Assessment addresses accreditation agency standards and reporting requirements, both at the university and program levels.
• Assessment results prove the cost effectiveness of a program or institution in the face of increased government, legislator, and other funding constraints

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Sources

• Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  
• Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L, & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2004). How People Learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
  
• Jacobi, M., Astin, A., & Ayala, F. (1987). College Student Outcomes Assessment: A talent development perspective. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 7. Washington, DC: Association for the Study of Higher Education.
  
• Pellegrino, J. W., Chudowsky, N., & Glaser, R. (Eds.). (2001). Knowing what Students Know: The science and design of educational assessment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
  
• Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing Student Learning: A common sense guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.