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Guidelines, Formats and Criteria for Review of Assessment Plans



The Outcomes Assessment Committee has established very firm expectations for what is to be included in program assessment plans. Each plan needs to have a Mission statement, Goals, and Objectives which are directly related back to the goals. These have been distributed to department chairs several times, but we would like to make sure that all faculty are aware of them. Here are the criteria used by the university committee in reviewing "MGOs":


Click on the links below to go to that section:
Criteria for Review of Mission, Goals and Objectives Statements .

Required Components of All Program Assessment Plans .

Assessment Plan Format .

Bloom's Taxonomy .
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Criteria for Review of Mission, Goals and Objectives Statements

  1. Is the document clearly written in terms that can be understood by students, faculty outside the disciplines, and public?
  2. Do the objectives relate back to the goals?
  3. Are the objectives concrete and specific enough to be measured and evaluated? Do they lend themselves to assessment of tangible student learning outcomes?
  4. Are there enough objectives to evaluate the entire degree program? Are there too many to measure? Is more focus or detail needed?
  5. Are there objectives for each subprogram (options, specializations, tracks, emphases, etc)?
  6. Are undergraduate and graduate goals and objectives delineated separately?
  7. Do the goals and objectives reflect the uniqueness or special characteristics or strengths of the program?
  8. Overall, is the document:
    ____Excellent, (ready to go on to development of assessment plan, criteria and methods)
    ____Acceptable, with minor revisions, formatting changes or cleanup of text
    ____Marginal, needing substantial revision before proceeding to assessment plan
    ____Unacceptable, needs to be reworked and resubmitted.
We also have a format which must be followed for the plan, criteria and techniques of assessment:

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Required Components of All Program Assessment Plans

Mission Statement
Goals for program (and each sub-program)
Objectives (related directly back to each goal)
Criteria (How will you know if students have met each object. What level of achievement expected)
A Methodology and time line for carrying out assessment
Procedures for evaluation/reporting/use of findings

While we have attempted to allow programs the flexibility to devise their own MGOs and methods of assessment, the committee has become more and more insistent that the format specified be followed--not only for consistency, but because we have found the format has an inherent logic and pattern that guides the program in developing a clear, organized, and concrete set of assessment measures. Here are the criteria the committee has developed for our discussion in reviewing and approving assessment plans submitted:

Criteria for Review of Program Assessment Plans
  1. Are Goals and Objectives clearly labeled and listed?
  2. Have criteria to be used and levels of achievement expected been identified? Are there one or more stated outcomes for each goal? (Other than completion of a particular course or series of courses.)
  3. Are assessment methods adequate to measure student achievement? Are multiple measures used? Is there over reliance on only one type of measure?
  4. Is the time frame described appropriate and workable? Is diagnostic or baseline data collected? Are growth and improvement expected?
  5. Are formative and summative methods of assessment used? Are students provided early warnings and directions for change?
  6. Is it clear who will do the assessments, collect and analyze data? Is there appropriate faculty involvement and sharing of task?
  7. Will data be used to inform department and curricula for possible improvement? Is there a formal mechanism for reporting results of assessment and for summarizing results?
  8. Does the plan appear feasible, workable and affordable, given resources available?
General Comments on the Assessment Plan and Suggestions for improvement or clarification

Overall rating of Plan

    _____Acceptable as is, ready to carry out assessments
    _____Needs minor revision
    _____Unacceptable in present form
These above guidelines, formats and criteria have been announced and in place since 1996 and still are in effect.

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Assessment Plan Format

(All department and program outcomes assessment plans should follow the following format.
  1. MISSION STATEMENT AND GOALS
  2. OBJECTIVES
  3. OUTCOMES CRITERIA (WHAT ARE THE LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT EXPECTED FROM STUDENTS AND HOW WILL THEY DEMONSTRATE OR COMPLETE THE OBJECTIVES?)
  4. ASSESSMENT METHODS OR MEASURES TO BE USED
  5. TIME FRAME (WHEN WILL THE ASSESSMENT BE DONE?)
  6. WHO WILL DO THE ASSESSMENT, COLLECT AND ANALYZE DATA?
  7. TYPE OF FEEDBACK/DATA REPORTING MECHANISM.
  8. HOW WILL DATA BE USED TO IMPROVE THE PROGRAM AND REVISE CURRICULA?
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