NC State Logo
University Planning & Analysis -----------
-----------
Internet Resources for Higher Education Outcomes Assessment
Many of the pages on this list have links to other resources and to each other. We like to use other people's lists of links instead of connecting to all the resources directly from here.
We keep looking for new resources and lists of links, and for new pages on individual institutions' assessment programs. If you know of sites that we should add to this list, please email us their Internet addresses.
The Internet is fluid--pages and their locations change often. If you find that we have the wrong address for a page, or that its contents have changed and our description is no longer accurate, please let us know.
Since the links on this site are annotated with brief descriptions, you can use your browser's Find (Ctrl-F) function to locate information about a particular topic. For example, you can find entries whose links or annotations include the word "survey."
Many of the sites include pdf files. You can download a free Adobe Acrobat Reader for these files.
Most recent new links:1/5/09
Most recent check/update of broken links: 12/12/08
Annotations checked/updated: In progress, Winter 2008-09
About this list
General resources--discussion groups, lists of links, archives of articles, etc.
Assessment "handbooks"
Assessment of specific skills or content
Individual institutions' assessment-related pages
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
State boards & commissions
Accrediting bodies
Student assessment of courses & faculty
9 Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning
ACT - Surveys and assessment tools for colleges & universities.
- Links to information about other ACT tools for higher education.
Association of American Colleges & Universities
- AAC&U's assessment initiatives: multi-institution research on assessment approaches and impacts.
- AAC&U's assessment-related publications, meetings, and institutes.
- Links to other assessment resources.
American College Personnel Association's
ASK Project (
pdf file): Assessment skills and knowledge standards for Student Affairs practitioners. From ACPA's
Commission for Assessment for Student Development.
American Society for Quality: Education Division
- A division of ASQ, the national organization for the application of quality control in business and industry.
- K-12 as well as higher education.
Assessing administrative and support units
Assessment and Accountability Forum
- Quarterly journal on assessment issues in higher education, published 1991-2002.
- Especially, but not exclusively, issues related to nontraditional students/education.
- Published by The Phoenix Institute / InterEd, a for-profit assessment organization. Forum articles are usually of general interest, not InterEd sales pitches.
- Some articles are available on-line.
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education
- Quarterly journal on assessment issues/methods.
- Contents alerting service.
- Contents of issues since March 1996.
- Subscription information; obtaining a sample copy.
Assessment committees
- ASSESS discussion-list threads on committee structure and function (see the list archive):
- March 1999 thread Faculty committees, initiated by Suzanne Decamp.
- September 2003 thread Course releases for faculty on assessment committees?, initiated by Tiffany Phagan.
- October 2005 thread Committee structure, initiated by David Gordon.
- November 2007 thread Institutional assessment committee, initiated by Erin Frew. Note Erin's 11/22/07 summary of responses.
Assessment Grants
- Grant Opportunities: Blue Ridge Community College's annotated list of private foundations that support higher-education projects.
- Examples of campus-based programs to support faculty and departmental assessment projects. Some of these grant programs are currently active, some are not. (Thanks to Kurt Gunnell at Kansas State University for posting the responses from the November 2000 ASSESS-list discussion on this topic. Some of these links are from Kurt's list.)
Assessment in Higher Education has annotated lists and links to resources about assessment of student learning in higher education.
- The site focuses on assessment of individual students' learning. While it does not emphasize resources about evaluating courses, programs, or individual instructors, many of the references and links are relevant to those activities.
- The site lists
- online and offline articles, journals, and books.
- online discussion lists, assessment-related organizations and conferences, and glossaries of assessment terminology.
- software to facilitate assessment activities.
- resources specifically related to multiple-choice tests and quizzes.
- other assessment-related websites.
Assessment Resources
Assessment Rubrics
- Winona State University's extensive list of rubrics for various disciplines, skills, and college-level assignments includes examples from many campuses. Note the link you can use to suggest additional examples.
- Examples of rubrics for general education outcomes:
- Brenau University. Select Forms and Rubrics and follow the drop-down menus. (Word documents)
- Sites designed for K-12 education, but useful as models and adaptable for higher education performance assessments.
- EduMetry's services include rubric-based scoring and analysis of student work products as well as consultation on designing learning outcomes and associated rubrics.
The Assessment for Student Development Clearinghouse, previously maintained by the American College Personnel Association (ACPA)'s Commission on Assessment for Student Development, is no longer available.
Assessment Update
- This bimonthly newsletter is one of the best ways to keep up with new developments and what's going on elsewhere.
- Updated versions of Web Corner columns are available online.
Association for Institutional Research
Automated essay grading
Baldridge National Quality Program: Education Criteria
- See the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) National Quality Program site for more information about the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Awards.
Benchmarking
Bloom's Taxonomy
- Bloom's 1956 taxonomy of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor behaviors is often used or referred to in defining outcomes for assignments, courses, and curricula. Google Bloom's Taxonomy for a long list of relevant websites. Some with definitions & examples of Bloom's cognitive categories are:
Center for Education Assessment
- Information about: CEA's consulting activities and software for organizing NCATE program review and related assessment information.
- Note: While CEA focuses on assessment of teacher education, their programs can also be used to organize assessment information in other academic areas.
Centro Nacional de Evaluación para la Educación Superior (México)
- Ceneval develops and administers performance exams for college entrance and assessment and for licensing/certification programs.
- The website includes information about Ceneval's exams and administration sites. Students can register and view their own results online.
- Note: Ceneval's website is in Spanish. Thanks to Phil Schmidt from Western Governors University for translation assistance.
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS)
- Hints, tips, techniques, and examples from:
- Course-based Review and Assessment (University of Massachusetts Amherst, pdf file).
- FAST (Free Assessment Summary Tool) and TooFAST (a new version), from Bruce Ravelli, Mt. Royal College.
- Web survey for student feedback, for classroom assessment during the course of a term.
- Fully anonymous, no way to tell who has submitted an evaluation, or how often. Not intended as an an end-of-term course evaluation whose data become part of the salary, promotion, and tenure process.
- Online version of the Teaching Goals Inventory, from the University of Iowa.
- See Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (Angelo & Cross, 1988, 1993, Jossey-Bass) for details on the TGI. The online version was created with the authors' permission.
- Technology Applied to Classroom Assessment, from the National Teaching and Learning Forum.
- Links to online resources about classroom assessment and technology-enhanced classroom assessment.
College Portrait, see
Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
College Results Online
- Searcheable database of graduation rates for four-year colleges and universities. From the Education Trust; based on NCES data.
- 4, 5, and 6-year rates, plus trends over time and freshman-to-sophomore retention, outbound transfer rates, and gender/ethnicity breakdowns.
- User-selected group of institutions or individual institution + database-generated comparison group based on institutional characteristics..
Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) and
Community College Learning Assessment (CCLA)
Commission on the Future of Higher Education
- Charged by the U.S. Secretary of Education to develop a national strategy for postsecondary education. The Commission met during 2005-2006.
- Some parts of the final report and some of the issue papers deal with assessment, accountability, and accreditation (pdf files).
Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)
- Nationally-normed survey of students' exposure to good practices in undergraduate education.
- Information about the project and the survey.
- About the survey has pdf demonstration versions of the survey.
- Survey results: summaries and (pdf) publications.
- CCSSE is designed for two-year institutions. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a similar project for four-year institutions.
- Some institutions' assessment sites include CCSSE reports. A November 2008 report from USA Today has college-by-college benchmark results.
Conferences: Lists of national and regional assessment conferences and workshops
Consultants
Council for Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
- Information about standards, guidelines, and assessment guides for Student Affairs programs. The guides/standards can be purchased as books, CDs, or downloadable RTF files (see the online store).
Distance Education
EBI: Educational Benchmarking, Inc
- Surveys for assessment in a variety of academic and student-services areas. Analyses include comparisons with other participating institutions.
- When last checked:
- Academic areas included business/management, engineering, nursing, and teacher education.
- Student-services areas included the first-year experience, fraternities/sororities, student housing, and student unions/centers.
- The WESS system for web-based surveys can also be used to develop & administer custom surveys.
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) page has abstracts of publications and information about ECS projects in higher education and K-12 assessment, accountability, workplace preparation, and other topics.
Educational Testing Service (ETS)
- TestLink lets you search ETS's Test File for information about thousands of test and research instruments.
EDUCAUSE Transformative Assessment Project
- From EDUCAUSE's National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII). Note: The project is no longer active.
- Definitions and primary research questions.
- Links to related resources and readings.
Ethical standards for assessment (Some of these are from a January 2002 Assess-L discussion. Thanks to Suzanne Garrison at Meredith College for initiating this thread.)
ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
- Searchable database with:
- Bibliographic information for hundreds of articles on assessment, evaluation, statistics, and educational research.
- Downloadable full text (pdf files) of many non-journal articles.
- A project of the US Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.
- See Help for:
- General search tips.
- Information about facilitating searches with ERIC's Thesaurus.
- FAQs about the ERIC program.
- Includes material that was added while the database was closed during 2004.
Faculty attitudes towards outcomes assessment
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, select March 2005 and scroll down to the thread Faculty attitudes toward student learning outcomes assessment. Kay Schneider's entry in this thread includes a link to Concordia College's survey of faculty attitudes about assessment.
- Concordia's 2005 survey (pdf file) and a Powerpoint presentation summarizing the results are also available (thanks, Kay!). Note: You may need a recent version of Internet Explorer to view the Powerpoint presentation.
The Flashlight Program
- From the TLT Group (Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group).
- Assessment tools (e.g., Flashlight Online; templates; study packages), training, external evaluation, and other forms of consulting to help institutions gather information to improve educational uses of technology. Some sections of the online handbook for Flashlight subscribers are available to the public; the rest of the handbook is restricted to Flashlight Program members.
- F-Light online journal about the use of technology in education includes some articles about outcomes assessment.
Glossaries: Assessment Terms
- Assessment in Higher Education includes a list of glossaries.
- Assessment and Accreditation Glossary, from California State University, Stanislaus (pdf file).
- Assessment Definitions, from California State University, Long Beach
- Assessment Glossary, from Dartmouth College
- Assessment Glossary, from Laramie County Community College
- Assessment Glossary, from Millersville University.
- Assessment Glossary from Tulsa Community College.
- Assessment Glossary, from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
- Assessment Glossary of Terms, from California State University, Sacramento.
- Assessment Terminology, from Northeastern Illinois University's Student Affairs Assessment Committee (pdf file).
- Assessment Terminology: A Glossary of Useful Terms.
- Assessment Terms, from Northern Illinois University.
- Assessment Terms, from Northwestern Health Sciences University
- Beyond Confusion: An Assessment Glossary, from Association of American Colleges & Universities Peer Review..
- CRESST Assessment Glossary, from UCLA's National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.
- Dictionary of Student Outcome Assessment. Searcheable. From James Madison University.
- Glossary, from Borough of Manhattan Community College's General Education Assessment Resource Center.
- Glossary, from Columbus State Community College
- Glossary, from the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Georgia.
- Glossary, from Miami University.
- Glossary, from the University of Texas at Arlington (pdf file)
- Glossary, from the University of Texas at Austin
- Glossary of Assessment Terms, from the American Public University System
- Glossary of Assessment Terms, from Indiana University Southeast
- Glossary of Assessment Terms, from SUNY-Potsdam (pdf document).
- Glossary of Assessment Terms, from the University of Maryland University College (pdf file).
- Glossary of Evaluation Terms (searcheable) and Teacher Evaluation Glossary from The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University.
- Glossary of Outcomes Assessment Terms, from Montgomery College.
- Glossary of Useful Terms, from the Massachussets Dept. of Education's System for Adult Basic Education (SABES).
- Local Lexicon of Assessment Terms, from California State University, Fresno.
- Learning Outcomes Assessment Glossary, from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
- Strategic Outcomes Assessment Review and Report: Key Terms, from Tidewater Community College.
- Unit-Level Effectiveness Assessment Documentation Terms, from Austin Community College (pdf file).
Grades as outcomes assessment
- "We already give grades. Isn't that enough?" The issue's addressed in:
Graduate program assessment
- Some of the individual institutions' assessment-related pages (below) include include assessment plans and processes for graduate programs.
- Assessment and Review of Graduate Programs: A policy statement. From the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS). (Not available online. To order the policy statement, select CGS Publications / Online Bookstore, then New Releases.)
- Conference presentations on graduate-program assessment
Graduate training in outcomes assessment
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see the September 2008 thread Doctoral programs emphasizing assessment in high ed, initiated by Pat Williams.
- Boston College, Lynch School of Education doctoral program in educational research, measurement, and evaluation.
- James Madison University graduate programs in assessment & measurement.
- San Diego State University certificate program in institutional research, planning, and assessment.
- University of Connecticut, Neag School of Education graduate programs in measurement, evaluation, and assessment.
- University of Maryland, Department of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation graduate degree & certificate programs.
Impact of assessment
- Engineering Change: ABET study of how EC2000 standards and assessment requirements affect Engineering programs and students (pdf file).
- The Results are In: How NCATE's standards and assessment requirements affect Education programs and students (pdf file).
- ASSESS discussion-list threads on this topic (see the list archive):
- October 2006 thread Resources on Impact of Assessment on Learning and Teaching, initiated by Sean McKitrick of Binghampton University.
- August 2007 threads Outcomes to the Assessment Process? initiated by Ken Weiner at Montgomery College, and Assessment in Higher Education contributed by Richard Hake.
- April 2008 threads Evidence of impact of student learning assessment? and Evidence of impact of student learning assessment, initiated by Lois Myers.
International Center for Student Success & Institutional Accountability (ICSSIA)
- Hosts communities of practice (online discussion lists) including the Practical Assessment Community of Practice.
- Current research projects include a searcheable database of information about (some) nationally-standardized surveys and tests.
- Resources:
- Still to come: Links to other assessment resources.
- In 2008 ICSSIA took over management of the annual International Assessment & Retention Conference.
Higher Education Resource Hub
- For assessment resources, select Higher Education Assessment.
Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)
- A project of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA.
- CIRP Surveys and Services: Information from and about nationally-standardized student surveys.
- CIRP Freshman Survey: profile of entering freshman class.
- CSS College Senior Survey: follow up of CIRP cohorts.
- YFCY Your First College Year
Institutional support for outcomes assessment
- Assessment directors' salaries
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, select January 2008 and scroll down to the thread Assessment salary survey. Thanks to Erin Frew, Matt Fuller, and Margie Hobbs for initiating and managing the survey. Erin's initial post has information about the survey and includes pdf tables of results.
- Institutional support for enhancing student assessment
- Research report from the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (Project 5.2). Includes
- a literature review,
- results from a national survey of colleges and universities, and
- a description of site-visit research.
- Note: The project is no longer active.
- The Assessment "handbooks" section includes rubrics and suggestions that can help evaluate your institution's assessment practices.
- Staffing assessment
- See the ASSESS discussion-list threads on assessment committees.
- Should there be a central "assessment office?" In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see the:
- April 1998 thread Coordinating Assessment, initiated by Kafkaz.
- January 2008 thread program assessment coordinators, initiated by Mary Kropiewnicki.
- How large should an assessment office be? In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see:
- The November 2006 thread Information about assessment office personnel compared to university size, initiated by Ray Van Dyke.
- The September 2008 thread One-person assessment operations, initiated by Pat Williams.
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see the June 2008 thread IR and Assessment Office Organizational Structure Question, initiated by Kevork Horissian.
- What qualifications should an assessment director have? In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see:
- The January 2008 thread Fwd: RE: Salary survey, directors of assessment. Start with Stephen Maack's January 25th post.
- The June 2008 thread Qualities of an effective assessment coordinator, initiated by Linda Suskie, and the associated threads Fw: Qualities of an effective assessment coordinator, FW: [ASSESS:] Qualities of an effective assessment coordinator, and Where to look for good Director of Assessment candidates.
- Survey of Assessment Practices in Higher Education
- From Primary Research Group, Inc.
- Benchmarking study with information from 80+ colleges & universities on institutional support for assessment, plus methods and impacts.
- Print and PDF versions of this report are very expensive.
- Survey of institutions' support for outcomes assessment
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see the February 2008 thread Culture of assessment survey results. The initial post by Abdou Ndoye includes a pdf file of results.
- The call for survey responses was in the January 2008 thread Culture of assessment survey.
Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment
- Review of the literature on assessing learning, from the National Research Council's Committee on the Foundations of Assessment.
- K-12 as well as higher-education assessment. Published in 2001.
- How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School is a related review of cognitive science and the biology of learning, from the NRC's Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning and the Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice. Published in 2000.
- Note: Both books can be read online.
League for Innovation in the Community College: 21st Century Learning Outcomes Project
- Information about a multi-institution project to define and document student learning outcomes.
- Links to participating institutions' project websites and to other resources. The project is no longer active, but some of the institutions' websites are still available.
Measuring Up: State-by-state "report card" for higher education
- From the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
- All states received "grades" of Incomplete for what we know about student learning as a result of education and training beyond high school. Current data do not allow meaningful state-by-state comparisons.
National Assessment Governing Board
- Information about the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). These are assessments of students in grades 4, 8, and 12, not of college students. Relevant to assessment in higher education as illustration of a current national model for assessing student learning.
- The NCES site " The Nation's Report Card" has details about and reports from NAEP assessments in various subject areas.
- The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) compares U.S. 4th & 8th graders with students from other countries.
The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) page has information about publications and services for assessment and other higher-education areas.
- Assessing Assessment: Successes, Failures, and the Future overviews the state of higher education outcomes assessment (this pdf file will open in a separate window). Presentation by Peter Ewell, NCHEMS vice-president, at the 2007 IUPUI Assessment Institute. Ewell's chapter An emerging scholarship: A brief history of assessment has details and references (in Banta, T.W. & Assoc. [2002], Building a scholarship of assessment. Jossey-Bass).
- NCHEMS' Information Center provides state-by-state comparisons of data related to higher-education issues. Some are outcomes assessment data, most are not.
The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) page at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies has mostly K-12 material, including papers, technical reports, and links to related sites.
National Community College Benchmark Project
- Participating institutions can compare outcomes results with those of other participants. The data are not available to non-participants.
- The site includes:
- A description of the project and the benchmarks used. Some of the benchmarks are outcomes assessment results, some are other institutional-research data.
- An example of the report that is prepared for each institution.
- A list of participating institutions and information about enrolling in the project.
National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC)
- A project of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
- NPEC student outcomes projects focus on assessment policy, methods, coordination, and/or data use. pdf files of papers from some projects are available.
- Definitions and assessment methods for various general-education areas.
- Answers (Accessing National Surveys With Electronic Research Sources)
- Online tools for information about national datasets of institutional data (IPEDS, etc.). What surveys are there? What do they ask? How are standard variables defined? Etc.
- Annotated bibliographies on developing surveys and on using national datasets.
National Study of Living-Learning Programs
- Information about this project on the effectiveness of living-learning programs, and results from completed studies.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
Nationally Standardized Instruments
- A Culture of Evidence: Critical Features of Assessments for Postsecondary Student Learning, from ETS (pdf file). Information about (some) instruments for general education skills, major-field assessment, student engagement, and "soft" (noncognitive) skills. Includes both ETS and other providers' instruments.
- Inventory of Higher Education Assessment Instruments, from the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI) and the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research (SIHER). Information about instruments for institutional effectiveness, basic skills (general education), affective development, and major-field assessment.
- ICSSIA Assessment Instrument Project: Searcheable database of information about (some) nationally-standardized surveys and tests. The executive summary (pdf file) has additional information about each instrument.
- Measuring Quality: Choosing Among Surveys and Other Assessments of College Quality (pdf file). Describes and compares nationally standardized assessment instruments.
- NPEC Sourcebooks on Assessment include definitions, information about tests and other instruments. Volumes, available as pdf files, include Definitions and Assessment Methods for:
- Notes:
- Instrument names and details have changed since some of these reports were published. E.g., ETS' Academic Profile is now the MAPP (Measure of Academic Progress & Proficiency) and HERI's College Student Survey is now the College Senior Survey. If the reports' links don't forward you to the latest versions, search the publishers' sites.
- Instruments too recent to be included in these reports include:
Online Discussion Lists
- Subscribing to email discussion lists
- Send an email message to the listserver for the list to which you want to subscribe. The message should say
subscribe list-name your-first-name your-last-name
(e.g.: subscribe assess John Smith)
and have nothing in the Subject: line and no "signature" at the bottom. - After you've subscribed, send the one-word message
help
to get a list of commands you can use to suspend mail while you're on vacation, unsubscribe from the list, etc.
- ASSESS
- Topic: assessment in higher education.
- Listserver: listserv@lsv.uky.edu (University of Kentucky-Lexington).
- The searcheable archive also has an online form you can use to join the list.
- COMFO (College Outcomes Measurement Forum Online)
- EVALTALK
- Topic: Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. Many threads relevant to outcomes assessment.
- From the American Evaluation Association.
- Lots of traffic. To avoid clogging your inbox, have your email program automatically put Evaltalk messages into a separate folder/mailbox.
- Listserver: listserv@ua1vm.ua.edu (University of Alabama)
- The searcheable archive also has an online form you can use to join the list. You must be a list member to search the archive.
- FYA-List
- Practical Assessment COP (Community of Practice)
- This was an AAHE COP. AAHE's website is no longer available. Thanks to Bob Mundhenk, Ray Somera, Ruth Andes, and the folks at Bakersfield College for reviving Practical Assessment.
- In July 2007, ICSSIA began hosting Practical Assessment.
- Go to Communities of Practice, log in, and select the Practical Assessment Community of Practice.
- There's a signup procedure for new participants' login.
- ASSESS-W
- PORTFOLIO-L
- Assessment in Higher Education's page of discussion lists has information about other assessment-related lists. So does the Higher Education Resource Hub 's list of assessment resources (select Higher Education Assessment from the menu at the left side of the Hub's home page and scroll down to Assessment Electronic Discussion Lists).
Portfolio Assessment
- Extensive list of links to information about alternative assessment and electronic portfolios, from Helen Barrett at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.
- Catalyst Portfolio Project Builder, from the University of Washington.
- Diagnostic Digital Portfolio at Alverno College. Enter and Demo are restricted to Alverno students, faculty, & staff.
- Elon University student portfolios. Information for students, with online examples of various types of portfolios.
- Epsilen ePortfolio, from Bowling Green State University.
- Günter Krumme in the University of Washington Geography Department has posted information about learning portfolios at UW, in the department, and at other institutions.
- Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research campus-based research projects on whether & how the use of portfolios affects student learning.
- Kalamazoo College web-based portfolio, including examples and links to Internet resources.
- myMAPP (Mapping Academic Performance through e-Portfolios), from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
- Open Source Portfolio (OSP), an open source software project coordinated with Sakai, an open source learning environment (course management system) project.
- The article mentioned in the University of Minnesota Electronic Portfolio entry, below, includes information about OSP (p. 9).
- Oral Roberts University's assessment page includes overviews and presentations about e-portfolios and handbooks for students about general education and some academic-discipline e-portfolios (pdf files and Word documents).
- University of Minnesota's Electronic Portfolio. Development of the University of Minnesota's ePortfolio system is described in the 2003 Educause article Electronic portfolios need standards to thrive (pdf file, requires Adobe Reader 5.0 or better).
- RosE Portfolio from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The demo and the student Help manual (pdf files) were not available when last checked.
- Truman State University portfolio project: FAQ, portfolio prompts, and portfolio guidelines for students and faculty.
- University of Denver Portfolio Community. Guest registration allows browsing.
- University of Minnesota Duluth ePortfolio. See the Quick Start Guide (pdf file), the Training Manual, and information about the open source version available for download.
- Commercial products to manage on-line portfolios
Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation
- On-line journal, since 1989.
- Search by title, author, descriptor, keyword.
Qualitative data analysis methods and tools
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive select September 2007 and scroll down to the thread Qualitative Data Analysis Question, initiated by Mitzi Lewis. In October 2007, scroll down to the thread Qualitative Data Analysis Question - Summary for Mitzi's summary of responses and some more discussion.
Service-learning and assessment
Software for web surveys
- Association for Survey Computing: Register of Software for Statistical and Social Survey Analysis: Well-annotated, easy to use listings from a regularly-updated database. Not limited to products for Web-based surveying. Start with the list of features, then go to "Data Capture" and then to "Web Interviewing."
- Online Assessment Tools: List compiled by Northern Arizona University Office of Academic Assessment.
- Includes links to other lists of online assessment tools.
- See the Student assessment of courses and faculty section, below, for additional notes on FAST (Free Assessment Summary Tool) and SALG (Student Assessment of Learning Gains).
- On-Line Survey Tools. Annotated list from ACPA's Commission on Assessment for Student Development. Select Commission Resources, then Assessment Instruments, then On-Line Survey Tools.
- Software and survey-hosting services not included in the lists above: (Some of these are from ASSESS posts by Renee Corbin at Western Carolina University and Lib Pruden at Union Institute. This is just a list. It's not exhaustive, and it doesn't imply a recommendation or evaluation.)
- Adaptex Assessment System, from James Madison University.
- AskAnywhere, from Senecio.
- Asset (Academic Survey System and Evaluation Tool, from the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Seton Hall University.
- CampusTools HigherEd and CampusWide from TK20 have survey tools as part of a system to gather and organize assessment information.
- Checkbox from Prezza Technologies has software for your own campus' servers as well as a hosted version.
- CoursEval, from Academic Management Systems, is designed for course, faculty, and peer evaluations but can also be used for other small surveys.
- Education Direction survey tools.
- eListen from Scantron.
- EvalTools from Makteam Software. The examples are for engineering programs doing outcomes assessment for ABET accreditation, but EvalTools surveys can be used for any academic program.
- Flashlight Online, from the TLT Group.
- LiveText Accreditation Management System includes a survey tool.
- PollCat. Free survey-creation, hosting, and summary reports for small surveys. There are fees for larger surveys, custom surveys, and detailed data.
- Survey Connect from DigitalMeasures.
- SurveyDIG, from Runner Technologies.
- SurveyTracker Plus Email/Web from Scantron handles online surveys as well as scannable forms.
- TestPilot, from ClearLearning.
- Vovici survey tools.
- WESS (Web-Enabled Survey System), from EBI.
- Also see Yahoo's current links on the topic. Some of these are survey software, some are survey-hosting services.
- The Web Corner column Using the Web for tests and surveys has links to survey software and hosting services.
- Some threads in the ASSESS discussion list archive have users' comments about web survey software or hosting services:
- December 2004 thread Question Web survey software, initiated by Ted Micceri.
- The October 2005 threads Online survey comparison matrix and Online survey hosts include Gavin Henning's Excel file of information and user comments (thanks for compiling this, Gavin!).
- July 2007 threads electronic survey and thanks, initiated by Elizabeth Pruden.
- The August 2007 threads Consultant for online survey and Consultant for online survey: Listserv feedback compiled, initiated by Brian Bogert.
- Online articles about Web-based surveying
SHEEO: State Higher Education Executive Officers
- National Commission on Accountability in Higher Education
- Project to review states' experience using accountability systems to improve higher education performance.
- Network News newsletter:
- Focus on Educational Accountability (April 2005). Recommendations include coordinated emphasis on learning outcomes and assessment. (pdf file)
- Focus on Assessment of Student Learning (January 2002). State and national perspectives on assessment. Links to web resources. (pdf file)
- Focus on Teacher Preparation (May 1999). Includes information on existing or proposed accreditation approaches, links to Web resources. (pdf file)
- Focus on Performance Management (February 1998). State performance indicators and performance-based funding initiatives. (Not online but available from SHEEO.)
Standards for Success
- AAU/Pew project to
- identify knowledge/skills for success in entry-level college/university courses and
- map correspondence between those standards and state high school assessments.
- Downloadable versions of
- the standards for general academic areas (English, math, social sciences, etc.).
- "Mixed Messages" report of initial research on the correspondence with high school assessments.
State and Regional Assessment Organizations
- New England Educational Assessment Network
- Information about NEEAN.
- Activities and events including information about Dialogues in the Disciplines workshops on assessment in specific academic disciplines. (Dialogues reports are available to NEEAN members.)
- New Mexico Higher Education Assessment Association
- Information about NMHEAA and statewide assessment conferences.
- Virginia Assessment Group
- About VAG.
- Conferences, workshops, and session handouts (pdf, Powerpoint, and Word files).
- Online journal Research & Practice in Assessment.
- Assessment-related employment notices from Virginia colleges & universities.
- Links to other assessment resources.
StudentTracker, from the National Student Clearinghouse
- Tracks students' enrollment across institutions, regardless of state and college/university-system boundaries.
- Approximately 3,000 institutions participate, ranging from community colleges to Ivy League doctoral/research-extensive universities.
- Only participating institutions have access to the Clearinghouse's services. The fee for Student Tracker depends on your institution's enrollment.
Tools to Help Organize Assessment Information
- ASSESS discussion-list threads on users' experience with assessment management software (see the list archive)
- February 2006 thread Assessment tracking systems, initiated by David Kale.
- August 2006 thread Assessment reporting software, initiated by Margie Hobbs. Margie's summary in the associated thread Assessment management software includes a Word document with information from a number of vendors (thanks, Margie).
- July 2008 thread Assessment management systems, initiated by Janine Vienna. Steve RiCharde's July 11 posts include a draft chapter on things to consider when selecting assessment management software (Word document) and a partial list of vendors (Excel file) -- thanks, Steve.
- Blackboard Outcomes System. Platform for assessment processes, information, and reports. Integrated with the Blackboard Academic Suite for course information, surveys, document and portfolio management, and user-community interaction.
- Digication's Assessment Management System for collecting and managing assessment information includes portfolio, rubric, and reporting tools.
- eLumen Achievement database for assessment processes, rubrics, results, and reports. Select How eLumen Achievement Models the Essential Process for annotated screen shots.
- CampusTools HigherEd and CampusWide from Tk20 include tools for electronic portfolios and online surveys.
- FASI-Online assessment documentation system.
- Institutional Effectiveness Associates offer guidebooks, workshops, and organizing worksheets.
- iSocrates system for rubric-based grading and student feedback on individual assignments. For program or cross-program assessment, data can be exported to spreadsheets or class management systems for aggregation. Registered users can share rubrics they've generated for specific tasks or assignments. Note: Opening the website automatically starts an audio-visual product demonstration. You can turn it off by scrolling down and clicking the "Stop" button.
- LiveText Accreditation Management System for collecting data and organizing outcomes, rubrics, results, etc.
- myMAPP (Mapping Academic Performance through e-Portfolios), from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
- OATS (Online Assessment Tracking System) and SODS (SACS Online Documentation System) from Georgia Institute of Technology's Office of Assessment. Both programs are available for download by other institutions. An OATS user guide (pdf file) and a SODS demo are available.
- openIGOR: A free Linux-based open-source program to manage information about program outcomes and assessment-related documents. From Coker College.
- PASS-PORT, from Innovative Learning Assessment Technologies. Includes versions specialized for business program, nursing program, and teacher-education program accreditation management.
- rGrade, from Educational Informatics.
- STEPS for Assessment: System to collect data and organize & report outcomes, rubrics, results, etc.
- TaskStream's Accountability Management System, competency assessment, and resource/communications management tools.
- The Teacher Education Assessment System (TEAS), the Education Program Identification Framework (EPIF), and the CEA-Candidate Tracking (CEA-CAT), from the Center for Education Assessment, facilitate NCATE and state-level education accreditation reviews. They can also be used to organize program assessment information in other academic areas. Select Software.
- ThinkTank, from GroupSystems, facilitates collaboration and records and stores information from assessment group meetings.
- TracDat database for assessment processes, information, and reports. From Nuventive .
- TrueOutcomes Assessment Manager keeps track of course-level learning outcomes and can create a course*outcomes matrix.
- Waypoint Outcomes keeps track of assignment-level outcomes within and across courses. From Subjective Metrics. Note: this site disables your browser's (B)ack button.
- WEAVEonline database for assessment processes, information, and reports. Originally developed at Virginia Commonwealth University.
- WIDS (Worldwide Instructional Design System) curriculum-design software includes tools to monitor outcomes and associated rubrics and results. Select Products, then Read more... about Software.
TRIADS: Assessment of Learning Outcomes
- TRIpartate Assessment Delivery System: A joint project of the University of Liverpool, the University of Derby, and the Open University.
- TRIADS Engine: authorware for developing online assessments.
- Sample learning outcomes (for earth science programs).
- TRIADS activities and implementations.
VaNTH ERC Assessment & Evaluation Projects
- VaNTH ERC: an engineering research center in bioengineering and learning sciences, from Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, the University of Texas at Austin and the Health Science and Technology Program of Harvard and MIT.
- The Research / Thrusts in assessment & evaluation, learning technology, and learning science have information about projects that link assessment with knowledge about how people learn.
Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
- College Portrait: Definitions and web-reporting template for college/university characteristics including retention & progress rates, general-education learning outcomes, and student experiences and engagement.
- Innovations include reporting cross-institutional retention/progress, based on National Student Clearinghouse data, and common reporting formats for results from specific sets of standardized tests and surveys.
- Individual institutions' data (pdf files) are available at the College Portrait site. Search for Colleges by name or state.
- A joint project of AASCU and NASULGC. Currently, only member institutions may participate.
What is "Good" Assessment? A Synthesis of Principles of Good Practice (pdf file)
- Five dimensions of good assessment practice, summarized from national organizations and assessment experts. With references to and summaries of the sources.
- From Linda Suskie at MSA-CHE.
What Outcomes Assessment Misses
- From TLT Group's Flashlight program, so it focuses on assessment about technology -- but the general points apply to any assessment project.
Return to the index
How to develop a campus or departmental assessment process
- Administrative Unit Assessment Handbook (University of Central Florida, pdf file).
- A Guide for Faculty and Programs, (Northern Arizona University, pdf file)
- An Assessment Primer: A Guide to Conducting Assessment Projects (Metropolitan Community College, pdf file).
- As Easy as Apple Pie: A Baker's Guide to Assessment Plan Development (Georgia Institute of Technology)
- Assessing the Effectiveness of Instructional Units and Assessing the Effectiveness of Non-Instructional Support Offices (Austin Community College, pdf files).
- Assessment 101 (Swarthmore College, pdf file)
- Assessment and Quality Enhancement for Institutional Effectiveness at TCU, from Texas Christian University (pdf file)
- Assessment: An Institution-Wide Process to Improve and Support Student Learning (College of DuPage, pdf file)
- Assessment CyberGuide for Learning Goals & Outcomes in the Undergraduate Psychology Major (American Psychological Association)
- Assessment for people who don't have enough time to do assessment workshop (Concordia College)
- Assessment for Student Learning Handbook (Columbus State Community College, pdf file)
- Assessment Guide (access this guide from the Assessment Coordinators' section of the University of Virginia's Assessment site; the pdf file opens in a separate PDF-reader window)
- Assessment guides for Academic Units and Administrative and Academic Support Units (The American University in Cairo, pdf files)
- Assessment Guidebook for Departments (Bridgewater State College)
- Assessment Handbook (Division of Student Services, Metropolitan State College of Denver; pdf file)
- Assessment Handbook (Indiana University Southeast; individual chapters are pdf files)
- Assessment Handbook (Morningside College). Chapters are individual pdf files.
- Assessment Handbook (Indiana State University, pdf files)
- Assessment Handbook (Paradise Valley Community College; scroll down to menu of handbook chapters [pdf files])
- Assessment Handbook (Skidmore College)
- Assessment Handbook (University of Michigan College of Engineering)
- Assessment Handbooks: Core Courses and General Education and Degree Programs (University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
- Assessment Options: Methods of Collecting Evidence (Arkansas Tech University, pdf file)
- Assessment Primer (University of Connecticut). To see the whole handbook, click Start Here and follow the Next Page links at the bottom of each page. Some pages include links to more detailed pdf documents.
- Assessment Process Handbook (Indiana Wesleyan University, pdf file)
- Assessment Workbook (Ball State University, pdf files)
- Assessment Workbook (CSU Stanislaus, pdf file)
- A Field-Tested Learning Assessment Guide (FLAG) for Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology Faculty
- Busy Chairperson's Guide to Assessment (Southeast Missouri State Univ.)
- Course-based Review and Assessment and Program-Based Review and Assessment (University of Massachusetts Amherst, pdf files)
- Creating an Effective Assessment Plan for the Sociology Major (pdf file). From the American Sociological Association. Examples may emphasize sociology programs, but this is a general handbook with information useful to any program.
- Developing Academic Program Assessment Plans (Western Kentucky University)
- Effectiveness Planning Manual (Coker College, Word document)
- FAQ from the University of Texas System includes many common questions about jargon, how assessing a program is different from other assessment that faculty do, etc.
- Search the FYA-List archive for essays by Marc Chun that use pop culture to illuminate common issues in developing and implementing assessment programs. Also see Marc's 2002 article Looking where the light is better: A review of the literature on assessing higher education quality.
- Guide to Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (Diablo Valley College)
- Guide to Best Practices for Academic Program Analysis and Improvement (Middle Tennessee State University)
- Guide to Outcomes Assessment (San Jose State University, pdf file)
- Guide to Student Outcomes Assessment (California State University, Fresno)
- Guidelines for the Assessment of Learning Outcomes (Arizona State University, pdf file)
- Handbook for Faculty Program Assessment (Oklahoma City Community College, pdf file)
- Handbooks for Program Assessment in Academic Units and Administrative/Educational Support Units (Western Carolina University, pdf file)
- Learning Outcomes Assessment Planning Guide (California Polytechnic State University)
- Managing a Program of Outcomes Assessment. A workshop presented by Fred Volkwein at the 1998 Association for Institutional Research annual forum.
- Manual: Assessment as Scholarship and Learning (Norfolk State University. Note: This pdf file is very large [20MB] and takes a long time to load. The title page looks "landscape" but the text pages are in "portrait" format so you don't have to rotate the view.)
- Missouri Assessment Consortium Handbook
- Practitioner's Manual (Texas A&M International University, pdf file)
- Program Assessment Handbook (University of Central Florida, pdf file)
- SAAC Made Easy (Student Academic Achievement Committee guidebook for course-level assessment, Estrella Mountain Community College; pdf file)
- Six Steps to Continuous Improvement of Student Learning (Kent State University).
- Student Learning Outcomes Assessment Handbook with a " Cliff Notes" quick overview (Montgomery College, pdf files)
- Teaching & Learning Resources: Assessment & Outcomes (Western Washington University)
- Tools and Techniques for Program Improvement and for Course Improvement (Western Washington University, pdf files, adapted from the University of Massachussetts at Amherst handbooks.)
- UW-Madison Assessment Manual (Univ. of Wisconson-Madison)
- Unit Effectiveness Process Assessment Handbook (University of Texas at Arlington, pdf file; if you use the Firefox browser you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0 or higher to load this file properly)
- WEAVE Quality Enhancement Guide (Virginia Commonwealth University; pdf file)
- Writing Student Learning Assessment Reports (American Public University System)
Evaluating your institution's assessment practices
Experienced practitioners' advice for new assessment directors
- In the ASSESS discussion-list archive, see the August and September 2008 threads Seeking advice... (August) and Seeking your advice (September), initiated by Jonathan Keiser.
Many of the individual institutions' assessment-related pages (below) have good "how to do it" tips.
Return to the index
Many of the individual institutions' assessment-related pages (below) include discipline-specific assessment plans. Also see the examples by specific disciplines in Bucknell University's, Florida Atlantic University's, Marquette University's, Skidmore College's, the University at Albany's, the University of North Carolina-Greensboro's and the University of South Carolina Aiken's lists of assessment resources. (You may need to scroll down on some of these pages to get to the resources by discipline.)
Nationally-standardized assessments of undergraduate majors
Career Readiness Certificate- WorkKeys-based evaluations of key workplace skills (locating information, reading for information, & applied math).
- See The CRC Consortium for information about states and community-college systems using the CRC.
Industrial Training Skills Assessment Tool- Online multiple-choice tests for a variety of industrial skills, for self-evaluation or use by employers or training programs.
- Can also be used to develop your own online assessments.
- From the Business Industrial Network.
READI: Readiness for Education at a Distance Indicator
- Evaluate skills, knowledge, & characteristics associated with success in online learning.
Self Assessment of Graduate Capabilities
- From Griffith University (Queensland, Australia).
- Helps students evaluate their development of general skills needed for graduate study.
- Teaching tools to foster development of these skills.
Assessing general education knowledge and skill areas
Business/Management
Chemistry - The American Chemical Society's Chem Ed exams in various subareas.
Economics
Engineering
Geography
- G-LOOP: University of Washington's Geography Learning Objectives and Outcomes Project.
Health Sciences
- EBI's surveys for assessing nursing programs.
Information Literacy: see general education, above.
Languages
- American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
- Under Professional Development, select Certified Proficiency Testing Programs for information about ACTFL's programs for testing language competencies.
- Under Publications, see the Proficiency Guidelines and the executive summary of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning for details of ACFTL's competency standards.
- Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
- For comparing language-competency standards across national education systems.
- From the Council of Europe's Directorate of Education.
Mathematics: see STEM disciplines, below.
Psychology
Sociology
STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics)
- Assessment of Student Learning in College Mathematics: Towards Improved Programs and Courses, published jointly by AIR and MAA. Part of a new AIR series on assessment in the disciplines.
- Assessment in Mathematics Teaching
- Focus is K-12 but some information, methods, references/links appropriate for college-level courses.
- From The Math Forum at Drexel University.
- See Engineering, above.
- Evaluating and Improving Undergraduate Teaching in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
- Literature review from the National Research Council's Committee on Recognizing, Evaluating, Rewarding, and Developing Excellence in Teaching of Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology.
- Scientific Abilities Project
- From Rutgers University's Physics and Astronomy Education Research group.
- Assessment tasks, rubrics for assessing scientific abilities, and presentations on assessment of scientific abilities
(pdf files).
- State Council of Higher Education for Virginia reports for each Virginia public institution include assessment of undergraduate competency in quantitative and scientific reasoning and technology.
- Supporting Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics (SAUM)
- Guidelines for assessment of student learning, from the Mathematical Association of America's Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics, Subcommittee on Assessment.
- Articles and case studies (pdf files).
- SAUM Bibliography has links to web resources and a bibliography of print resources. There's also a page of general Assessment links and one of links for Getting started in assessment.
- FAQ about assessment.
- A project of the Mathematical Association of America.
Teacher Education
- CEA's Teacher Education Assessment System (TEAS) and Education Program Identification Framework (EPIF). Select Software.
- EBI's surveys for assessing teacher education programs.
- ETS's PRAXIS exam.
- TEDS-M is an international study of teacher education in mathematics, from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement ( IEA) consortium of universities.
Technology-assisted teaching & learning
Return to the index
Alabama State Univ., College of Business Administration
- Description of COBA's Student Outcome Assessment Program (SOAP).
Alpena Community College: Student Outcomes & Assessment Committee (Michigan)
- ACC assessment plan (pdf file), including core (general education) competencies and an overview of college-wide, department, and course assessment processes.
- Department assessment plans and guidelines for course-level assessment (pdf files).
- Assessment committee minutes (pdf files).
Alverno College: Educational Research and Evaluation (Wisconsin)
- The Learning Outcomes Studies site map is useful. See especially:
- FAQ.
- Student assessment as learning at Alverno:
- Assessment Essentials: definitions, principles, difference between student-assessment-as-learning and institution/program assessment.
- Self-assessment, including diagnostic digital portfolio and comments from students, external assessors, and faculty
- Related publications and workshops.
- There's also a brief summary of Alverno's student assessment-as-learning approach..
- Web-based Diagnostic Digital Portfolio. Enter and Demo are restricted to Alverno students, faculty, & staff.
- For context, see general information about Alverno's ability-based curriculum.