When faculty and the community can see the data about student learning and discover what and how students are learning, they experience a transformational moment. Faculty often see critical thinking, for example, as an important goal in honors, but educators need to explain how, where, and when it is taught directly; how students have learned it;…

This chapter explores how students' interactions with student affairs professionals influence college outcomes with a particular focus on applying findings to student affairs practice.

The Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) is the principal institutional accountability and improvement framework for community colleges with measures defined to encompass the full breadth of the community college mission and the diversity of students' goals and educational experiences. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)…

The assessment of student learning outcomes in the tertiary school sector has seen an increase in global popularity in recent years. Measurement instruments that target higher order skills are on the rise, whereas assessments that foster the recall of factual knowledge are declining. The Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO)…

In the 2013-14 academic year, 46 percent of students who completed a degree at a four-year institution were enrolled at a two-year institution at some point in the previous 10 years. This is a one percentage point increase over the comparable figure for degrees awarded in 2010-11. The prior two-year enrollment may have been brief (as little as a…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Capstone Assessment as Faculty Development (Rowanna L. Carpenter, Seanna M. Kerrigan, and Vicki L. Reitenauer); (2) Using a Doctoral Program Entrance Assessment: Reflections on a Pilot Program and the Admissions Process (Robyne Elder); (3) Highlights of the 2018 HEDS…

This article explores the organizational impediments and facilitators that influence the implementation of student learning outcomes assessment (SLOA). This review points to the importance of culture, leadership, and organizational policies to the implementation of SLOA. However, we need to approach research differently, both conceptually and…

In the United States, Master of Public Administration Program (MPA) accreditations come through fulfilling the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and administration (NASPAA) accreditation standards. In 2009, NASPAA made some significant revisions to its accreditation standards. One of the major revisions is the requirement for programs…

Possible lack of motivation is a perpetual concern when tests have no stakes attached to performance. Specifically, the validity of test score interpretations may be compromised when examinees are unmotivated to exert their best efforts. Motivation filtering, a procedure that filters out apparently unmotivated examinees, was applied to the…

Proficiency with written communication (WC) is critical for success in college and careers. As a result, institutions face a growing challenge to accurately evaluate their students' writing skills to obtain data that can support demands of accreditation, accountability, or curricular improvement. Many current standardized measures, however, lack…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the desired employability skills of business graduates in Syria from the perspective of both higher education policymakers and employers in the private sector. Design/Methodology/Approach: Interviews were conducted with 12 higher education policymakers and managers from the business sector. Content…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of specific learning outcomes in an undergraduate commerce degree in a large research-intensive university in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: It uses data collected from assurance of learning activities as part of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business…

Community colleges serve more students than any other institutional type in the United States, and internationalization is an inherent component of community colleges that advances student knowledge, facilitates student success, and serves the needs of local communities. As most community college students do not enroll in four-year institutions,…

Recognizing that post-secondary student attainment and achievement is of increasing import for economic success, this study compares the post-secondary performance of students who attended public and private high schools. The results generally indicate that students who attended Catholic high schools had higher college grade-point averages (GPAs),…

Changes in the nature of higher education are leading towards increased interest in the assessment of student learning. This study considers an attempt to apply value-added models for the purposes of comparing student learning across institutions, taking care to discuss special considerations inherent to the application of these models to higher…