General Assessment

Assessment is an integral part of the academic programs and student service units within the College of Education, Health and Human Services.

What is assessment?

Assessment is a four-stage process used in quality maintenance and continuous improvement of our academic programs and administrative operations. It involves formally establishing/selecting desired goals (outcomes or standards), working to achieve those goals, measuring the degree to which the disired goals were achieved, and then using the results to inform future planning and actions. Additionally, assessment data may used in reporting for accreditation and for program review by various regulatory bodies.  By engaging in assessment activities, we center continuous improvement of our teaching, courses, degrees, and operations.

The EHHS Assessment & Accreditation office is available to academic programs and administrative units in the College for assistance with any element in the assessment process.  This includes:

  • Mission statement development
  • Learning/operational outcome construction
  • Assignment/assessment instrument development
  • Measurement tool creation (including rubrics)
  • Curriculum mapping (at the program and course level)
  • And more.

Program Assessment

Annually, academic programs submit an assessment report through the university's Accreditation Management System.  These reports are due September 30th of each year (about the prior academic year) and contain the program's mission statement, learning outcomes, methods used to measure learning toward the outcomes, findings, and (optionally) action plans. Program assessment reports speak to the academic degree program(s) as a whole. This reporting process is managed by the Office of Accreditation, Assessment and Learning as part of the University's accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission.

Student Learning Assessment

Student learning assessment is a form of assessment that takes place within individual course sections or across sections of a particular course.  It can be either formative (a check for understanding during a learning experience) or summative (taking place at the conclusion of a learning experience).  Instructors use student learning assessment to better understand what their students have learned and then use that information to make adjustments to future lessons or offerings of the course. Programs with discipline-specific accreditation or that lead to licensure often use assessment data to demonstrate student learning and competency toward various state and national standards of their respective profession.

Student Services & Administrative Unit Assessment

Student services and administrative units within the College of Education, Health and Human Services are encouraged to engage in assessment activities appropriate to their function to enhance operations, efficiency, and service.