Worldwide, economic and other factors are pressing institutions of higher education to assess student learning to insure that graduates acquire the skills and competencies demanded in the 21st century. This paper summarises the status of undergraduate student learning outcomes assessment at accredited colleges and universities in the United…

Heightened national goals for degree attainment in the United States means increasing prominence for community colleges, which entails greater scrutiny in the form of accountability. Technology and a new generation of accountability measures appropriate to the distinctive community college mission are available to meet this challenge. This article…

In the wake of the Spellings Commission, critical choices need to be made about how to refashion institutional assessment practices to respond to new accountability demands, without destroying the essence of accountability as a process of continuous improvement. This article begins with a brief description of the history of assessment, with…

The results of visits by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems to Arizona's three public universities to observe the status of institutional effort to assess the quality of undergraduate education are presented as a working paper in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and…

This book analyzes and discusses what is currently known about the benefits and costs of assessment programs for institutions of higher education. It is designed to provide a framework that can be applied by both institutional and state-level academic administrators as they consider which kinds of assessment approaches best fit their own needs and…

The characteristics of an effective program review, and the different ways in which a program review can go wrong, are discussed. The three characteristics of an effective program review are that it is systematic, regular, and comprehensive. The dimensions of each of these characteristics are discussed, as is the "art" of program review, a process…

Total Quality Management (TQM) and assessment in higher education both focus on processes to improve educational quality, and both require upper-level leadership's commitment. Guided by the proven principles of TQM, assessment can help institutions develop a mechanism for responding in advance to the challenges ahead. (MSE)

The thrust of most state initiatives is to encourage higher education institutions to undertake their own local assessment. Two kinds of state-wide testing are emerging: (1) basic skills assessment of entering students for access, placement, and remediation, and (2) testing to improve the curriculum. (MLW)