Assessment has become increasingly integral to college and university accreditation. While formal assessment has become more of a responsibility for instructors as related to their individual classes and assignments, program assessment is also at the center of these conversations. However, few guidelines and resources are being shared with regard…

This article investigates the increasing prominence of intercultural and global skills assessment in study abroad administration and pedagogy, and how it influences the practice of international education and the roles it plays in the administrative spaces of U.S. higher education. Drawing on a series of interviews with administrators, faculty…

Learning outcomes within the context of assessing general education competencies have gained increasing attention within higher education. Accrediting bodies have increased standards for the assessment of general education competencies, employers continue to indicate graduates from higher education institutions are not prepared for success in the…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Promoting Faculty Engagement in Assessment: Relatively Simple Ideas (Elizabeth E. Smith and Sarah R. Gordon); (2) Comparing Trends in Graduate Assessment: Face to Face vs. Online Learning (Lesley Page and Mike Cherry); (3) Assessing Information Literacy on a Regional…

Standards-based assessment rubrics are recognised as an important tool for ensuring clear criteria in higher education. Most of the available evidence on rubrics comes from studies with face-to-face undergraduate students. Our study evaluated the introduction of rubrics into a postgraduate subject that included both online and face-to-face…

As an educator, the author has been drawn to rubrics at times and repelled at other times. After working with students at various levels for many years, she has come to learn the value of rubrics that are well-crafted. A well-crafted rubric is difficult to create, and it might be easier to dismiss the entire notion of rubrics than to devote the…

The PULSE Vision & Change Rubrics, version 1.0, assess life sciences departments' progress toward implementation of the principles of the "Vision and Change report." This paper reports on the development of the rubrics, their validation, and their reliability in measuring departmental change aligned with the "Vision and…

One of the major goals of any physical education teacher education (PETE) program is to adequately prepare preservice teachers to provide quality physical education instruction. Assessment is vital for the success of any program and should be completed on a regular basis. Borrowing from a successful tool in community health practice, the use of…

When assessing an entire academic program, there are various possibilities; most require students to reflect holistically on knowledge learned. Final presentations, internships, theses, and dissertations all require the students to recall the entirety of their learning experience. These are more traditional ways to assess the student as well as…

Within a Response to Intervention (RtI) framework, Tier 1 instruction requires the selection of research-based core curricula. However, many educators and administrators are not aware of high-quality core writing curricula. The authors assembled a rubric to assist schools in evaluating core writing curricula for Grades 3-5. Rubric components…

Writing is complex, and assessment of writing is equally complex, particularly when considering the need to measure outcomes at the institutional level while providing meaningful data that informs curriculum reform and supports learning at the discipline-level. Using a multi-layered assessment that incorporates standardized measures of writing…

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the Reading Apprenticeship professional development program on several teacher and student outcomes, including effects on student learning. A key part of the study was the use of an enhanced performance assessment program, the Integrated Learning Assessment (ILA), to measure student…

Distance writing programs still struggle with assessment strategies that can evaluate student writing as well as their ability to communicate about that writing with peers at a distance. This article uses Kim, Smith and Maeng's 2008 distance education program assessment scheme to evaluate a single distance writing program at Old Dominion…

This paper critically reviews the empirical research on the use of rubrics at the post-secondary level, identifies gaps in the literature and proposes areas in need of research. Studies of rubrics in higher education have been undertaken in a wide range of disciplines and for multiple purposes, including increasing student achievement, improving…

The accreditation process is typically complicated and time consuming. A current trend in higher education has been for units, programs, and institutions to use Internet-based commercial assessment products to simplify this process. The integration of an online-assessment product as a means to monitor and verify student learning within a formal…