Higher Education Assessment
Assessment Plan
For higher education professionals, the aptitude to integrating evaluations and assessments into everyday practices is developing into a need (Schuh, Jones, & Harper, 2011). This new and sometimes unfamiliar charge is changing the way higher education institutions are holding themselves and their faculty accountable. Today, across all academic programs, many different methods are being used for assessments, however, the responsibility falls on the institutions and its leaders to develop new strategies for developing effective and accurate program assessment that will truly assess programs and deliver useful and proper outcomes (Kopera-Frye, Hilton, & Cavote, 2003). Only then can an effective evaluation be crafted. The following paper will illustrate a current assessment that is being used for a family counseling program at Francis Marion University. In addition, this paper will discuss the type of assessment and evaluation used, how the data was collected, and how the results are shared wit stakeholders.
Francis Marion University utilizes many different types of assessments in order to evaluate their current programs. Needs assessments are conducted for different areas of study in order to determine if there is a need for a new
…show more content…
If a program is not producing viable knowledge and skills to students, it may not be worth its standing. The main goal of all higher education institutions is to graduate students with the proper knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the working world. If a program is not contributing to this factor, then I believe it needs to be removed. The evaluation will help determine this factor. When the knowledge is weighed based on the criteria, that knowledge should be able to critique, recommend, and conclude the proper outcome of any program that is being used to teach
There are a variety of ways counselors can use assessment in counseling. According to Whiston counselors use (2017) assessments as a tool used to measure people behavior. Assessments can be informal and formal (Laureate, 2013). One significant part of assessments is to evaluate progress between the client and counselor.
The purpose of this paper is to examine various instruments utilized to provide counselors with the most accurate assessment in family, couple and individual counseling. Nonetheless, this paper will also explore the interventions that are most appropriate for this case study. As it will further bring a better sense of awareness to the techniques used in family assessments.
The program audit, provided by the American School Counselor Association, serves to set the standard for the school counseling program. The program assessment aligns with the four components of the ASCA National Model and serves as an instrument for analyzing each component (ASCA, 2012). By using all the components of the audit, strengths and areas of improvement of the programs are determined and goals for the following year are created (ASCA, 2005).
Hood, A.B., & Johnson, R.W. (2007). Assessment in Counseling: A guide to the use of psychological assessment procedures (4th ed.). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
The topic of assessment alone raises many debated discussions, among teachers, and to add Special Education students into the polemical dialogue intensifies the debate. As a result, there are several alternative methods in assessing Special Education students within the learning environment. Professionals have created specifically designated techniques in helping these and all students achieve academic success.
The district is now making all teachers use an assessment tool called iReady. It is a website that assesses students in math and reading. They are first tested on a kindergarten through fifth grade range to find out what they know. Then the program takes that score and determines the right level for the child and they are tested again on the level. Once all students have been assessed the program orders the students from highest to lowest and by average grade level skill they are on: early second grade, middle second grade, late second grade or any other grade. The teacher uses those scores to create her reading groups, math groups and the students she will give extra assistance to. They haven’t officially established how many times and when they will do this iReady assessment but for now they are doing it once a week for forty five minutes. The test also flags if they spent too long or too little time on a question. The ones that spent less than 15 seconds per problem are to go back and do the assessment again.
The 21st Century Educator is inundated with a plethora of assessments which dominate the education landscape from one side to the other. Whether one is assessing formatively or summatively, educators are evaluating on a weekly basis. In fact, in Citrus County, students take a reading comprehension test called Fast Bridge three times a year, which helps them see their potential college readiness skills and what improvements they need to work on. They also take a District created assessment twice a year, which consists of 9 grade level passages that they must take over a 2-month period time. This test focuses mainly on all of the standards that our students will be tested on in the Spring FSA. Not to mention, the formative assessments given on a
Examining outcomes-based educational evaluation through a critical theory lens. New Directions For Evaluation, (127), 59-69.
Kaufman, Roger, and Mayer, Hanna, and Rojas, Alicia M. Needs Assessment: A User’s Guide. Educational Technology Publication: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1993.
Assessment is used as a basis of identifying problems, planning interventions, evaluating and diagnosing clients. Assessment involves identifying statements; actions and procedures to help individuals, groups, couples and families make progress in the counseling environment. Although counselors have the opportunity to limit their scope of practice with respect to modalities, theories, and types of clients, a counselor cannot function without an understanding of the processes and procedures of assessment in counseling. Formal and informal help counselors more accurately assess client issues, create case conceptualizations and select effective empirically proven therapies. The focus of assessments is on gathering information. Thus testing is a way in which counselors construct a measure of psychology through instruments or specified procedures to obtain valid and reliable methods in assessing a client. Counselor uses established scientific procedures, relevant standards and current professional knowledge
Citation- Huskey, Linda. "Assessment (1990s)." American Decades: 1990-1999. Ed. Tandy McConnell. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Student Resources in Context. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
Assessment is a core component in research. Clinical Psychologists use various types of assessments ...
Willis, S. "On the Cutting Edge of Assessment: Testing What Students Can Do with Knowledge." Education Update: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development 38, no. 4 (June 1996): 4-7.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
Perhaps the most prominent form of alternative assessment in use today is the student portfolio. A portfolio can be described as a “purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas of the curriculum.” Key elements of the portfolio include evidence of students’ choosing the contents of their own portfolio, specific criteria for the selection and assessment of student work, and clear evidence that the student has reflected on his or her work (Chriest & Maher, n.d.). Portfolios have been proven an effective means of student assessment in many areas of schooling, from preschool all the way through post-graduate work. Portfolio assessment has also been rendered effective in many business settings to determine the value of an employee.