Garcia, J. A., & Floyd, C. E. (2002). Addressing Evaluative Standards Related to Program Assessment: How Do We Respond?. Journal of Social Work Education, 38(3), 369+. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000844845
A study done by Garcia and Floyd on social work programs gives valuable insight into social work programs across the nation, but could easily be translated to other program areas of program evaluation because of the general aspects addressed in the study.
The study identified three measurement methods:
1.Assessment of educational outcomes
2.Assessment of institutional effectiveness
3.Assessment methods pertaining to the evaluation of curriculum and program policies.
One important point found in the study was that student-focused assessment was common, whereas institutional-focused program assessment was less common.
Responses from the survey on self-study included comments such as:
•We are in the self-study process
•Our study is too dated
•We are due for a self-study next year, ours is 10 years old and not helpful.
This was a common theme throughout the study’s survey questions and I would tend to believe that many program areas face the same issues because of time and faculty resources.
“The programs that provide more resources for the assessment process were able to implement a larger scale assessment strategy and tended to have a more clearly organized and developed written product” (p.5).
The study concluded that the best advice to offer programs in assessment self-study was that the approaches to assessment must be designed to meet the uniqueness of each program. The key points to the study’s findings are listed below:
1.A one-size doesn’t fit all mentality does not constitute adequate assessment progression.
2.Lack of resources (time, money, faculty) have serious consequences on the ability to maintain program assessments.
3.The more support for the process the larger the scale of assessment strategies that could be used and the programs tended to be more organized and developed.
The articles was interesting and at the end of the article a listing of the qualitative responses received from participants gives further insight into the challenges of maintaining program assessment.
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Thank you for this post highlighting the challenges of assessment. Institutional resources and faculty certainly impact the strength and continuity of institutional assessment efforts. Institutional leadership is often a crucial indicator. If the top leadership is not completely committed to assessment efforts, such efforts are likely to be haphazard and not adequately tied to an institution's mission, vision, and goals. Additionally, without strong leadership support, institutional assessment may be relegated to becoming an event that occurs every ten years. It may be the case that accreditation bodies need to focus more upon what happens between the 10-year window, rather than upon the neatly bound report that is published on the eve of the visit.
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