Assessment - "is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information to document, explain, and improve performance. Assessment helps us create a shared academic culture dedicated to assuring and improving the quality of higher education." AAHE Bulletin, November 1995. "Assessment is the systematic collection, review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials.

Assessment for Accountability - assessment of some unit (could be a department, program or entire institution) to satisfy stakeholders external to the unit itself. Results are often compared across units. Always summative. Example: to retain state approval, the achievement of a 90 percent pass rate or better on teacher certification tests by graduates of a school of education. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Assessment for Improvement - assessment that feeds directly, and often immediately, back into revising the course, program or institution to improve student learning results. Can be formative or summative (see "formative assessment" for an example). Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Assessment of Individuals - uses the individual student, and his/her learning, as the level of analysis. Can be quantitative or qualitative, formative or summative, standards-based or value added, and used for improvement. Would need to be aggregated if used for accountability purposes. Examples: improvement in student knowledge of a subject during a single course; improved ability of a student to build cogent arguments over the course of an undergraduate career. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Assessment of Programs - uses the department or program as the level of analysis. Can be quantitative or qualitative, formative or summative, standards-based or value added, and used for improvement or for accountability. Ideally program goals and objectives would serve as a basis for the assessment. Example: how sophisticated a close reading of text senior English majors can accomplish (if used to determine value added, would be compared to the ability of newly declared majors). Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Assessment of Institutions - uses the institution as the level of analysis. Can be quantitative or qualitative, formative or summative, standards-based or value added, and used for improvement or for accountability. Ideally institution-wide goals and objectives would serve as a basis for the assessment. Example: how well students across the institution can work in multi-cultural teams as sophomores and seniors. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Assessment Plan - "a written assessment plan is a statement of agreement about the measures and processes to be used in examining educational programs." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials.

Benchmark - " a sample of work that illustrates a category or score on a scoring rubric." College of Dupage

Course-embedded Assessment involves taking a second look at materials generated in a course so that, in addition to providing a basis for grading students, it is a means of assessing program effectiveness. (Ewell, 1991; Wright, 1997, Palomba and Banta, 1999) Embedded Assessment - a means of gathering information about student learning that is built into and a natural part of the teaching-learning process. Often uses for assessment purposes classroom assignments that are evaluated to assign students a grade. Can assess individual student performance or aggregate the information to provide information about the course or program; can be formative or summative, quantitative or qualitative. Example: as part of a course, expecting each senior to complete a research paper that is graded for content and style, but is also assessed for advanced ability to locate and evaluate Web-based information (as part of a college-wide outcome to demonstrate information literacy). Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Criteria - "the aspects of a performance that should be considered in evaluating that performance." College of Dupage

Direct Assessment Methods - require students to demonstrate their knoweldge and skills as they respond to the assessment technique employed. Examples include: classroom assignments, standardized tests, portfolios. Direct Assessment of Learning - gathers evidence, based on student performance, which demonstrates the learning itself. Can be value added, related to standards, qualitative or quantitative, embedded or not, using local or external criteria. Examples: most classroom testing for grades is direct assessment (in this instance within the confines of a course), as is the evaluation of a research paper in terms of the discriminating use of sources. The latter example could assess learning accomplished within a single course or, if part of a senior requirement, could also assess cumulative learning. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

External Assessment - use of criteria (rubric) or an instrument developed by an individual or organization external to the one being assessed. Usually summative, quantitative, and often high-stakes (see below). Example: GRE exams. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Formative Assessment "is conducted during the life of a program (or performance) with the purpose of providing feedback that can be used to modify, shape, and improve the program (or performance)." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials. The gathering of information about student learning-during the progression of a course or program and usually repeatedly-to improve the learning of those students. Example: reading the first lab reports of a class to assess whether some or all students in the group need a lesson on how to make them succinct and informative. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Goals "are used to express intended results in general terms. The term goal is used to describe broad learning concepts" (effective writing skills; critical thinking; general knowledge in the natural world, the social world, and the world of arts and letters; the knowledge and skills necessary to engage as an informed and involved citizen in a democratic society). Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials.

"High stakes" Use of Assessment - the decision to use the results of assessment to set a hurdle that needs to be cleared for completing a program of study, receiving certification, or moving to the next level. Most often the assessment so used is externally developed, based on set standards, carried out in a secure testing situation, and administered at a single point in time. Examples: at the secondary school level, statewide exams required for graduation; in postgraduate education, the bar exam. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Indicators - more specifically identify how a student will demonstrate knowledge and skills identified in an outcome statement. Indicators are not means of assessment. They are the criteria established to assist in the specific measurement of learning. For example, with regard to the following outcome statement - students will demonstrate the ability to write a critical essay, indicators (criteria) need to be established for what constitutes a "critical essay." Thus, the outcome statement would read: Students will demonstrate the ability to write a critical essay by: (identify specific indicators).

Indirect Assessment Methods - "ask students to reflect on their learning rather than to demonstrate it" (Palomba and Banta, 1999). Methods inlcude surveys, interviews, focus groups. Indirect Assessment of Learning - gathers reflection about the learning or secondary evidence of its existence. Example: a student survey about whether a course or program helped develop a greater sensitivity to issues of diversity. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Learning Outcomes identify the knowledge and skills that students will be able to demonstrate, including what learning will be assessed. They answer the question, what knowledge and skills will students be expected to demonstrate? KSC Curriculum Guidelines. "To be most useful, outcome statements should describe, using action verbs, student learning or behavior rather than teacher behavior; use simple language; and describe an intended outcome rather than subject matter coverage. Care should be used to choose words that are not open to interpretation. Words like identify, solve, and construct are better than vague words such as understand and appreciate." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials. Outcomes need to be specific, attainable and measurable. "Statements of intended educational (student) outcomes are descriptions of what academic departments intend for students to know (cognitive), think (attitudinal) or do (behavioral) when they have completed their degree programs, as well as their general education or "core" curricula. Nichols, J.O. and Nichols, K.W. (2000). The Departmental Guide and Record Book for Student Outcomes Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness.

Local Assessment - means and methods that are developed by an institution's faculty based on their teaching approaches, students, and learning goals. Can fall into any of the definitions here except "external assessment," for which it is an antonym. Example: one college's use of nursing students' writing about the "universal precautions" at multiple points in their undergraduate program as an assessment of the development of writing competence. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Objectives "are used to express intended results in specific terms." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials. They identify what the program, course and/or faculty will do. They answer the question, what should students learn? KSC Curriculum Guidelines.

Performance-based Assessments - "items or tasks that require students to apply knowledge in real world situations." College of Dupage

Portfolio - a collection of student work at different stages of development during a course or over a series of courses. Includes work from one course or from a discipline with samples drawn from a variety of genres within that discipline. Typically includes a student's evaluation of his or her work. College of Dupage

Qualitative Assessment - collects data that does not lend itself to quantitative methods but rather to interpretive criteria (see the first example under "standards"). Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Quantitative Assessment - collects data that can be analyzed using quantitative methods (see"assessment for accountability" for an example). Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Rubric - "a set of scoring guidelines that can be used to evaluate student's work.

Standards - sets a level of accomplishment all students are expected to meet or exceed. Standards do not necessarily imply high quality learning; sometimes the level is a lowest common denominator. Nor do they imply complete standardization in a program; a common minimum level could be achieved by multiple pathways and demonstrated in various ways. Examples: carrying on a conversation about daily activities in a foreign language using correct grammar and comprehensible pronunciation; achieving a certain score on a standardized test. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Summative Assessment "is conducted after a program has been in operation for awhile, or at its conclusion, to make judgments about its quality or worth compared to previously defined standards for performance." Palomba, C.A. and Banta, T.W. (1999) Assessment Essentials. The gathering of information at the conclusion of a course, program, or undergraduate career to improve learning or to meet accountability demands. When used for improvement, impacts the next cohort of students taking the course or program. Examples: examining student final exams in a course to see if certain specific areas of the curriculum were understood less well than others; analyzing senior projects for the ability to integrate across disciplines. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.

Value Added - the increase in learning that occurs during a course, program, or undergraduate education. Can either focus on the individual student (how much better a student can write, for example, at the end than at the beginning) or on a cohort of students (whether senior papers demonstrate more sophisticated writing skills-in the aggregate-than freshmen papers). Requires a baseline measurement for comparison. Andrea Leskes, Vice President for Education and Quality Initiatives, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2002, Volume 4, Number 2/3.