Advancing Assessment for Student Success

“A very helpful book filled with practical tools to immediately apply accompanied with wise advice on how to apply them. In addition to all of the useful tips and resources is some much-needed inspiration from assessment scholars and practitioners fully invested in leveraging assessment to optimize student success.”

Marilee Bresciani Ludvik - Professor and Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of Texas Arlington

"The authors are luminaries in assessment circles, and once again bring to bear their vast experience in developing assessment principles and techniques, as well as their expertise in training others in these areas. Advancing Assessment for Student Success does, in fact, live up to its name, and higher education is the better for it.”

Rosa Belerique and Sonny Calderon - Vice President, Institutional Research and Effectiveness, 2021 President of the California Association for Institutional Research (CAIR); andVice President, Academic Affairs, New York Film Academy

"With a rich storytelling and evidence-based approach, the authors integrate assessment, teaching, and curriculum through illustrative institutional case studies. Meaningful key aspects of the book include equity-based assessment, inclusion of student voice, and advancing reflection. The friendly, down-to-earth presentation allows the reader to apply tailored effective strategies in meeting cultural and institutional needs in advancing assessment. This is a must-read for universities who wish to thoughtfully and purposefully improve assessment through collaboration, emphasizing the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of assessment."

Laurie G. Dodge - Vice Chancellor of Institutional Assessment and Planning at Brandman University, and Founding Chair of the Board of Directors for C-BEN

"Whether a faculty member, academic administrator, staff, or student; whether new to assessment or someone who has been involved in assessment for years—whatever role you might play within an institution of higher education, this book is a breath of fresh air that provides a revitalized pathway to ensure that assessment processes and practices are learner-centered and collaboratively driven conversations on educational design. What a true delight to read this book! There is something in this book for everyone thanks to the authors providing examples, strategies, processes, practices, and reflections on how to take the work of fostering student success through learning to the next level. Through rich conversations with the reader, the book mirrors and models the collaborative potential of bringing faculty, assessment, student affairs, and staff together to truly deliver on the promise of education by laying out the types of conversations that should be unfolding within our institutions. This book is a must- read, showcasing the power collaboration and conversations can have on everyday lived experiences in teaching and learning, which in turn can transform institutions into learning systems."

Natasha A. Jankowski - Former Executive Director of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

“A stark contrast to assessment processes that are aimed primarily at demonstrating fulfillment of externally established compliance standards, the authors’ learner-centered assessment process is aimed primarily at promoting individual students’ progress toward achieving course-, program-, and institution-level learning outcomes along their educational pathways, as well as engaging students in assuming agency for their learning. Written by seasoned educators who share a commitment to integrating assessment into the processes of teaching and learning that stretch across students’ studies, authors Amy Driscoll, Swarup Wood, Dan Shapiro, and Nelson Graff provide readers principles, practices, processes, strategies, and campus scenarios and case studies that deepen and broaden a shared commitment to all learners’ success across the broad institutional system that contributes to their learning.

Most important, this book achieves what, I believe, has always been our challenge: to humanize assessment—to uncover the challenges our individual students face and then develop or identify interventions, strategies, or practices to assist each student to persist and achieve along the trajectory of that individual’s educational pathways. Students represented in numbers or percentages on assessment reports do not humanize them nor do quantified data or band aid solutions reflect effective educators’ efforts to promote student success. I thus also call upon accreditors and other reporting entities focused on assuring our institutions advance all students to attain equitable outcomes to read this book to inform future assessment reporting guidelines or standards that provide institutions opportunities to document the realities that underlie their ongoing efforts to prepare current and future students who reflect our national demographics and who will shape our future.  

This book should speak to and offer inspiration to so many in higher education, from faculty to faculty developers, student affairs professionals, and administrators.”

From the Foreword by Peggy L. Maki - Education Consultant Specializing in Assessing Student Learning

"This book is a must-read for not only assessment professionals but also anyone who cares about learning, teaching, and student success. In addition to thoughtful conversations about the current assessment landscape, the book is rich with detailed, authentic examples that can be easily applied to improving assessment at multiple levels. The authors present a strong argument that the integration of assessment into learning and teaching should be done through the lens of equity, engagement, and continuous improvement. Their genuine care for student learning, extensive experiences, diverse perspectives, and approachable narrative style make this book an enlightening and enjoyable read."

Su Swarat - Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness & Accreditation Liaison Officer California State University, Fullerton

"This insightful book recognizes our students as invaluable partners in the effort to ensure their success—what an intuitive yet significant offering to the assessment community and everyone who strives to improve teaching and learning! The authors share knowledge and experience generously, as mentors, with a reassuring and encouraging voice. As an important addition to the literature on assessment, this volume arrives at a moment when it’s critical that our students be heard and understood.”

Kelly Wahl - Director of Student Achievement, UCLA Division of Undergraduate Education

"Driscoll and her coauthors clearly get the vital need to prepare a cadre of assessment professionals for every sector of higher education, including for community colleges. Faculty know the old saying, “What gets assessed gets learned.” These authors know that how it gets assessed determines how it is learned. Accreditors will particularly appreciate these practical insights since sound, integrated assessment practices are foundational when an institution sets out to demonstrate mission accomplishment and program improvement."

Richard Winn - President (Retired) Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges

Foreword
Introduction

1) Advancing Assessment: Currents of Movement, Eddies, and New Paths—Amy Driscoll
2) Equity in Assessment: Supports for all Students—Amy Driscoll
3) Learning Outcomes: Engaging Students, Staff, and Faculty—Swarup Wood
4) Aligned and Coherent Assessment, Pedagogy, and Curriculum: Connections for Student Success—Amy Driscoll
5) Understanding and Supporting Achievement: Improving Assignment Prompts and Rubrics—Nelson Graff
6) Using Evidence of Student Achievement: Advancing Student Success—Amy Driscoll
7) Advancing Reflection: Fostering Conversations That Improve Student Success—Dan Shapiro
8) Advancing Communication: Sharing Stories That Improve Student Success—Dan Shapiro

About the Authors
Index

Amy Driscoll

Amy Driscoll retired from California State University, Monterey Bay as the founding Director of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment and from Portland State University as Director of Community/University Partnerships. For the last 11 years, she has coordinated and taught in the Assessment Leadership Academy, a year-long program for faculty and administrators, and consulted nationally and internationally. She co-authored Developing Outcomes-based Assessment for Learner-centered Education: A Faculty Introduction with Swarup Wood in 2007.

Swarup Wood

Swarup Wood is Professor of Chemistry and currently serves as Interim Director of General Education and Coordinator of First Year Seminar at California State University Monterey Bay where he has worked since 1997. He co-authored Developing Outcomes-based Assessment for Learner-centered Education: A Faculty Introduction with Amy Driscoll in 2007.

Dan Shapiro

Dan Shapiro currently serves as the Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Dean of University College and Graduate Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). He has worked at CSUMB since 1997, beginning as a lecturer and a faculty associate in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (TLA)--when Amy was the director. He started serving as director of TLA in 2014. He is a graduate of the WSCUC Assessment Leadership Academy (ALA, Cohort VII) and coordinates the ALA professional mentoring program.

Nelson Graff

Nelson Graff currently serves as Professor and Director of Communication Across the Disciplines, teaching first-year reading/writing and supporting faculty around CSUMB in teaching reading and writing in their classes. Before that, he was an associate professor of English Education at San Francisco State University, preparing future secondary English teachers.

Author Webinar - Using Reflection PPT Slides

Author Webinar - Humanizing Assignments Chat Log

Author Webinar - Humanizing Assignments PPT Slides

Author Webinar - Assignment Examples and Links

Author Webinar - Part One: Using Reflection to Advance Assessment for Student Success

Author Webinar - Part Two: Humanizing Assignments