Assessment
The newest quality assurance process, assessment, surfaced in the
early 80s in the United States and Europe as concerns emerged about
the nature of college student learning and performance. Assessment
initiatives have focused more on the outcomes of educational experiences,
and those institutional processes that contribute to desired
outcomes. Both regional and professional accreditation associations
have changed criteria for accreditation to include stronger guidelines
to demonstrate that desired student learning and performance has
been achieved for graduates of the institution. Gratch-Lindauer
(2002) noted that new standards reveal a greater emphasis on outcomes
assessment. This emphasis on the third question posed by
Shawen (1983) illustrates the adaptability of accreditation to external
accountability pressures. Trout (1979) found that few methodologically
sound studies had been conducted to verify that purported key
quality characteristics related to measured student learning.
Regional and professional accreditation associations in the United
States place much more emphasis on the documentation of student
learning and performance as a significant component of accreditation
systems. Patton (1999) found that the majority of institutions do not
have a coherent plan for student assessment. Another study based
on responses from 1353 institutions to a survey concerning institutional
assessment, concluded that institutional control (public versus
private) is a less important variable in assessment activities than
institutional type (Peterson & Augustine 2000). Differences among
institutional types occurred for seven of ten educational decisions
(e.g. designing or reorganising academic programmes or majors).
The 1997 Lisbon Convention (Council of Europe 1997) will
eventually apply to 54 countries, and is relevant for assessment
activities since it is concerned with how institutions establish procedures
to recognise documented competencies, knowledge and skills.
How particular institutions will address graduates’ knowledge, skills
and competencies is unknown. The 1999 OECD report Tertiary
Education and Research in the Russian Federation noted a greater
emphasis on desired student competencies in the development of
associated assessment mechanisms