Successful assessment relies on multiple measures. Successful assessment provides feedback to students and the institution. Successful assessment is cost-effective. Successful assessment does not restrict or inhibit goals of access, equity, and diversity established by the institution. Successful assessment leads to improvement.
Successful assessment includes a process for evaluating the assessment program.
NCA recognizes that faculty determination of the crucial issues of each academic program is essential and that student outcomes assessment planning is most effectively devised by faculty and staff at the departmental level. A successful program will also address the need for students to understand the purpose of assessment. The growth of the assessment movement during the last decade has demonstrated that assessment is becoming an important tool for better understanding and responding to the needs of an increasingly diverse student population. Colleges and universities are increasingly turning to both nationally developed and locally designed assessment methods and instruments as a means of improving teaching and learning practices. The rationale for the increased focus on the development of assessment programs in academic majors is grounded in the belief that collecting systematic data improves awareness of how well students can integrate content, skills, and attitudes.