Title: Improving institutional quality
Description: This study examines implementation strategies for student learning outcomes assessment at three liberal arts colleges. The importance of student learning outcomes assessment in higher education has grown remarkably since its inception in the mid-1980s. Given the pressures on postsecondary institutions to improve student learning, and the difficulties that exist in marshaling assessment data to improve student performance, this study's analysis of colleges currently engaged in the assessment process is timely and necessary. Additionally, this study is needed as empirical research examining assessment in liberal arts colleges is limited. Two bodies of literature informed this study. First, the literature on assessment in higher education laid the foundation for understanding its history, purposes, challenges, and intended uses. Second, the literature on organizational change was studied to determine effective change strategies for implementation of assessment.

This dissertation consists of three case studies of liberal arts colleges: one Catholic, one highly-selective, and one less-selective institution. Interviews, institutional documents, and field notes were the main sources of data. 83 interviews were performed across the three institutions. My interview sample included faculty, staff, and trustees. Within-case and cross-case analysis was conducted. This study has four central findings. First, Kezar's Principles for Organizational Change in Higher Education ('Kezar's Principles') may be an effective list of practical guidelines for implementing student learning outcomes assessment. Second, one of Kezar's Principles appears to be most critical. Namely, before choosing organizational change strategies for implementing assessment, it may be advantageous for college leaders to investigate which strategies are optimal based on their culture, norms, and traditions, and align their strategies accordingly. Third, the greatest challenges to assessment include faculty resistance, scaling up assessment across all units of an institution, and balancing internal and external demands. Fourth, it is important for college leaders to consider how to balance providing autonomy to faculty and staff around their assessment activities with promoting consistency in assessment plans.
Subjects: Higher Education, Educational evaluation, Case studies, Educational change
Places: United States