James Madison University: Assessment Institute

Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education

The Center for Assessment and Research Studies will hold a three-day workshop on assessment in higher education. The workshop will be held July 7 through 9, 2008, at James Madison University’s Festival and Student Center. This year’s institute will offer two tracks. Track One focuses on the assessment model and how to effectively conduct assessment in institutions of higher education. This track is ideal for those who are new to assessment or are struggling to develop a culture of assessment at their institutions. Track Two focuses on a specific special topic in assessment and measurement. The 2008 special topic sessions focus on reliability and will cover not only traditional Classical Test Theory approaches to examining reliability of assessment measures, but also offer sessions on topics such as generalizability theory and differential item functioning.

The main goals of this program are to empower participants to:

1. Conduct effective program assessment in higher education, thus creating well-trained assessment professionals.
2. Develop formative assessment strategies that better allow faculty to use assessment results to improve courses, teaching, and student learning.
3. Develop and implement assessment programs that measure program quality and assess the impact of programs on students.
4. Develop an understanding of advanced measurement concepts and techniques available to the assessment professional.

This institute will expand the national initiative for increased accountability in higher education by enhancing the development of assessment professionals who are trained in the design, implementation, analysis, and use of education tests and measures to assess the results of instruction, to support the management of programs, and to monitor and improve student learning and development. To assist in meeting the institute’s goals, this year we are adding consulting sessions which will enable participants to meet with institute faculty and fellow participants to advance their assessment projects.

Click here to register for the Assessment Institute

Click here to download a brochure for the Assessment Institute