Contact person:
Contact for this program (e.g., coordinator of program, assessment person for the program)
Year:
Year in which you anticipate implementation of this assessment plan.
Program:
Name of the program being discussed in this assessment plan.
Student Affairs Department or Sub Unit:
Judicial Affairs, University Recreation, Residence Life, etc.
Program Description:
This should include a summary of the program that is being assessed (a paragraph or two). This section should provide the audience with a general understanding of the program (e.g., program presents strategies to strengthen self-advocacy skills, program presents drug and alcohol laws and JMU policies, program places students with the same interest into same living quarters), and how it is implemented.
Description of Target Population:
Describe the general population that participates in the program (e.g., students involved with alternative spring break, students with disabilities, students living on campus) and why they are taking part in it (e.g., voluntary, mandatory, part of disciplinary action). Of this population, how many are anticipated to take part in the assessment? Provide any relevant information regarding this population that may influence assessment results.
Program Outcomes:
All of the outcomes (objectives) of the program should be listed in this section. The stakeholders of the program should agree upon these outcomes. These outcomes provide a more detailed description of the particular goals of the program than the previous section entitled Program Description.
Which Outcomes are to be Assessed This Year and Why:
Typically, programs have several outcomes. It is not necessary to assess each outcome every year. In fact, it is best to prioritize the outcomes and assess only a few each year. Given that, provide a brief explanation of why particular outcomes are being assessed this year. For example, it may be that you assessed the same outcomes last year, made informed changes to the program based upon the results, and now want to assess the effects of those changes. It may be that some outcomes are simply more important or that some are more feasible this year. In addition, provide information regarding when outcomes not being assessed this year will be evaluated.
Proposed Outcome Measurement:
1. What is Being Measured: This section includes operational definitions of the outcome measure(s). Remember that the measure(s) should be aligned with the outcome(s) being assessed. The actual measurement of an outcome is the operational definition of the outcome. This could be scores on a knowledge-based test (e.g., knowledge of drinking laws), scores from a developmental/attitudinal measure (e.g., attitudes about diversity), counts of a behavior (e.g., number of violations), or performance of a skill (e.g., production of a resume or conducting an interview), among other things. Again, the most important characteristic of the outcome measure is that it is aligned with the outcome it is designed to measure.
| How are you operationally defining the outcome(s)? |
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| Is an instrument being used to measure the outcome? (If NO, proceed to sub-section 2) |
Double click on either yes or no |
If an instrument is given, a detailed description of it should be provided, including:
1. What is the name of the instrument (e.g., Self-Advocacy Scale, Scale of Intellectual Development)?
2. Is the instrument commercially or non-commercially available (i.e., pay for it or free)?
3. Will the students take a paper-and-pencil version or a computer-based version?
4. What is the instrument measuring (e.g., drinking behavior, drug use, self advocacy, service-learning)? Reading literature describing the scale (e.g., manual, published articles) directly informs this section.
5. How many items are on the instrument?
6. How is the instrument scored (e.g., total score, subscales)? Are you interested in all subscales or just selected ones?
7. What type(s) of items compose the instrument (e.g., multiple choice, matching, true/false, open-ended, essay, attitudinal, opinion)?
8. What is a desirable score, as agreed upon by the program coordinators (e.g., student completing the program should attain a score of 50 or above on the XYZ subscale, students completing the program should show a 10 point increase from pre-test to post-test on the XYZ subscale)?
| What is the name of the instrument? |
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| Is the instrument commercially or non-commercially available? |
Commercially available Not commercially available |
| Will the students take a paper-and-pencil version or a computer-based version? |
Paper-and-pencil version Computer-based version Other, please explain: |
| What is the instrument measuring? |
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| How many items are on the instrument? |
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| How is the instrument scored? |
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| What type(s) of items compose the instrument? |
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| What is a desirable score, as agreed upon by the program coordinators? |
Note: This table should be copied, pasted and completed for EACH instrument that is being used for this
Assessment endeavor.
2. When is it Being Measured: What is the time frame? A tentative schedule of events should be devised so that all involved are aware of deadlines. When will the outcome be measured? Will it be measured on multiple occasions? Will it be measured at the beginning of the program or at the end or both?
Example of a very brief tentative schedule:
| August 15th |
-instruments copied and organized |
| September 5th |
-instruments administered to all participants (pretest) |
| October |
-data taken to assessment center to be scanned and scored |
| December 7th |
-instruments administered to all participants (posttest) |
| February |
-data scanned and scored and results compiled by Assessment Center |
| March-May |
-review assessment results and incorporate into program report. |
| DATE |
ACTION |
3. Where and How is it Being Measured: This part of the plan should describe where and how the data will be collected from the desired population. Will data be collected from material already in existence (e.g. database, questionnaires, surveys)? Where will the data be collected? Will it be collected at the respondents convenience or at a scheduled time? Details surrounding the environment in which the data will be collected should be included here.
| Will data be collected from material already in existence? |
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| Where will the data be collected? |
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| Will data be collected at the respondents convenience or at a scheduled time? |
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| Other details: |
4. Who is Involved in Collecting the Measurements: This section should include a preliminary list of everyone who needs to be involved in the assessment process. Who will help plan and organize the gathering of the data? Who will analyze and write up the results for the assessment? Who will be in charge of writing up the final report? This section will help to reveal the scope of the assessment and facilitate realistic expectations.
| Who will help plan and organize the gathering of the data? |
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| Who will analyze the data? |
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| If CARS is involved in the data analysis, what role would you like them to take? Specifically, how would you prefer to work with CARS regarding the analysis? |
CARS does analysis and sends us results CARS and someone from our program analyzes the data together We do analysis and call CARS when we need assistance. |
| Who will write up the results of the data analysis? |
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| Who will be in charge of writing up the final report? |
Plan for Reporting Results: How soon after data collection does the report need to be completed? How and to whom are the results being disseminated?
| How soon after the data collection does the report need to be completed? |
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| How is the report being disseminated? |
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| To whom will you submit the final report? |
Actual Outcome Measurement:
How did the actual outcome measurement differ from that which was proposed in the Assessment Plan above? For example, of the target population, how many students actually participated in data collection? Which outcomes were actually assessed? Did the methodology (i.e. Proposed Outcome Measurement section) change from what was originally planned? Any information that can be provided concerning the details of both the group and setting involved in the assessment should be reported here. In addition, any errors or problems that occurred during administration should be described in this section.
Results:
This is the section that the Center for Assessment and Research Studies can provide if needed (you select their involvement in this section). This section will contain all tables, figures, and interpretation of statistical analyses and therefore can be quite lengthy.
Action to be Taken Based on Results:
This is where the test results are translated into action. In this section, the results above are used to make informed decisions regarding the program. These informed decisions should be clearly stated.
If the goals of the program are not met, the question to be asked is why. Therefore, it is in this section that the following issues are often discussed: 1) whether the outcomes are well-matched to the program; 2) whether the measures are aligned with the outcomes; and 3) whether changes or improvements need to be made to the program in order to reach the goals of the program. The findings in the Results section should be used to inform and justify changes that are being planned or implemented (e.g., focusing more closely on an outcome, changing course material, eliminating program). If modifications have already been made as a result of the findings, they should also be discussed in this section.
Ultimately, this part of the report illustrates how the assessment process was used to make program changes that aim to assist participants in the attainment of desired objectives.
Future Assessment:
Using the Action to Be Taken Based on Results section, one should include a preliminary plan for assessing any changes made to the program. For example, will scores from previous years be compared with scores following program changes to determine if these adjustments were effective in attaining the outcomes that were previously deficient? What tentative method will be used to address the impact of implemented or planned changes? In other words, provide information regarding how you plan to assess alterations to the program to determine if they were effective.