Frequently Asked Questions
• What is assessment?
• What is the difference between assessment and evaluation?
• What are the benefits of assessment?
• What is accreditation? What is Middle States?
• What is Middle States looking for?
• Aren't we already accredited?
• Won't Montclair State University be accredited automatically? Isn't this just a formality?
• What are the possible outcomes?
• Is this really important? Should I care?
• When does this have to be done? How often do we have to assess the program?
• How should we begin?
What is assessment?
A useful definition of assessment in the context of Montclair State University’s assessment efforts comes from Linda Suskie (2009) of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education:
Assessment is the ongoing process of establishing clear, measurable expected outcomes of student learning, ensuring that students have sufficient opportunities to achieve those outcomes, systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well students learning matches the expectations and using the resulting information to understand and improve student learning.
In the context of higher education, the ultimate goal of assessment is to improve student learning.
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What is the difference between assessment and evaluation?
Assessment and evaluation are often confused. Therefore, it is important to understand the difference between these two concepts, which have similar methods, but have different goals.
The main goal of assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment helps to ensure the following:
• Institutional and program-level goals are clear to the public, students, faculty, and staff.
• Institutional programs and resources are organized and coordinated to achieve institutional and program-level goals.
• The institution is indeed achieving its mission and goals, and
• The institution is using assessment results to improve student learning and otherwise advance the institution. (Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 2007, p.75).
While assessment focuses on how well student learning goals are achieved, evaluation addresses how well all the major goals of a program are achieved (Suskie, 2009). Evaluation is using assessment information to:
• Make informed judgment on whether students have achieved the learning goals established for them.
• Investigate and judge the quality or worth of a program, project, or other entity rather than student learning.
Thus, evaluation is “the analysis and use of data by faculty to make judgments about student performance. Evaluation includes the determination of a grade or a decision regarding pass/fail for an individual assignment or for a course.” (Goldman & Zakel, 2009)
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What are the benefits of assessment?
Colleges and Universities are increasingly emphasizing the assessment of student learning for 3 primary reasons:
• Improvement. Assessment can help course instructors, programs, and departments make informed decisions in terms of the program strengths in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning, as well as programs and services.
• Accountability. Assessment can validate programs, services, and teaching and learning efforts and thereby demonstrate, with evidence, their effectiveness to concerned audiences.
• Student Learning Outcomes. The assessment of student learning is an essential component of university effectiveness, General Education, and Program Goals. This assessment is fundamental to achieving the Strategic Plan goals and fulfilling the mission.
At Montclair State University, the programs are designed to develop students' ability to discover, create, evaluate, apply, and share knowledge. Students, in their curricular and co-curricular programs cultivate abilities to think critically, act ethically, and become informed participants in our democracy. It is the ongoing, systematic assessment of specific student learning goals in General Education and academic programs which informs the University on the status of accomplishing the mission and Strategic Plan.
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What is Middle States? What is accreditation?
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association that defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. It examines each institution as a whole, rather than specific programs within institutions.
Accreditation is a means of showing that a university’s programs, policies, and priorities are aligned with its institutional mission and goals. The accreditation process is an opportunity to demonstrate a university’s accountability and improvement, both internally and externally. Montclair State University is proud to be accredited by one of the 7 regional accreditation authorities - the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
The MSCHE accredits institutions in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and several locations abroad.
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What is Middle States looking for?
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education aspires to be the preeminent resource for institutions of higher education striving to achieve excellence in fulfilling their missions. It also intends, through voluntary assessment and adherence to high standards for student learning outcomes and operational behavior, to assure higher education’s publics that its accredited institutions are fulfilling their stated purposes and addressing the publics’ expectations.
Montclair State University must comply with all fourteen Middle States’ standards in order to keep our accreditation. All the standards are interpreted in the context of the university's mission and goals. Additionally, we must demonstrate that our resources are allocated properly and our planning processes are sustainable for change, informed by data analysis, assessment, and evaluation. If you are interested in the full exposition of the standards, you can download the Middle States document entitled Characteristics of Excellence in Higher Education.
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Aren't we already accredited?
Yes, the Middle States accreditation process follows a 10-year cycle, and Montclair State University’s last accreditation was in 2007. In June 2012, we provided Middle States with a Periodic Review Report to address their recommendations. Middle States will next consider Montclair State University’s accreditation in 2016-2017 with a decennial Self-Study Report in 2016 and a follow-up on-site visit in 2017.
You may view electronic copies of the Middle States Self Study Report 2007 and 2012 Periodic Review in .pdf format. As can be seen, accreditation is an ongoing process.
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Will Montclair State University be accredited automatically? Isn't this just a formality?
No institution is automatically accredited. The process of accreditation is the same for all institutions and follows a 10-year cycle.
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What are the possible outcomes?
If an institution fails to demonstrate compliance with one or more of the standards, Middle States can send specific recommendations that engage the institution in a follow-up process. For example, “accreditation with a follow-up report" or "accreditation with monitoring and a follow-up visit." If an institution fails to perform the designated follow-up actions, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education can subsequently withdraw its accreditation.
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Does assessment matter? Should I care?
Absolutely. Middle States accreditation is a prerequisite for access to federal or state funds for research, programs, and facilities, as well as government sources of financial support for students. It would be devastating for any institution to lose its accreditation.
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When does this have to be done? How often do we have to assess the program?
Program assessment is an ongoing process of identifying goals and objectives, collecting and analyzing data, and making modifications for improvement when necessary. That being said, programs need not assess every goal and objective on a yearly basis. Every goal should be assessed twice in a 5–year period. Therefore, departments need to adopt their own individual schedule of rotating through the goals and objectives on a regular basis to collect date to meet the assessment deadlines and identify their strategies for using the data to make any modifications necessary to programs to improve student learning. At Montclair State University, the Middle State Commission on Higher Education expects evidence of this ongoing process on assessment by 2016.
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The three main steps of assessment are:
1. Articulate your goals and objectives for student learning.
2. Gather evidence about how well students are meeting the goals.
3. Use the information to make any modifications necessary to improve student learning.
For details about the assessment process, see Steps in Developing an Assessment Plan.