Slippery Rock University's Governing Principles for
Assessment of Student Learning

1.      Assessment begins with a vision of the kinds of learning and development we most value for students.

The assessment process exists primarily as a vehicle for improving learning. The learning and development we value must govern not only what we choose to assess but also how we go about the task. Other purposes for assessment, such as accountability and public relations, are secondary and must not interfere with its primary purpose.

2.      Assessment must reflect an understanding of learning and development as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.

As a complex process, learning entails not only knowledge and abilities but also values, attitudes, and habits of mind that affect both academic success and performance beyond the classroom. Assessment processes should employ a diverse array of methods, including those that call for actual performance, using them over time so as to reveal change, growth, and increasing degrees of integration.

3.      The assessment process is most effective when it is ongoing, systematic, and self-aware.

Assessment is a process whose power is cumulative. Progress towards stated goals for learning and development should be monitored continuously, and with an eye on how a program's various elements are working together for success. The assessment process itself should be evaluated and refined in light of emerging insights.

4.      Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated purposes.

The assessment process entails comparing educational performance with educational purposes and expectations derived from our institution's mission, from faculty and staff intentions in program and course design, and from knowledge of students' own goals. Assessment as a process pushes us toward clarity regarding where to aim and what standards to apply; assessment also prompts attention to where and how program goals will be taught and learned. The process of assessment encourages further consideration and refinement of stated purposes.

 5.      Assessment planning and implementation are collaborative activities that must involve faculty, staff, students, and administrators.

Assessment is not a task for small groups of experts. Student learning and development is a campus-wide responsibility, and assessment is a way of enacting that responsibility. In addition, the assessment process relies on the expertise of faculty and staff concerning the learning objectives and methods endemic to their disciplines. Assessment may also involve individuals from beyond the campus whose experience can enrich the institution's sense of appropriate aims and standards for learning and development.

6.      Effective assessment of program goals, of student learning, and of student and staff development occurs when results are disconnected from decisions concerning faculty and staff retention and promotion.

Faculty and staff will actively and creatively participate in assessment activities only if they trust that those responsible will not use the results of such activities to justify adverse personnel decisions. At the same time, faculty and staff should know that their participation in institutional and program assessment is valued when they are considered for retention and promotion.

7.      Assessment leads to improvement when high quality teaching, learning, and student development are visibly valued, encouraged, and implemented.

The push to improve educational performance must be a visible and primary goal of the university's leadership, if assessment of learning is to be effective. Improving the quality of undergraduate education must be central to the institution's planning, budgeting, and personnel decisions. Resources must adequately support professional development regarding assessment, as well as the creation and implementation of assessment plans. In addition, the innovations, alterations, and activities undertaken by departments and programs as a result of the assessment process must be seriously considered when resources are allocated.