Assessment Reconsidered: Institutional Effectiveness for Student Success

Making meaning of how, what, when, and where students learn is a vital, exciting, and inspiring component of higher education. Increasing external demands for accountability and internal commitments to improvement are amplifying the need for comprehensive assessment practices. Assessment Reconsidered: Institutional Effectiveness for Student Success promotes the shared ownership of assessment planning among faculty, student affairs educators, administrators, and students. As a project of the International Center for Student Success and Institutional Accountability (ICSSIA), Assessment Reconsidered focuses on the collaborative use of all campus resources in promoting student success. Written by an ensemble of educators with broad experience in assessment theory and practice in higher education, this illuminating work helps both student affairs professionals and faculty members address internal and public questions about the functioning of postsecondary institutions by reconsidering assessment policies, patterns, and practices in colleges and universities. While the book acknowledges and responds to greater expectations for institutional accountability, its focus is on building capacity to engage in evidence-based, reflective practice and supporting educators in doing their best work. Assessment Reconsidered is not primarily a workbook or “how to” manual; instead, it addresses the substantive aspects of assessment and prepares readers to begin or improve assessment practice; it lays the foundation of concepts, knowledge, and skills that is essential for effectiveness.