National Assessment of College Student Learning

National Assessment of College Student Learning PDF

Author: Addison Greenwood

Publisher:

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

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This report explores the issues and concerns related to the development of a process to assess college student learning. Its primary focus is the attainment of National Education Goal 5.5 by the year 2000 which reads, "The proportion of college graduates who demonstrate an advanced ability to think critically, communicate effectively, and solve problems will increase substantially." The primary source of information for this report came from a set of 15 papers commissioned as background for a study design workshop held in November 1991, 45 reviews of the papers, and the proceedings of the study design workshop, "National Assessment of College Student Learning: Issues and Concerns." Chapter 1 addresses what it means to undertake a national assessment of college student learning and raises issues inherent in such a national assessment. Chapter 2 considers what specific skills should be assessed (critical thinking skills, assessment in the workplace, assessment in the colleges--basic skills and general intellectual skills, literacy and writing assessments, and necessary research). Chapter 3 raises six standards and other measurement issues: (1) relationship of standards to the task of defining a national assessment of college student learning; (2) historical context for standards; (3) relationship of standards of National Assessment of College Student Learning to the overall charge of Goal 5; (4) the testing of subject-specific content domains; (5) reasonableness of a single set of standards; (6) and the debate over portfolio assessment and its relationship to standards and values issues. (Contains over 450 footnotes.) (GLR)

National Assessment of College Student Learning

National Assessment of College Student Learning PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13:

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This report presents the results of a workshop, held in Arlington, Virginia, on November 17-19, 1991, to discuss with the larger community the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) effort to develop strategies for assessing college student learning in support of National Education Goal Five, Objective Five which supports a substantial increase the proportion of college graduates who demonstrate advanced reasoning and communication skills. It is noted that of particular interest is the identification of the issues and concerns that NCES must consider in developing such an assessment process. The report begins with a brief description of the project goals and activities and is followed by a report of the workshop opening session and small group reports. Listed are the position papers by author and reviewers as well as general statements of the workshop participants. The general statements (individual comments) address what some participants would like to see as a user, what the most important next steps by NCES should be, what the major barriers and/or problems are that the NCES is likely to face, and who else should be consulted. (GLR)

The National Assessment of College Student Learning

The National Assessment of College Student Learning PDF

Author: Sal Corrallo

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13:

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This report summarizes proceedings and conclusions of a two-day national planning workshop to further the assessment of national postsecondary outcomes, as suggested by Goal 6.5 of the National Education Goals, and to determine how the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the states might work more effectively to develop mutually-supportive postsecondary assessment activities and policies. Conclusions of the workshop indicate that there is no immediate possibility of aggregating state-level data on postsecondary outcomes to create a usable national indicator. But they do suggest other ways in which the states and the federal government might work together to improve the quality of the data. Section 1 provides background information and an overview of the workshop. Section 2 presents results of an inventory of state activities. Section 3 describes the workshop's major discussion themes and conclusions concerning: (1) the current political context for postsecondary assessment; (2) the corresponding methodological context; and (3) results of working sessions. Section 4 provides conclusions, policy implications, and possible next steps. Appendices include, in addition to the workshop agenda and participants list, a paper describing current activities of the NCES and individual background papers on each state's activities in postsecondary assessment. Also appended are the texts of the following prepared papers: "What Political Leaders Expect from Postsecondary Assessment" (Charles S. Lenth); "Perspective from the National Education Goals Panel" (Ken Nelson); "The State Perspective" (Mark D. Musick); "The Virginia Experience" (Margaret A. Miller); "Making Assessment Essential without Legislative Mandates: The Missouri Experience" (Ava L. Fajen et al.); and "Methodological Concerns: An ETS Perspective" (John Mazzeo). (MAH)