Phase One of the project involved a major literature review of publications on institutional support for student assessment which are synthesized in a report entitled, "Improving Organizational and Administrative Support for Student Assessment: A Review of Research Literature." Included in this review are references from 245 publications.  Most references are not research based and are descriptive in nature.  A major focus of the review was the development of a conceptual framework that guided the research in Phases Two and Three.

• Most of the literature on student assessment does not focus on institutional level dynamics or dimensions.

 
• There was little systematic examination of the institutional responses to external demands for student assessment, the institutional approaches to student assessment, the organizational and administrative patterns that are formulated to promote student assessment, and the assessment management practices and policies that student assessment.

 
• There was little except anecdotal evidence on the uses of student assessment data in decision making and how it impacts either institutional accountability or improvement.

 
• Several scholars and experts acknowledged the lack of systematic research on institutional dynamics for student assessment, of the uses for student assessment information, or the impact of assessment on institutional performance.

The literature was summarized within the following four areas:

External Influences
Accreditation requirements have the most influence in prompting institutional student assessment efforts, followed by state level initiatives and national efforts.  The empirical research regarding the influence of these external domains on specific institutional approaches is descriptive in nature, general rather than specific, and scarce.

Institutional Approaches
Institutions have adopted varied but limited approaches to student assessment.  Student assessment data is usually collected at one point in time and measures addressing cognitive functioning are the primary focus. While some descriptive evidence emerged about institutional approaches to student assessment, it does not present a comprehensive picture of these approaches.

Organizational & Administrative Support
Evidence on institutional purposes and planning for student assessment, and on institution-wide administrative and decision making structures supporting assessment are primarily descriptive.  Little or no empirical examination exists of the relationships between these factors and institutional performance.  Also, there has been little research on assessment management policies & practices for, the influence of institutional culture & climate on, or the evaluation of student assessment programs.

Institutional Uses & Impacts
It would seem that assessment information is used most often in academic planning and program review.  There is limited evidence regarding the influence of student assessment on student performance or faculty behavior, and less regarding institutional performance or external impacts. What evidence does exist is primarily descriptive.

 

Conceptual Framework

Based on the literature review, a conceptual framework for analyzing institutional support for student assessment was designed (Peterson, Einarson, Trice, & Nichols, 1997).  The framework includes seven domains:
 
 

View the Diagram of the Conceptual Framework

1) External influences on student assessment;

2) Institutional approaches to student assessment;

3) Institution-wide support patterns for student assessment;

4) Assessment management policies and practices for student assessment;

5) Culture and climate for student assessment;

6) Institutional uses of and impacts of student assessment information, and;

7) Institutional Context.

Get the Original Report on the Conceptual Framework from the Stanford web site.

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