Road To Success Kathleen Bolland, PhD Javonda Williams, PhD, LCSW SUCCESS Next Exit Aligning curricular planning, teaching, and program evaluation to facilitate educational program improvement

Stops along the way  Mandates  Challenges  Alignment  Tools  Evidence-informed improvements

COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

Our background Assessment Coordinator and Assistant Dean Longtime member of AEA Variety of experiences in higher education assessment Undergraduate Program Chair Background in educational measurement University Committed resources to evaluation of program-level and student-learning outcomes.

Our assumption Alignment of curriculum, instruction, and evaluation/assessment is sensible, and need not be thought of as merely a response to accreditation standards

Benefits/ Challenges of Competency-Based Education Benefits Focus on competencies rather than on prescribed content Greater flexibility in curriculum design Challenges Too similar to vocational education Increase in bureaucratic control of classroom Loss of academic freedom

Goal and strategies Our goal a viable, credible, ongoing process of incorporating course- embedded assessment into our program evaluation. Our strategies Faculty members develop and share their course- embedded assessment tools and results. Members of the evaluation committee develop tools for use by other faculty. Rationale for strategies Faculty ownership of the process, Lessen faculty burden

Curriculum Mapping  Describe an existing curriculum  Develop an existing curriculum  Curriculum maps can include  learning outcomes, content sequences, time allotted to topics, assignments, and assessments  Descriptive curriculum maps

SW 100SW 200SW 351SW 401SW Identify as a professional social worker xx Apply social work ethical principles x Apply critical thinking x Engage diversity and difference in practice xxx Advance human rights and social and economic justice xx Engage in research-informed practice and practice- informed research x Curriculum Map Example

Assessment Maps Assist a program to ensure that each competency has been assessed in multiple ways and that each has been assessed in at least one required course

Assessments Field education instructor assessment of each graduating BSW/MSW student Exit Surveys (BSW/MSW) Employer Surveys (BSW/MSW) Alumni Surveys (BSW/MSW) Exit Interview (PhD) Course-embedded assessments (BSW/MSW/PhD)

Assessment Map Sample Apply knowledge of human behavior and the social environmen t Engage in research- informed practice and practice- informed research Identify as a profession al social worker Apply social work ethical principles Engage in policy practice Apply critical thinking Engage diversity and difference in practice Advance human rights and social and economic justice Respond to contexts that shape practice Engage, assess, intervene, and evaluate with systems of all sizes SW 401 Rubrics for policy analysis paper, op- ed piece/letter to editor, and participatio n in Social Work Student Congress Rubric for advocacy day paper SW 351 Rubrics for reflective journals, reaction papers and student debates Rubric for social justice project

Use of Classroom grades Provides no specific information for planning program improvements Issues of validity

Direct Assessment Observed measures that assess learning by using work completed by students Authentic assessment Performance assessment Course-embedded assessment- classroom-based process that uses student achievement with respect to specific assignments or parts of assignments, specific examinations, or specific items on examinations to answer questions about student learning outcomes at the program level in a nonintrusive, systematic manner (Walvoord & Anderson, 1995).

Improvements based on results Wording of the purpose and an objective on a policy syllabus was changed and a policy objective was added to the field education syllabus Revision of writing assessment process and introduction of a writing course MSW Program Committee reviewing competencies for which student self-efficacy is not as high as instructor ratings Licensure preparation

Process in a Nutshell Make an assessment map Map existing courses onto SLOs Identify multiple ways of assessing outcomes Identify student learning outcomes Develop, implement, analyze, and use

Using Course-Embedded Assessments Gerretson and Golson (2004) Aggregation of results Devise assignments and precise grading criteria Score assignments and reporting benchmarks Identify student learning outcomes Use of results

Logic in Use That was the reconstructed logic Next, the logic-in-use

Our Hope our description of our process and our tools will assist others on this journey of aligning improvement efforts to assessment and assessment to identified student learning outcomes or competencies.

References Aitken, J., & Neer, M. (1991). Communication studies assessment report: A program for implementing a competency-based core curriculum (ED ). Retrieved from Gerretson, H., & Golson, E. (2004). Introducing and evaluating course-embedded assessment in general education. Assessment Update, 16(6), 4–6. Walvoord, B., & Anderson, V.J. (1995). An assessment riddle. Assessment Update, 7(6), Williams, J.D., & Bolland, K.A. (2011). Mapping our way to success. The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 16,

Questions? Kathleen A. Bolland, PhD Javonda Williams, PhD, LCSW