Anthology Blog

Assessment has been used to evaluate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and it is time to shift the discussion to embedding DEI efforts into the practice of assessment. A number of practitioners who participated in a recent survey about the intersections of assessment and equity, agree.

The summer months provide an opportunity to reset, reflect and re-examine many of our institutional processes. As we strive to make annual assessment meaningful and manageable, we must evolve ongoing processes based on our unique students, curricula, resources and culture.

Within the first hour of almost every assessment consultation session I facilitate, the same question deflates the air in the room: ‘How does your institution use learning data to improve the student experience?’

Over the past several years, numerous institutions have dealt with high profile risks and the resulting disastrous after-effects: hurricanes, mass shootings, suicides, sexual abuse, hate crimes and more.

Campuses have shared a great variety of ways the pandemic has impacted assessment. Some reported a heightened emphasis on data and an increase in activity—others said they cancelled assessments and lowered expectations.