Designing Student Assessment To Strengthen Institutional Performance in Associate of Arts Institutions. Project 5.2, Organizational and Administrative Support for Student Assessment.

This monograph, part of a series on student assessment, reports on the results of a national survey that examined institutional support for undergraduate student assessment. The study provides a national profile of student assessment initiatives at associate of arts institutions and compares it to assessment practices and support patterns found in all types of postsecondary institutions. It also offers advice for administrators, faculty, and staff in associate of arts institutions who are designing student assessment approaches and support processes that are likely to foster institutional improvement. Also included is the survey instrument used to gather study data, which institutions can use to examine patterns for student assessment on their own campuses. The monograph is organized in nine sections; they are: (1) "Introduction and Overview," (2) "Perspectives on Student Assessment in Higher Education," (3) "The Influence of External Groups," (4) "Approaches to Student Assessment," (5) "Organizational and Administrative Support Patterns," (6) "Assessment Management Practices and Policies," (7) "Uses and Impacts of Student Assessment," (8) "Key Relationships," and (9) "Executive Summary: Research Results and Recommendations." Appended is the survey instrument, the "Inventory of Institutional Support for Student Assessment for Associate of Arts Institutions," and information on the construction and content of variables. (Contains 49 references.) (SM)