Evidence-Based Storytelling in Assessment. Occasional Paper No. 50

In the field of education, we bump constantly into buzzwords, pass unclear phrases in the hall, and greet acronyms as good friends. Yet rarely is it that we unpack or critically examine what is meant when phrases are uttered. What does it actually "mean" to "enhance institutional effectiveness"? To "foster synergy"? To "improve student learning"? In the field of assessment, there is a stated desire for "more use of assessment results," to "close the loop." There is agreement that the purpose and intention for engaging in assessing student learning is to ultimately "improve student learning" but there is no clear framework for what "improving student learning" entails or what it means to "close the loop." However, there does seem to be agreement that whatever "use" might mean, there is not enough of it happening let alone with regularity (Kuh et al., 2015). This paper provides an overview of an alternative conception of use through the lens of evidence-based storytelling--an approach that has been used at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) to refine and encourage evidence-based stories in assessment (Jankowski & Baker, 2019). This occasional paper serves two main purposes: to re-examine what is meant by use of assessment results and to unpack evidence-based storytelling and its connection to assessment.