Advancing Assessment of Learning in Higher Education as a Discipline: Benefits, Tensions, and Next Steps

Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (ALHE) has, since its roots in the early 1980s, grown into a routine activity in higher education institutions in the United States that is led by thousands of professionals who contribute to a growing body of scholarship. Yet, there are few formal ALHE training programs, no licensure or certification for ALHE professionals, no accreditation for ALHE programs, and only a handful of dedicated journals, resulting in limited outside recognition of ALHE as a discipline. Failure to fully establish ALHE as a discipline puts ALHE in a dangerous position, leaving its progress in advancing student learning vulnerable to external forces. The purposes of this paper are to examine the progress ALHE has made in advancing as a discipline and to explore the benefits and tensions inherent in growing ALHE as a discipline. Using lessons from Library Science, the paper concludes by identifying steps that show promise for continuing the advancement of ALHE as a discipline and ensuring ALHE is ready to meet the needs of future generations of learners.