Charles Secolsky - Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education

HANDBOOK ON MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT, AND EVALUATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. This book provides higher education administrators, student affairs personnel, institutional researchers, and faculty with an integrated handbook of theory, method, and application to facilitate informed decision-making in higher education.

Special Features:

• Contributing Authors are world-renowned scholars across the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation, including: Robert E. Stake, Trudy W. Banta, Michael J. Kolen, Noreen M. Webb, Kurt F. Geisinger, Robert J. Mislevy, Ronald K. Hambleton, Rebecca Zwick, John W. Creswell, and Margaret D. LeCompte.
• Depth of Coverage includes classroom assessment and student outcomes; assessment techniques for accountability and accreditation; test theory, item response theory, validity, and reliability; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods evaluation; context and ethics of assessment.
• Questions and Exercises follow each Section to reinforce the valuable concepts and insights presented in the preceding chapters.

This book enables educational decision-makers to engage in more sound professional judgment, providing higher education administrators with both high-level and detailed views into contemporary theories and practices, supplemented with guidance on how to apply them for the benefit of students and institutions.

Charles Secolsky is Director of Institutional Research and Planning at County College of Morris, New Jersey.

D. Brian Denison is Institutional Research Analyst at Champlain Regional College, Quebec, Canada.

HANDBOOK ON MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT, AND EVALUATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Edited by Charles Secolsky and D. Brian Denison

First published 2012

by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Simultaneously published in the UK

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2012 Taylor & Francis

The right of the editor to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Handbook on measurement, assessment, and evaluation in higher education / [edited by] Charles Secolsky, D. Brian Denison.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Education, HigherEvaluationHandbooks, manuals, etc.

2. Educational tests and measurementsHandbooks, manuals, etc.

I. Secolsky, Charles. II. Denison, D. Brian.

LB2331.62.H36 2011

378.166dc23

2011028069

ISBN: 9780415880756 (hbk)

ISBN: 9780415880763 (pbk)

ISBN: 9780203142189 (ebk)

To Anna, Stephanie, and Barbara for motivating me; and to Bob Stake, for his decades of friendship and sustained supportfor which I shall be eternally grateful. (CS)

To Janet G. Donald, Professor Emeritus, McGill University, for introducing me to the fascinating world of higher education research; and to Gohar Sahakian, for being the balancing force in my life. (DBD)

Figures

Tables

13.7 Item Analysis Results for the Table 13.6 Data

Foreword

Edward J. Yaw, Ed.D.

PRESIDENT, COUNTY COLLEGE OF MORRIS

FORMER CHAIR, NEW JERSEY PRESIDENTS COUNCIL

The Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education heralds an important milestone in the evolution of institutional research in the academy. The earliest efforts at institutional assessment and research date back to the years immediately following World War Two. Institutional research matured as a legitimate field of study and important management tool in the late sixties and early seventies. Certainly, the work of Paul L. Dressel at the University of Michigan was an important catalyst for this movement. His many publications contributed to the body of knowledge in this field, and provided a roadmap to the future. Today, nearly all colleges and universities have an active institutional research function.

These developments paralleled important innovations beyond the walls of the academy that placed increased emphasis on statistical analysis and decision making. W. Edwards Demings ground breaking approach to total quality management, and the development of Six Sigma certifications have had an impact.

It is worth noting that this maturation of the profession comes at a time in the history of the academy when it is needed more than ever. The ever-increasing demands for public accountability and the challenges to regional accreditation require rigorous and thoughtful approaches to institutional assessment, and the assessment of student learning.

As editors of this handbook, Drs. Charles Secolsky and Brian Denison have assembled the best thinking of some of the most prominent professionals in the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. Collectively, their efforts provide an outstanding resource for presidents, administrators, and faculty as they wrestle with the issues of accountability and assessment.

The handbook provides a balance of practical and theoretical approaches to the subject at hand and, where appropriate, includes exercises to foster understanding. Importantly, it recognizes the critical relationship between disciplined study and decision making. Decisions informed by rigorous study are critical to moving the enterprise forward. In the final analysis, the purpose of evaluation and assessment is continuous improvement of the academy.

Preface

Improving Institutional Decision Making through Educational Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation

Charles Secolsky and D. Brian Denison

Managing an institution of higher education is a very difficult task. It necessitates attention to many administrative details arising from a mix of rational and irrational forces. Understanding of ones institution requires a wide of array of skills that presidents, vice presidents, deans, department chairpersons, faculty, and other staff must possess in order to make a college or university run smoothly and adapt to a changing external environment. When possible, higher education administrators use sound professional judgment to make decisions about their institution. At other times, they must combine this judgment with timely data to inform these decisions. While it is sometimes the case that decisions are supported by data after the decisions have been made, it would appear prudent for those who are charged with managing the operation of an institution of higher learning to have at their disposal up-to-date resources to aid in planning and deliberating decisions beforehand.

The Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education is intended to provide higher education administrators, student affairs personnel, faculty, the institutional researchers who generate and analyze data, and other stakeholders with an integrated handbook of theory, method, and application. This handbook brings together applied terminology, analytical perspectives, and methodological advances from the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation to facilitate informed decision making. It connects the latest thinking in these methodological areas with the actual practice of administration in higher education.