North Central Association Resources

Assessment-related resources from the Higher Learning Commission, part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, our regional accrediting body. Note: Many of these links are to PDF documents and require Adobe Acrobat for reading (available free from Adobe)

• The Handbook of Accreditation, Third Edition. Chapter 3: The Criteria for Accreditation
  Find here the five criteria statements, their core components, and examples of evidence for each.  Criteria Three--Student Learning and Effective Teaching--describe the Commission's expectations for academic assessment.
• Commission Statement on Assessment of Student Learning
  The Commission's formal position statement regarding assessment.
• Student Learning, Assessment, and Accreditation
  Short statement on the importance of assessment in higher education. Includes a list of fundamental questions for conversations about student learning.
• Guide for Institutions and Evaluators--Assessment of Student Learning
  A broad overview of the criteria used to evaluate colleges and universities for re-accreditation. Chapter 2--Student Learning Principles--contains subsections on the documentation of student learning and the compilation of assessment evidence.  The Appendix also provides a heuristic for brainstorming assessment measures.
• Assessment of Student Academic Achievement:  Assessment Culture Matrix
  A helpful visual break-down of the ways in and reasons why assessment is a shared responsibility of administrators and faculty.  See also the self-analysis worksheet for faculty, departments, assessment committees, and administrators to reflect on their progress establishing and maintaining a culture of assessment.
  • clearly stated goals for all academic programs
  • explicit objectives for student learning derived from those goals that are publicly stated and linked to specific measures
  • the use of multiple instruments that include direct measures of student learning
  • minutes of Assessment Committee meetings that document how assessment information has been collected and interpreted
  • a feedback loop, that is, documentation of how the information derived from interpretation of the data has been disseminated, to what constituents, how often, and to what end.
  • documentation of changes proposed and made in teaching, curricula, and and/or academic support services as a direct result of information derived from the analysis of the data
  • evidence of any improvement in student achievement following the changes; and
  • evidence that the assessment program itself is being periodically evaluated."

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