How Accreditation Influences Assessment: New Directions for Higher Education, No. 113

With the shift in accreditation from standards to student learning outcomes, and institutional and programmatic requirements to demonstrate student outcomes increasing; this volume offers timely perspectives and research on the latest developments in accreditation and assessment. The authors-accrediting agency officials, campus leaders involved with accreditation and assessment, and higher education researchers -- discuss six salient new directions in accreditation and assessment process that together offer effective ways to enhance student, faculty, and institutional learning. Examples of working accreditation programs include new methods of distance-education program assessment, an institutional accreditation self-study at the University of Vermont, and the Urban Universities Portfolio Project, a national study involving six urban universities who are using electronic portfolios to provide public access on student learning outcomes. The authors also present an initial review of accreditation and assessment backgrounds, changing standards, and underlying issues, as well as a survey of more than twenty written accreditation policies, making this volume a valuable resource for anyone planning or conducting an institutional self-study as a vehicle for change and renewal. This is the 113th issue of the quarterly journal New Directions for Higher Education.

JAMES L. RATCLIFF is president of Performance Associates Postsecondary Consulting in Pueblo, Colorado and is affiliate senior scientist and former director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania University. EDWARD S. LUBINESCU is a doctoral candidate and graduate research assistant at the Shreyer Institute for Teaching and Learning, Pennsylvania State University. MAUREEN A. GAFFNEY is a doctoral candidate and graduate research assistant in higher education at Pennsylvania State University.