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Guiding Principles of Assessment at The New School
Guiding Principles of Assessment at The New School
Assessment of student learning is the iterative process through which faculty members and administrators reflect on the degree to which students are achieving established learning outcomes. These outcomes are established for every program as part of the accreditation process, and every course within a program should be designed to lead students through a scaffolded progression of learning toward those outcomes. Upon completion of the program degree, or certificate, students will have produced work that demonstrates achievement or mastery of the program’s learning outcomes.
In order to align student expectations with what is being taught and to promote a positive student learning experience, it is important that we utilize learning outcomes next to the work students produce to ensure that coursework is building proficiency and skill. Our challenge is to engage in assessment in ways that teach us more of what we want to know as educators–that is, to strategically use assessment as a pedagogical tool.
We are committed to excellence in teaching and learning, based on academic best practices, and to continual exploration of our classrooms. Assessment enables faculty to carry out this process, leading towards student learning and growth. To this end, we believe that:
Program and course assessments are faculty-directed reflections of the work in which they already engage.
Assessment is not intended and will not be used to evaluate individual students or faculty members.
Program assessment is intended to illustrate the entirety of the student learning experience, including in program curricula and in co-curricular activities.
Assessment should include a balance of approaches, including some activities designed according to the specific needs of individual programs and circumstances and some that are consistent across the university, creating opportunities for cross-program comparisons.
Assessment should be performed as a routine aspect of teaching and learning.
Students should be considered as partners in the assessment process, acknowledging their lived experiences as part of culturally relevant teaching and learning practices.
Academic Programs
Academic Programs
Degree-granting programs at The New School evaluate students' achievement of program learning outcomes in accordance with published Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) and New York State Education Department (NYSED) standards. The Curriculum, Learning, and Academic Affairs (CLAA) team in the Provost’s Office collaborates with faculty and administrators to manage the assessment process, utilizing its findings to inform strategic planning and other academic initiatives.
Undertaken in an iterative cycle, program faculty are encouraged to consider several approaches in their review including but not limited to the examination of student work (e.g. papers, projects, portfolios) or the surveying of students and/or alumni on their perceived achievement of program learning outcomes. We recommend program leadership work closely with faculty and college deans to create a multi-year assessment plan to ensure that program assessment is informed by information from a variety of sources (e.g. direct assessment of student work, student surveys, faculty surveys). Whenever possible, students should be included in the development and execution of assessment initiatives as a matter of equity and transparency.
Through the assessment process, faculty members should consider the following:
What do we want our students to learn?
What methods or approaches will best determine whether students are learning what we expect them to?
Where would we look for evidence that students are learning what we said they should be?
How do we measure success? What criteria will we use to rank, level, or evaluate across samples of students' work?
What do the results of assessment tell us about how or where we can improve our courses, programs, and the institution to better aid our students in reaching their learning goals?
Why Does Assessing a Program Matter?
It gives faculty and administrators an ongoing opportunity to reflect on program priorities.
It provides information to the faculty about program strengths and weaknesses.
It provides information to the students about the program, including their responsibilities for meeting program expectations as well as what they can expect to learn in the program.
It allows the university to demonstrate its effectiveness in meeting its educational goals; and
It is a critical part of the re-accreditation process.
Shared Capacities
Shared Capacities
Shared Capacities underlie The New School’s distinctive approach to general education. Shared Capacities are the competencies or skills that undergraduates develop over the course of their education. The university community has identified 11 Shared Capacities, which range from basic skills, such as writing and oral communication and quantitative and scientific literacy, to competencies that are particularly emblematic of The New School. Each of these capacities has its own learning outcomes. For more information, visit TNS's Shared Capacities Initiative website.
Assessment Cycle
Assessment Cycle
The Shared Capacities Assessment Cycle outlines which Shared Capacities and associated learning outcomes will be assessed each academic year. For more information, please contact the Director of Academic Assessment.
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