Workforce Program Assessment Planning Guide

Step 4: Choose an Assessment Model

There are many different possible approaches to program assessment. Your planning process will be simplified if you first consider which type of approach you will use. This will give you a general framework for assessment and help ensure that your plan fits with your department's goals and values.

Consider the following models for program assessment:

• Curriculum-embedded assessment: incorporate/identify assignments, tests, and projects throughout your curriculum that address your core competencies and systematically gather data from these (usually in the form of test and rubric scores)
• Portfolio assessment: use the same kinds of assignments you would use in curriculum-embedded assessment, but make students responsible for gathering these into a portfolio, which can be evaluated at key points during and at the end of the program
• Pre-post testing: use an existing, validated test (or develop one yourself) as a pre-test and/or as a post-test. Tests could include multiple-choice items, open-ended questions requiring written responses, or hands-on tasks.
• Capstone course: incorporate a project or other major assignment that addresses your core competencies into a course that students take at the end of their program, perhaps integrating it with an internship experience

This list is not exhaustive, nor are these models mutually exclusive - you can use two or more together - and you can tweak elements of these approaches to fit your needs. For a more in-depth look at each model, its benefits and challenges, and possibilities for combining approaches, watch the following narrated presentation:

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