77-000 ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT (POLICY) The Board of Trustees and constituencies of Oglala Lakota College are committed to continuous improvement of student academic achievement. To further this goal, academic departments will conduct regular activities to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and/or abilities students are acquiring while attending classes at OLC. Results of assessment activities will be used to plan and budget for continual improvement of college operations. Purposes of assessing student academic achievement: 1. To provide information to students and faculty about individual progress; 2. To inform faculty and other professionals so they may develop appropriate learning programs and curriculum; 3. To provide information to people who make decisions about the allocation of resources for curriculum, pedagogy, college organization, and other educational goals; 4. To provide information to the public regarding the institution’s performance; Who will be assessed: 1. Entering freshmen 2. Students in basic skills courses (English and Math). 3. Students completing an Associates Degree and/or complete a designated number of credit hours during their first two years of college. 4. Students in academic and vocational degree programs as determined by their academic department. What will be assessed: Entering freshmen and junior students will be assessed in basic skills subjects and the college core, including but not limited to Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Lakota cultural awareness. In addition to college wide assessment in core subjects, students’ learning will also be assessed in their majors and in specific courses as determined by the respective academic departments. Assessment process: Assessment will use a number of direct and indirect measures to determine learning. Direct measures may be criterion-based and/or norm-referenced. Students will be assessed at different points during the student’s academic program. Reporting of results: 1. The chair of each academic department and/or the director of each instructional site is responsible for forwarding assessment results to the Institutional Assessment and Research Office as outlined in the procedures below . 2. Summary Reports of assessment results in Basic Skills/Core will be prepared by the Institutional Assessment and Research Office on a semester and /or annual basis. 3. Each academic department will prepare a report of assessments carried out with a copy of each report to be lodged in the Institutional Assessment and Research Office. Assessment Committee: Oglala Lakota College will have a permanent assessment committee whose members broadly represent the college’s academic departments. In addition, members may also be drawn from support services and students. The duties of the assessment committee are: 1. Develop, distribute and monitor a schedule pertaining to assessment (i.e. an assessment calendar) 2. Review assessment results from the Institutional Assessment and Research office and from the academic units. 3. Recommend assessment activities and processes and their modification. 4. Review and approve a semester and annual report prepared by the Institutional Assessment and Research office, which describes the semester’s and year’s outcomes of the assessment of student academic achievement. Planning and budgeting: Assessment results and assessment reports will be distributed to OLC’s Administration and Departments for use in planning and budgeting for continual improvement of student learning. Personnel: Oglala Lakota College affirms that assessment is a process independent of decisions concerning personnel matters, such as retention, rehire, or dismissal. Assessment outcomes will not be used for such purposes and every effort will be made to safeguard against the use of assessment results for matters related to these areas. 1. All Tests to be used for assessing student academic achievement will be reviewed by the assessment committee and copies will be lodged in the Office of Institutional Assessment and Research. 2. Directors of instructional sites or other designated faculty or staff are responsible to forward results of all diagnostic/placement tests to the Institutional Assessment and Research office no later than the first week of classes in the Fall and Spring semester. 3. Designated faculty from relevant academic departments will forward the results of any post tests conducted in pre-college level classes and/or other classes designated for post tests by the department involved no later than the due date for final grades each semester. 4. A designated faculty member from the Humanities and Language Arts department will forward the results of holistically scored essays to the Institutional Assessment and Research Office at the end of each semester, that is, on the date when final grades are due in the Registrar’s Office. 5. Based on the assessment activities carried out by each academic department and as outlined in the department’s assessment plan(s), the assessment committee will publish an assessment calendar each semester. 6. Academic departments will provide the Institutional Assessment and Research office with a report that summarizes the department’s assessment activities and assessment results as they relate to departmental programs, courses, and/or disciplines. This report should constitute an appendix to the department’s overall report, which is due at the end of department chairs’ contract year. 7. Based on the timely submission of reports and data from academic departments and instructional sites, the Institutional Assessment and Research Office, will furnish a semester report by the middle of the following semester and an annual report by the end of the academic year. The annual assessment report will be reviewed by the assessment committee at the beginning of the following academic year and contain recommendations from the Assessment Committee for improving the academic achievement of OLC’s students. I. ASSESSMENT OF GENERAL EDUCATION Tests and Who: What: How: Administered: Responsibilty: Assessments: Placement tests: Entering Reading, writing, Computer Prior to Foundational first year and math adaptive completion Studies studentd inventories of registration Results process forwarded to to Direstor of Assessment Post Tests Students who General Studies Standardized and Twice per calendar Director of Assessment are at the end and Lakota nationally recognized year. Prior to of their second Language Cultural direct measure of students being year of studies, Profieciency general education awarded an associate's Lakota Studies end of sophmore curriculum degree or Dept. forwarded status or beginning advancement to to Director of of junior year status bachelor's degree Assessment status Holistic Writing Students who Writing and Holistic Scoring End of semester. Humanities Dept. have completed Composition of Essays by results forwarded Engl. 103 Skills faculty to Director of Assessment Information/ Students exiting Computer Locally developed End of semester Instructional computer general education Literacy assessment of Technology literacy technology courses and student proficiency Dept. Results knowledge demonstrated forwarded to and skills skills Director of Assessment Results forwarded to Director of Assessment II. ASSESSMENT IN THE MAJOR Exit Exams Who: What: Direct Measures: Responsibility: To measure Students in * Courses * Course embedded Academic Department student learning Junior or * Disciplines assessments in courses Senior year (as * Programs * Capstone/Internships, and programs determined by their standardized and Results forwarded to academic department Departments determine locally developed Director of Assessment what professional exams as part of annual reports standards and * Essays blind scored accreditation across the department requirements apply or division within the major or * Juried Reviews of degree senior project * Externally reviewed exhibitions/performances * Performance on state and national licensure * Exams other as appropriate The Institutional Assessment and Research Office will furnish an annual assessment report based on Sections I. and II. above by the end of the academic year. The Assessment Committee will review the report at the beginning of the following academic year. The report will contain recommendations for improving student academic achievement. OTHER ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES: (INDIRECT MEASURES) Component Time Schedule Population Distribution Use of Results Responsibility of Results Alumni Survey Every Year Alumni of the College, community, Information and Director of previous year OLC Website Planning Assessment and Center Directors Employer Survey Every odd year OLC Graduate Administration,faculty Program and Director of Assessment employers departments, districts curriculum planning and Center Directors Community Survey Every three years District Administration,faculty Establishing Director of Assessment Population departments, districts community needs and Center Directors Survey of Every semester Students who Administration,faculty Program planning Director of Assessment Students who drop out/stop out departments, districts and Center Directors drop out/stop out Student Every semester All students Districts, departments, Identify student Director of Assessment attendance chairs, administration needs and Center Directors