"A practical guide to implementing institutional effectiveness or student outcomes assessment activities on campus. Intended for administrators at both two-year and four-year institutions, the Handbook offers concrete, specific suggestions for developing an implementation plan or model that will outline a general sequence of events leading toward genuine and comprehensive campus implementation of institutional effectiveness or outcomes assessment ; require as small an amount of additional funding as possible for the institution; be supported by detailed reviews of practice or literature in the field at the critical points of implementation"--Back cover.

Institutional research is more relevant today than ever before as growing pressures for improved student learning and increased institutional accountability motivate higher education to effectively use ever-expanding data and information resources. As the most current and comprehensive volume on the topic, the Handbook describes the fundamental knowledge, techniques, and strategies that define institutional research. The book contains an overview of the profession and its history, examines how institutional research supports executive and academic leadership and governance, and discusses the varied ways data from federal, state, and campus sources are used by research professionals. With contributions from leading experts in the field, this important resource reviews the analytic tools, techniques, and methodologies used by institutional researchers in their professional practice and covers a wide range of topics such as: conducting institutional research; statistical applications; comparative analyses; quality control systems; measuring student, faculty, and staff opinions; and management activities designed to improve organizational effectiveness.

The chapters in this component of Assessing Media Education are valuable for those who need to know how to develop an assessment plan.

This monograph focuses on general education, the one common curricular component that most institutions of higher learning share at the undergraduate level. Also known as the "core curriculum," this uniquely American curricular form is among the common interests of regional accreditation associations throughout the United States. In publicly financed institutions, it is also the area most likely to be the subject of "assessment for accountability" efforts by the public and their representatives. The monograph is user-oriented like the others in the series. Specific examples of models of general education assessment activities (through use of results to improve student learning) are provided for a comprehensive community college, a major state university, and a private college. Users are encouraged to adjust and adapt the models described to best meet their institutional circumstances and culture.