Definition of Assessment-Related Terms
Academic program review is the systematic assessment of an institution’s academic programs, essential for ensuring all students receive a quality educational experience. Internal academic program review is a central component of institutional effectiveness, strategic planning, assessment of student learning outcomes and in achieving organizational goals and objectives. The impetus for academic program review at Virginia State University (VSU) is faculty driven. Academic program review determines the effectiveness of each academic program.
Accountability assessment reviews a program or an institution applicable to requisite standards of an accrediting body, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) (2025).
Assessment is the systematic, continuous process of gathering, reviewing, and using data on student learning and program outcomes in an academic program for the purpose of making improvements. Assessment is an ongoing four-step process of establishing clear, measurable, expected outcomes of student learning; ensuring that students have sufficient opportunities to achieve those outcomes; systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to determine how well student learning matches our expectations; and, using the resulting information to understand and improve student learning (Suskie, 2009, p. 4).
Assessment activities include the requisite writing and development of Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes (PLSLOs), curriculum maps, reports, evidence, etc. for program review.
Assessment Coordinators are specially assigned faculty in every program / department to provide leadership for planning, monitoring, and reporting assessment-related activities and records. Assessment coordinators provide professional planning, development, coordination, and monitoring for their department / program’s assessment programs and initiatives, and support the goals and objectives of the program-level accreditation. Assessment coordinators continually monitor progress toward the attainment of defined PLSLOs by collecting and analyzing data, and communicating with faculty, staff, and other constituents. Assessment coordinators interface with college personnel, external accrediting bodies, and other partners to ensure accurate information and submission of relevant assessment data. The Assessment Coordinator for each program provides the leadership for the development and submission of the program assessment reports and documents. Assessment Coordinators are assisted by Curriculum Committee, Assessment Committee, and Program Chair / Coordinator.
Assessment instrument / tool is a method or resource used by educators to measure systematically students’ learning, skills, knowledge, attitudes, or performance in relation to specific student learning outcomes. The instrument / tool is aligned with the specific knowledge, skills, or abilities the outcome is meant to assess. An assessment instrument / tool is an assignment that pertains to Course-level student learning outcomes (CLSLOs) and / or PLSLOs; it is not a rubric.
The Assessment Leadership Team is a University-wide advisory group that provides guidance in the direction and scope of assessment across campus, as well as feedback on the annual assessment reports that all units must submit. The Team consists of faculty members from all the six colleges at VSU. The size of the college guides the number of faculty members who represents it on the Team.
Bloom’s taxonomy includes Benjamin Bloom’s six hierarchical criteria applied to students’ learning through corresponding aligned assignments: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating, with creating as the highest order of learning. (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). The verbs from the Bloom’s taxonomy are used to design assignments.
Competency is an area of knowledge or skill covered by PLSLOs and CLSLOs.
Course content is a colloquial term used interchangeably with course goals, course objectives, etc. that is used to describe the scope of learning outcomes expected to be covered in a course; however, course content refers more broadly to any and all material used and covered in a course.
Course-Level Student Learning Outcomes (CLSLOs) are statements that specify what students will know, perform, demonstrate, think, or value as a result of coursework completion in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). The CLSLOs are crafted in observable, measurable, and quantifiable terms and are defined based on PLSLOs that contribute to the program curriculum map. These CLSLOs are expressed using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy action verbs to observe and measure student learning outcomes.
Curriculum mapping is a process for recording what content and skills are actually taught in a course. The process of aligning course content, especially assessment tools, with PLSLOs is often done systematically with faculty involvement. Ideally, faculty align their course content with the PLSLOs in their course syllabi.
Director of Institutional Assessment provides a multipronged-approach, encompassing individual, departmental, and college-level support to foster a culture of assessment within the university. VSU employs a top-down approach to assessment.
Direct assessment involves measurements that demonstrate students’ learning through assessment instruments such as course assignments including tests and essays or on a series of such assignments.
Embedded assessment is an assessment tool that includes additional measurements to demonstrate other kinds of learning; for example, a research essay demonstrates students’ skills regarding how to do research, to analyze, and to synthesize in addition to assessing students’ writing skills.
External evaluator is a member of an accrediting body that reviews colleges’ and universities’ programs or the overall institution.
General education encompasses a corpus of lower-level, usually 1xx- and 2xx-level, courses to provide students in higher education with foundational knowledge, skills, and abilities. These courses are utilized to assess students’ performance regarding general education outcomes.
Improvement assessment reviews courses, programs, or institutions further to develop and to assessment students’ development, or growth, in learning.
Indirect assessment is a secondary means for gathering information or data about students’ learning, such as their perceptions of their learning through reflecting on their strengths, improvements, and insights.
Institutional assessment measures all programs and other aspects of an institution.
Internal academic program review evaluates the program and comprises faculty members outside the program. The Internal Review Team (IRT) is responsible for conducting the review of programs that do not have external accreditation bodies.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) are usually what are being assessed through PLSLOs and CLSLOS in a course, program, and institution.
Learning outcomes are expectations about what students will know, be able to do, or appreciate after participating in a given educational experience. The learning outcomes for assessment at VSU include PLSLOs and CLSLOs.
Local assessment is internal program- or department-level measurement of students’ learning usually based on PLSLOs and CLSLOs.
Nuventive Improvement System is an electronic assessment management system. Nuventive is VSU’s current system for creating and documenting assessment plans and processes including PLSLOs, curriculum maps, assessment measures, and results.
Objectives are strategies to achieve priorities in courses, programs, and institutions.
Office of the Planning and Institutional Effectiveness (OPIE) coordinates “planning, assessment, evaluation, and institutional research activities” to support VSU’s “instruction, research, extension and outreach” (Virginia State University, n.d.).
Outcome is a performance, activity, or project that can be measured, usually cumulative.
Priorities are overall goals that relate to the mission or vision of a program, college, or university. In the Program Quality Enhancement Plan (PQEP), these priorities develop from the Program Self-Study and the Internal Review Teams’ reports or an external evaluator report.
Program assessment measures a program or a department for improvement or accountability based on PLSLOs.
Program-level student learning outcomes (PLSLOs) are identified as KSAs that are measurable performances, activities, or projects that pertain to an area of study in which a student may be awarded certification or a degree. The PLSLOs are crafted in measurable and quantifiable terms and are defined based on the program’s intended purpose and established academic guidelines. These PLSLOs are also informed by external requirements, including industry requirements and / or best practices, specialized professional association standards, external school and program accreditation agencies, and / or governmental mandates. These PLSLOs are expressed using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy action verbs to observe and measure student learning outcomes.
Program Quality Enhancement Plan (PQEP) lists priorities, objectives, actions, and resources to improve a certificate- or degree-granting area of study.
Program review evaluates a certificate- or degree-awarding area of study.
Program self-study involves faculty within a certificate- or degree-awarding area of study to evaluate that area.
Qualitative assessment is a measurement based on criteria that do not have numeric values, such as assessing the development logical arguments.
Quantitative assessment is a measurement that assigns numeric values.
Rubric identifies criteria for qualitative or quantitative assessment of an assessment tool.
Self-assessment refers to an institution’s internal assessment.
Standards are expectations of criteria to be met or exceeded.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is an accountability-assessment accreditation body for higher education in the southeastern United States. SACSCOC is comprised of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) founded in 1895 and the Commission on Colleges (COC) established in 1917 (Pruitt, 2025).
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) is a state-level “coordinating body for higher education” in Virginia that developed from a 1955 report entitled “The Crisis in Higher Education in Virginia and a Solution: Report of the Virginia Advisory Legislative Council to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia” (State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, n.d.).
Summative assessment requires data or information collected at the end of a course or program for improvement or for accountability.
University effectiveness is a determination based on assessment outcomes and improvements.
The University Effectiveness Committee (UEC) is a University-wide committee that assists with assessment-related activities such as the review of documents, assessment planning and reporting processes, and program-review documents. UEC members serve on the Internal Review Teams (IRT), which are charged with the program review of all academic programs that do not have external accreditation bodies. The Team consists of faculty members from all the six colleges at VSU. The size of the college guides the number of faculty members assigned to it.
References
Anderson, L., & Krathwohl, D. A. (Eds.). (2001). Taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Longman.
Pruitt, S. L. (2025). Welcome from the president. SACSCOC. https://sacscoc.org/welcome-from-the-president/
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. (2025). About SACSCOC. SACSCOC. https://sacscoc.org
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. (n.d.). Overview. State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Retrieved September 14, 2025, from https://www.schev.edu/about/overview.
Suskie, L. (2009). Assessing student learning: A common sense guide (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Virginia State University. (n.d.). The Office of Planning and Institutional Effectiveness. Virginia State University. Retrieved September 14, 2025, from https://www.vsu.edu/opie/.