Student Learning Outcome Assessment in NASPAA Programs: A Review of Validity and Reliability

Abstract

Developments in regional and professional accreditation have brought profound changes to how public affairs programs measure student learning outcomes (SLOs). There is little doubt that these developments have resulted in an increase in the frequency of SLO assessment as well as an increase in the variety of assessment mechanisms used. As programs continue to focus resources and attention on assessment, it is instructive to examine how programs are engaging in the assessment of SLOs and what best practices have emerged from these assessment approaches. This study reviews the assessment strategies and instruments utilized by programs in the 2012–2013 NASPAA accreditation cohort, focusing on the types of validation and reliability methods used by programs.

Keywords:

• Assessment
• reliability
• validity

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David C. Powell

David C. Powell is a professor and the director of the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Long Beach. His research areas include student learning outcomes assessment and m-government.

Michelle Saint-Germain

Michelle Saint-Germain is professor emerita of the Graduate Center for Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Long Beach. She remains active in research, publishing, and consulting concerning assessment, accreditation, and accountability for graduate programs. She teaches in the fall semester and indulges in her love of bicycling, travel, and watercolor painting the rest of the year.