Competency Assessment in Public Administration Accreditation

Competency Assessment in Public Administration Accreditation: Value and Sustainability

Successful Student Assessment

A Closer Look

Questions?

Thank you!

What has COPRA learned?

Lessons from 3 Cohorts

• Defined Competencies
• Assessment Plan
• Curriculum Mapping
• Direct Measures
• Rubrics
• Impacting the program
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Sustainability

• Engage in Strategic Planning
• Communicate Conformance
• Processes
• Tools
• Involve Stakeholders
• Consider Sustainability

Closing the Feedback Loop

• Defining outcomes
• Gathering evidence
• Analyzing evidence
• Impacting the program

Where are examples on the NASPAA Website?

Direct Measures & Rubrics

Sustainability

Stakeholder Engagement

What works for your program?

How can you engage them?

The NASPAA website houses several sections of peer examples:

• Entire Self-Study Reports
• Logic Models
• Assessment Plans
• Rubrics
• Diversity Plans

As well as COPRA Policy Statements.

Curriculum Mapping

Direct Measure: based on an explicit representation of student work, typically against a rubric

• 1 tool to measure several competencies
• Manageable assessment each semester
• Use the assessment plan timeline

Assessment Plan

• Faculty
• Employers
• Students
• Alumni
• University

• Align with mission
• Define competencies
• Map the curriculum
• Identify measures
• Involve rubrics
• Engage faculty and other stakeholders
• Develop timeline
• Detail analysis procedures
• Impact program

• Be Sustainable

Rubric: objective tool to measure student performance, typically against a continuum

http://naspaa.org/accreditation/NS/Competency.asp

http://naspaa.org/accreditation/NS/guidance.asp

Sample Rubric

Direct and Indirect Measures

Reliability and Validity

Reliability: How consistent are your results?

Validity: Is your tool working? How well does it perform?

Indirect

• Exit interviews with graduating students
• Focus groups with students, alumni, etc.
• National ratings or rankings
• Student self-assessment
• Student or alumni surveys
• Employer surveys

Direct

• Annotated bibliographies
• Assessment center/mock interviews
• Case study analysis
• Completed course assignments
• Comprehensive exams, midterms, finals
• Culminating projects, papers, theses
• Internship reports
• Journals, discussion board posts, blogs
• Policy analysis reports
• Role-playing, simulations

Thank you to University of South Dakota!

Program Evaluation and NASPAA Accreditation

Articulate effectiveness and accomplishments

Examples

Refer to the handout

• Mission-based: Is your program achieving its mission?
• Allows flexibility to programs across the globe
• Outcomes-based: What is your program's impact on its students and public service?

• Consider the strengths and weaknesses
• How could it be strengthened?
• What further information would COPRA request? Why?

Program Evaluation

The Basics

Things to Consider

• Types of measures: are they working for the program? Are they direct?
• Reliance on surveys: what does that capture?
• Is there any external involvement?
• How well does it reflect the mission?
• How could the pre/post approach be strengthened?

• A holistic evaluation of mission-based success: how well is your program working?
• A key component of strategic planning
• How does a logic model help?

Standards 1 and 5

Sample Logic Model

How do they connect?

• Program evaluation versus student learning assessment
• SLOs are only one indicator of program success
• Logic model versus assessment plan

Abraham Benavides, Rex Facer, Crystal Calarusse, & Heather Gregory