Library Assessment: Why do Assessment?

Why do assessment? There are many reasons.

• For general/improved decision-making. Data enables librarians to make infomed decisions about library services and instruction strategies.
• To get staff working together instead of at cross-purposes. If there are no agreed outcomes and goals, library employees may be working against each other to strive toward conflicting outcomes.
• Reaffirm you are on the right track. Data may support strategic planning goals and help justify choices or may indicate needed changes to the plan.
• To show the value of the library for funding. Data may support and justify library services to stakeholders controlling purse strings.
• Go beyond “what we provide” to “why do we matter.” Libraries have tended to count the number of books and the number of instruction sessions offered rather than the effect and benefits of the library to the community. The benefits are what matter to our library patrons. "What are you doing for me?"
• Because it’s required by the university. Accrediting agencies in higher education are requiring universities to document the use of assessment in their decision-making processes.

Institutions of higher education are being strongly encouraged to develop a culture of assessment in which quantitative and qualitative evidence is used to successfully provide student learning and academic services. Evidence is used to determine whether students are learning what the university determines they should be learning and whether services are successfully producing the outcomes for which they are intended.

There are many different performance assessment processes. Higher education favors outcomes-based assessment.

Libraries play a part in the successful functioning of a university and the achievement of its goals. The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) encourages libraries to utilize assessment in the improvement of student learning of information literacy.

The Higher Learning Commission accredits institutions in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Wyoming.

The following criteria are the statements from HLC which specify that universities must use evidence and assessment in its functioning.

HLC Criteria for Accreditation.

Criteria 2: Preparing for the Future
The organization’s allocation of resources and its processes for evaluation and planning demonstrate its capacity to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its education, and respond to future challenges and opportunities.

a. The organization realistically prepares for a future shaped by multiple societal and economic trends.
b. The organization’s resource base supports its educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future.
c. The organization’s ongoing evaluation and assessment processes provide reliable evidence of institutional effectiveness that clearly informs strategies for continuous improvement.
d. All levels of planning align with the organization’s mission, thereby enhancing its capacity to fulfill that mission.

Criteria 3: Student Learning and Effective Teaching 
The organization provides evidence of student learning and teaching effectiveness that demonstrates it is fulfilling its educational mission.

a. The organization’s goals for student learning outcomes are clearly stated for each educational program and make effective assessment possible.
b. The organization values and supports effective teaching.
c. The organization creates effective learning environments.
d. The organization’s learning resources support student learning and effective teaching.

4. The institution provides to students and instructors the infrastructure and resources necessary to support effective teaching and learning (technological infrastructure, scientific laboratories, libraries, performance spaces, clinical practice sites, museum collections, as appropriate to the institution’s offerings).

Criterion 4. Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement
The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning environments, and support services, and it evaluates their effectiveness for student learning through processes designed to promote continuous improvement.

a. The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs.
b. The institution demonstrates a commitment to educational achievement and improvement through ongoing assessment of student learning.
c. The institution demonstrates a commitment to educational improvement through ongoing attention to retention, persistence, and completion rates in its degree and certificate programs.