The right way to measure college learning

Christian Science Monitor: The right way to measure college learning

National standardized testing won’t work.
By Catharine Hoffman Beyer

SEATTLE – How do we know what college students really learn? A commission on higher education headed by US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has raised the issue of whether national standardized tests, such as the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), can answer that question. Our research suggests they can’t.

The University of Washington’s Study of Undergraduate Learning (UW SOUL) and the book about the study, “Inside the Undergraduate Experience,” provide evidence that national exams will not be able to measure college learning. What they show is that studies that track the same students over time, departmental assessment of learning in the major, and student self-assessment are better measures.

Follow