Grand Challenges for Assessment in Higher Education

Karen E. Singer-Freeman & Christine Robinson   |    Volume 15 Issue 2  |   

A grand challenge is a problem that requires broad cooperation for successful resolution from a community of scholars. Several national and international organizations have generated lists of grand challenges to unify the efforts of scholars and practitioners in a field. However, the field of assessment has yet to identify its own set of grand challenges that could serve to organize and motivate progress toward meaningful goals. This article describes the process by which potential grand challenges were identified and subsequently evaluated by professionals in the field through a national survey. Results of the survey demonstrate broad support for the importance of four challenges: 1) Use assessment findings to increase equity; 2) Use assessment findings to direct immediate pedagogical improvements; 3) Produce visible and actionable assessment findings that drive innovation; and 4) Examine changes in institutional effectiveness (including student learning) over time. The article concludes with a discussion of the grand challenges that emerged from this work and a description of an ongoing national effort to address these challenges through strategic planning.

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