Glossary of assessment terms

Accreditation:  In the United States, accreditation is a non-governmental, peer review process that ensures educational quality. Educational institutions or programs volunteer to periodically undergo this review in order to determine if certain criteria are being met. It is important to understand, however, that accreditation is not a ranking system. It is simply assurance that a program or institution meets established quality standards.

ABET, Inc.:  The recognized U.S. accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology (ABET website).

AQIP:  Academic Quality Improvement Program, an alternative process through which an already-accredited institution can maintain its accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission. With AQIP, an institution demonstrates it meets accreditation standards and expectations through sequences of events that align with those ongoing activities that characterize organizations striving to improve their performance (AQIP website).

CASO:  Commission on the Assessment of Student Outcomes, the Institute-wide committee charged in 1996 with the development of an Institute assessment plan and the maintenance of the RosE Portfolio System.

Objective:  Broad statements that describe the career and professional accomplishments that the program is preparing graduates to achieve.

Outcome:  Statements that describe what students are expected to know and be able to do by the time of graduation.

Performance criterion:  Performance criteria are the measurable statements that define the learning outcome.

Rating rubric:  A brief description of the level of student performance in a document that meets the standard for the Rose Portfolio.  Rubrics were developed by faculty serving on Commission on the Assessment of Student Outcomes (CASO) in consultation with members of academic departments on campus.  Rubrics are reviewed and evaluated each year to maintain their currency.  Rubrics are organized in three parts:  Description, a brief statement that explains more specifically what is expected for a particular performance criterion; Example, a list of the types of documents that are appropriate for the particular criterion; and Not Acceptable, a description of documents that are not appropriate submissions.

REPS:  Rose E-Portfolio System.  REPS was developed beginning in 1996, and the old software was terminated in the fall of 2004 when it was replaced by the new REPS software.  The new REPS software was inaugurated in the fall of 2004 and developed by the faculty and staff of Rose-Hulman, Ventures, and Quest is Information Systems, Indianapolis.  REPS is currently implemented in the Angel Learning Management System, a product of Angel Learning, Indianapolis.

Unique submission:  a submission that has been made to the portfolio for at least one performance criterion.  Submissions to the portfolio may be mapped to more than one performance criterion, so the designation of "unique" gives a truer picture of the number of files submitted that must be rated.

Revision History: May 1, 2008 by CASO