Barriers and Enablers of Integrating Assessment with Curriculum and Instruction

Rebecca Gibbons, Teresa Flateby, Yuerong Sweetland, Arthur Hernández, & Karla Hardesty   |    Volume 20 Issue 2  |   

The extent to which three essential processes—assessment, curriculum, and instruction—are systematically integrated provides a window into the efficacy of assessment in improving higher education. This paper explores findings from open-ended responses to a survey of assessment stakeholders to understand this integration. The authors synthesize respondents’ perceptions of how the factors outlined in the Assessment Integration Model derived from a previous interview study (Flateby et al., 2023; 2024): Leadership Support, Assessment Processes, Assessment Purposes, Recognition & Reward, Faculty Support/Development, Collaboration, and Accreditation, contribute to integration. Respondents emphasized the critical impact of leadership, leadership changes, and siloing (even at small institutions) on integration. In addition, responses from assessment stakeholders suggest a shared sense of urgency and a desire to establish integrated systems despite the numerous challenges. The findings indicate that some institutions have well-developed assessment processes; however, the processes are not often integrated with curriculum and instruction.

Click here to download the full article

« Back to Archive