Chapter 9: Quality Assurance of an Assessment Program

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

ORIENTATION TO THE CHAPTER

This chapter starts with an introduction of procedures and methods for ensuring the quality of an assessment program in practice. Two case studies will be presented to enhance understanding of how these procedures and methods can be applied to educational practice. Because different quality perspectives on assessment programs exist, insight will be provided into the continuum of theoretical perspectives of program’s assessment quality by offering some rules of thumb (i.e., quality indicators) and associated quality assurance procedures. The chapter will end with concluding remarks and present do’s and don’ts to avoid common pitfalls.

INTRODUCTION

Educational programs in many fields are often aimed at selecting or qualifying learners for future educational programs and jobs [1–3], so it is important to know whether learners have actually sufficiently mastered the required knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To establish this, programs should at least assess whether their learners have met required proficiency levels in a summative manner (e.g., pass–fail decision). How programs organize this (e.g., viewpoint, choices, and operationalization) is often explicated in their assessment programs [4,5]. We regard an assessment program as a mix of various assessment methods that are deliberately composed and appropriate for the aims, content, and structure of the curriculum [6,7].

Having a sound assessment program is vital for a wide range of stakeholders. It could enhance the transparency of the assessment (e.g., goal, type, number, pass score) for its learners. In addition, it could support teachers, program directors, and examination boards in discussing and aligning the (course-specific) assessments. Furthermore, it might provide employees an indication of what they can expect from the program’s alumni. Although this sounds promising, the presumed beneficial effects for educational and workplace-related practices strongly depend on the quality of the assessment program. More specifically, the stakeholders need to gain insight into what the underlying quality indicators and procedures are and how these procedures are properly utilized.

ASSESSMENT PROGRAM’S QUALITY IN PRACTICE

Quality and Quality Assurance of an Assessment Program

Quality assurance of an assessment program addresses the question of how the quality of a program is guaranteed [8]. To guarantee the quality of an assessment program, in practice three interrelated aspects of quality are often distinguished [9–11]:

1. a focus on quality as input, associated with how the program is designed;

2. a focus on quality as output, associated with insight into and examination of clearly defined and structured learning outcomes, and the extent to which set goals are achieved;

3. a focus on quality ...