QUICK LOOK
- Set standard for achievement for each program goal
- Identify performance targets that will allow program faculty to feel comfortable with results
How will you know that students have met your expectations?
Clarify standards and targets to ensure equity and promote consistency
Standards
TOOLS & TIPS
Establishing target percentages allows faculty to determine whether the program has successfully produced student learning. The most important stage in establishing targets is to consider the level of performance that will allow program faculty to confidently determine that students are achieving the intended outcomes. Consider the following questions.
- What is acceptable evidence of understanding?
- What is acceptable evidence of demonstration?
- What specific characteristics of mastery do you expect? What does mastery look or sound like?
As odd as it seems, program-defined standards reflect faculty agreement about the lowest level of acceptable performance, which would "nonetheless adequately prepare students for success in what comes next in their lives" (Suskie, 2018, p. 298). In fact, Suskie recommends that programs adopt standards that "would not embarrass you” (p. 297). In no way should this be interpreted as setting low expectations for student learning. Rather, standard- setting requires faculty to carefully consider and articulate the "good enough" threshold and prepare students to meet or exceed it.
In general, the process includes two steps:
- Identify the minimally acceptable level of performance that program faculty can live with (e.g., “good enough”) and
- Articulate its opposite as the standard.
Targets
Performance targets describe the percentage of student work that will meet the performance standard for a given assessment. Consider the following guidelines for articulating and communicating targets:
- Use percentages, not averages.
- Identify the essential outcomes--those for which every graduate of the program should demonstrate minimally adequate achievement.
- Identify aspirational outcomes, and set targets accordingly.
SAMPLE: Alignment of Program Standards and Targets to PLOs
