Examples of Closing the Loop

Mindful of the desire for some concrete examples of how to conduct programmatic evaluation in the self-study document and how to "close the loop" in the assessment of student learning outcomes as called for in Section 8 of the ATS Handbook of Accreditation, "A Guide for Evaluating Theological Learning," the following suggestions are reflections from the ATS accrediting staff for consideration.

This is, of course, a snapshot by the accrediting staff. It is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of possibilities, but, rather, to be illustrative and, hopefully, suggestive to a school's own creativity and insight. Assessment should facilitate opportunities for a talented faculty to work together, smarter (not harder), and enhance the achievement of student learning.

The fundamental rationale for reflecting in the self-study the way that an institution approaches evaluation and assessment finds initial expression in the first general institutional standard (1.2.2 and 1.2.3).

Evaluation is a critical element in support of integrity in educational efforts, institutional renewal, and individual professional development. Evaluation is a process that includes (1) the identification of desired goals or outcomes for an educational program, or institutional service, or personnel performance; (2) a system of gathering quantitative or qualitative information related to the desired goals; (3) the assessment of the performance of the program, service, or person based on this information; and (4) the establishment of revised goals or activities based on the assessment. Institutions shall develop and implement ongoing evaluation procedures for employees, students, educational programs, and institutional activities.

A comprehensive evaluation process is the primary resource an institution uses to determine the extent to which it is accomplishing its purpose. The various institutional and educational evaluation procedures shall be analyzed, coordinated, and employed in comprehensive institutional planning.

The staff has produced illustrative examples of the process of closing the loop through looking at each of the four primary goals of the MDiv program as set out in the degree program standard, "A.2.0 The goals an institution adopts for an MDiv degree should take into account : knowledge of the religious heritage; understanding of the cultural context; growth in spiritual depth and moral integrity; and capacity for ministerial and public leadership."