Principle 3: Starts with Existing Goals and Activities

Assessment IS NOT ...

an "add-on" process unrelated to our existing goals and activities.

Assessment IS ...

a goal-oriented process based on evidence existing within the current curriculum.

Assessment activities should seek to compare educational performance with educational purpose and expectations. Presumably, this purpose is inherent in the structure of our curriculum and the types of activities that we ask our students to engage. Therefore. the assessment process should focus on our goals and how those goals will be taught and learned.

If we use the rationale behind the organization of our educational programs as a basis for identifying learning objectives and the processes by which they will be measured, we can make assessment more focused and useful.