Assessing Learning: Quality Standards and Institutional Commitments

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CAEL first published Urban Whitaker’s book, Assessing Learning: Standards, Principles, and Procedures, in 1989.  In the second edition (2006), authors Morry Fiddler and Catherine Marienau added important perspectives and contexts that brought the assessment of learning to new venues, including workplace-based learning and non-credit-based learning.  In this third edition – Assessing Learning: Quality Standards and Institutional Commitments -  Donna Younger and Catherine Marienau provide an updated set of standards for the assessment of learning and the awarding of credit for learning gained from experience.

 

Excerpt from the Foreword to the 3d Edition:

” The Quality Standards in this new edition of Assessing Learning advance the idea that assessment is more than just measuring learning. The standards boldly state that assessment leads to and enables future learning―that it should be seen by practitioners as an essential part of the learning process. And the new standards encourage institutions to provide students with guidance and support for learners’ full engagement in the assessment process. It is only then that assessment can truly foster new learning.

In this new era of higher education, it is exciting to see all of the new developments that are opening doors for adult learners. The focus on what students know and can do is a welcome part of these changes. Assessing Learning (3d Ed) expands from a narrower focus on assessment for the award of credit for prior learning and acknowledges that these quality standards are important in other contexts as well―most notably, in Competency-Based Education (CBE) programs. We know that assessment can and should be a vital part of the learning process in these new contexts, and we are excited about how these new Quality Standards can advance ideas for how assessment can play an important role in fostering learning, expanding access, and providing innovative new models for the adult learner.”

Pamela Tate
President and CEO, CAEL