Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments and General Education by Barbara E. Walvoord, Jossey-Bass, 2004
Reviewed by Particia R. Payette, Michigan State University

In the foreword to Barbara Walvoord's new book, her colleague Trudy Banta explains that it was written in response to those who frequently asked them: "How do we get started in assessment?" and "Isn't there a step-by-step guide we can follow?" This book is designed to be that concise, step-by-step guide and it succeeds. With a clear, straightforward style, Walvoord fills her book with practical advice and solid principles of assessment practice applicable across disciplines and institution types.

Designed to be a highly accessible resource text, each of the book's chapters is divided by numerous subheadings that take the reader through assessment processes with a liberal dose of bulleted and numbered lists to explicate main points and illustrate examples. This format made it easy for me to follow the author's logic and quickly grasp and retain the main points of each section. Walvoord has designed a true guidebook; she begins with an introductory chapter providing an overview of the basic concepts and constructs of the assessment process, followed by a chapter geared toward institution-wide planners, another for departments and programs, and a final chapter on general education and assessment. This format allows Walvoord to speak directly to the concerns and needs of her various audiences while repeating key ideas throughout all chapters in order to demonstrate their relevance in different contexts.

Walvoord is highly effective at demystifying assessment, a word she acknowledges can prompt "defensive or hostile" reactions from colleagues in the academy. She begins by defining assessment as "the systematic collection of information about student learning, using the time, knowledge, expertise and resources available, in order to inform decisions about how to improve learning." (2). This act of collecting information happens both formally and informally at the individual classroom, program, department and the institutional level, although, as Walvoord points out, it has not always been called assessment. Walvoord's simplified yet comprehensive definition of assessment is the hallmark of her nuts and bolts approach in this "how to" book.

Walvoord begins by outlining the three steps of assessment: 1) articulate your goals for student learning, 2) gather evidence about how well students are meeting the goals (she advocates and explains direct and indirect measures), 3)and then use your information for improvement. She then uses these three central steps as the building blocks for each chapter while explaining the necessity and details of handling related tasks such as performing audits of existing assessment practices, making criteria explicit, formulating and using assessment committees, and embedding assessment into grading practices, department evaluations, and institutional goals. She teaches readers how to (and how to teach others to) make the assessment process more transparent and effective by investing in the important steps of identifying and tapping into assessment procedures that are already in place, uncovering or articulating goals for student learning, evaluating those goals, and then integrating this process into the existing structures so that continuous assessment and improvement becomes part of institutional practice at every level.

One of the important lessons I gained from Walvoord's cleanly-written book is that assessment is not a bureaucratic process that takes places separate from the work in our classrooms, conference rooms and offices. Rather, it can and should be a key part of how we think about our work and our work with students and their relationship to the mission of our academic units and our institutions. Walvoord understands that colleges, universities and the individuals who make up these institutions have unique and complex cultures, policies and allegiances. Therefore, rather than take a prescriptive stance, Walvoord makes a strong case for the value and benefit of careful assessment while providing concrete, practical advice on how readers can work with others to enhance or create assessment practices that are aligned with both written and unwritten learning goals. She consistently advises her readers to consider the guidelines in the context of their particular settings and offers advice on how to deal with common barriers that readers may encounter.

The book's strength also lies in Walvoord's judicious use of a wide range of examples to illustrate her recommendations. Throughout the text, she alludes to specific assessment practices that have been effective at community colleges, large research universities, small colleges, and faith-based institutions. She has a generous set of appendices at the end of her book that offer interesting and detailed samples of such documents as student evaluation rubrics, guidelines for program reviews, assessment reports, as well as others. Part the value of the text lies in the additional resources Walvoord has carefully selected for her readers, included annotated relevant selections at the end of each chapter as well as a short bibliography at the end of the book

Walvoord succeeds at making the assessment process accessible while acknowledging the pitfalls that can arise before, during and after an administrator, department head or instructor engages in the process. Based on her years of experience as a consultant, administrator and faculty members, Walvoord offers suggestions on how to deal with these difficulties and how to get other strategically important persons invested in the process. As a faculty developer, this is a resource book I will keep close at hand as I work with colleagues at all levels of my institution, helping to dispel the myths around assessment and to make sound decisions while guiding others in engaging in the three steps of assessment--setting goals, gathering information, and making improvements. 

Walvoord's simplified yet comprehensive definition of assessment is the hallmark of her nuts and bolts approach in this "how to" book.