California State University, Sacramento College Portrait

All colleges and universities use multiple approaches to measure student learning. Many of these are specific to particular disciplines, many are coordinated with accrediting agencies, and many are based on outcomes after students have graduated.

Sacramento State employs a campus-wide assessment strategy to provide evidence of curricular and co-curricular student learning. The Division of Academic Affairs oversees curricular assessment while co-curricular assessment is facilitated and coordinated by the Division of Student Affairs. For a couple of years now, leaders and staff from both divisions have come together to discuss, measure, and report out on the learning that is taking place in their respective areas. Presently, the Provost and the Vice President for Student Affairs are working on a more integrative way to measure learning since the traditional separation of academic and student affairs is more of an organizational construct than a learning construct.

Until the integration is fully under way, two concurrent processes are in play. On the academic side, each department implements an assessment plan that is part of the annual report submitted to the College dean. Each dean provides Academic Affairs with a complete set of annual reports; Academic Affairs then gives feedback to the Colleges and departments by way of an annual summary and analysis of all of the program reports aimed at promoting organizational learning. The Provost’s Advisory Committee on Assessment (PACA) meets on a biweekly basis to examine assessment issues and develop recommendations to the Provost for continuous improvement of the assessment strategy.

On the Student Affairs side, the directors of each of the division’s 15 departments work with their staff to create an annual assessment plan that measures program improvements and student learning. Program objectives are written to measure changes in the programs or services while direct student learning outcomes are formulated to identify what students may have learned or how their attitude or behavior may have changed after participating in a student affairs’ program or service. The information gathered from assessments is used to design and implement program changes as needed. The assessment plans are designed during the summer months; data collection ensues during the fall and spring semester, and results and conclusions are posted—on the division’s website—by the beginning of the following fall term.

Learning Assessment Examples

Colleges and universities participating in the College Portrait measure the typical improvement in students' abilities to think, reason, and write using one of three tests. This is part of a pilot project to better understand and compare what students learn between their freshman and senior years at different colleges and universities.

- Results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication using a performance task and an analytic writing task. The scores from the tasks are reported separately below.

Test Administration Process

Test Information

Performance Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the performance task is what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1031
Senior Score: 1177
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average ACT scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 20
Senior Score: 20

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 949
Senior Score: 1012

Analytic Writing Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is above what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1109
Senior Score: 1256
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average ACT scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 21
Senior Score: 19

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 973
Senior Score: 983