Virginia's mandated student outcomes assessment program,
as created by Senate Joint Resolution No. 83 in 1986, allowed
community colleges in the Commonwealth latitude in developing
their own assessment strategies. These strategies have
developed slowly and with some inconsistency.
The purpose of this study is to determine the congruency
of beliefs about the implementation of Virginia's student
outcomes assessment program between purposefully selected
members of the Virginia General Assembly and community college
assessment practitioners.
Data for this study were derived from the review of
public documents, and the execution of a survey instrument,
the results of which were used to develop interviews with
designated state legislators and community college assessment
practitioners. The interviews became the primary data source
for the study.
Findings indicate that the legislative participants
believe that used by all community colleges across Virginia would be more
appropriate than approaches specifically geared to individual
institutional missions. Practitioner respondents differ on
this issue. The legislators generally believe that the use of
a standardized testing approach administered across all
community colleges could be beneficial. The practitioners
beliefs differ, though not markedly, from the legislative
group.
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