Advancing Educators and Education - AAMC's member profile

Scholarship Consensus Conferenceactions. Leaders’ active engagement with the educationalcommunity distinguishes leadership excellencefrom scholarship, as leaders draw on thecommunity to inform action and then contributeback to advance the field.Learner AssessmentLearner assessment is defined as all activities associatedwith measuring learners’ knowledge, skills, andattitudes, and must include at least one of fourassessment activities:1. Development: Identifying and creating assessmentprocesses and tools2. Implementation: Collecting data using processesand tools3. Analysis: Comparing data with correct answerkey or performance standards4. Synthesis and presentation: Interpreting andreporting data to learners, faculty, andcurriculum leaders.Quantity: Documenting an assessment activity’ssize and scope should begin with a brief descriptionof the event using jargon-free language understandableto promotion and tenure committee members.This description should include information aboutfaculty’s role in each assessment component alongwith the size and nature of the learner populationbeing assessed, the size of the assessment, and theintended uses of the information.Quality and Engagement with the EducationalCommunity: Documenting quality in learner assessmentshould provide evidence that the evaluationmeets established reliability and validity standards,summarized in quantitative and narrative formats.When data from learner assessments are used in“high stakes” decisions—such as grades or promotion—theassessment must be well-grounded in theexisting knowledge base drawn from the educationalmeasurement field.Glassick’s six criteria provide a systematic frameworkfor a scholarly approach in determining thequality of assessment contributions:1. Goals: A clear statement of assessment goals andthe educator’s particular contributions to theassessment process2. Adequate preparation: Description of theauthor’s prior experience or literature uponwhich the assessment was based3. Appropriate methods: Details of how eachdesign phase’s methods match known bestpractices4. Significant results: Information about thequality of results according to reliability andvalidity standards5. Effective presentation: A succinct and effectivesummary of the results and lessons learned tostakeholder groups (e.g., learners, administrators,peers, and the assessment community)6. Reflective critique: Plans for improving similarassessments in the future.Scholarship in learner assessment must includedocumentation that activities were peer reviewedand that processes or tools involved have beenshared with the educational community to enhancebest practices. Faculty involved in any design phasemay present documentation associated with• Presentations on the assessment process oroutcomes to local audiences, such as curriculumcommittees or internal reviews in preparation foran RRC visit• Peer-reviewed presentations and workshops atprofessional meetings, or invited presentations• Acceptance of the assessment tool in a peerreviewedrepository• Assessment research presented at national meetingsor published in peer-reviewed journals.12Association of American Medical Colleges, 2007