Outcomes Assessment
Materials used in PAB training sessions on outcomes assessment can be found on webpages for both Program Chairs & Educators and Site Visitors.
PAB Guides for Presentation of Public Information/Criterion 1F
Accredited programs are required to make certain performance-related data available to the public.
Outcomes Assessment Presentations
The following presentations review program outcomes assessment in the context of the 2012 PAB accreditation standards and provide guidance to program administrators and Site Visit Teams.
- Outcomes Assessment Training Session (ACSP Conference, October 2015) (PDF) Includes information on Program Improvement Plan and Student Learning Outcomes
- Addressing Outcomes Assessment in Planning Programs (APA Conference, April 2013) (PDF)
- Outcomes Assessment: PAB Requirements (ACSP Administrator’s Conference, November 2013)
2011 ACSP Administrators’ Conference
The conference included a panel on the challenges of outcomes assessment. The following panelists presented an overview and an example of one program’s efforts therein.
- Meeting the Challenge of Outcomes Assessment (W. David Conn – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
- Program Learning Outcomes (Doug Johnston – Iowa State)
The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
Established in 2008, the mission of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) is to discover and disseminate ways that academic programs and institutions can productively use assessment data internally to inform and strengthen undergraduate education, and externally to communicate with policy makers, families and other stakeholders.
NILOA assists institutions and others in discovering and adopting promising practices in the assessment of college student learning outcomes. Documenting what students learn, know and can do is of growing interest to colleges and universities, accrediting groups, higher education associations, foundations and others beyond campus, including students, their families, employers, and policy makers.
NILOA’s Transparency Framework is an excellent resource intended to help institutions evaluate the extent to which they are making evidence of student accomplishment readily accessible and potentially useful and meaningful to various audiences.
In Spring 2009, NILOA surveyed chief academic officers at all regionally accredited US undergraduate-degree-granting, two-and four-year, public, private, and for-profit about assessment activities underway and how assessment results are being used. The October 2009 full report (PDF) contains a great deal of information regarding what universities and programs are doing at the macro level, what tools are being used, and how the data is being used.
Library Catalogue
Student and Faculty Data
Noteworthy Practices
Innovative Practices
Outcomes Assessment
History of Accreditation Decisions and Site Team Assessments
Articles on Higher Education and Accreditation
Data on Accredited Programs
PAB Panel Presentations
Frequently Asked Questions
Helpful Links
- American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)
- American Planning Association (APA)
- Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)
- ACSP Guide to Education in Urban and Regional Planning
- ACSP Scholarship Information
- ACSP Student Network
- AICP Code of Ethics Rubric
- AICP Exam
- APA Information on Jobs and Practice
- APA Scholarships
- APA Student Membership
- Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation
- Local APA Chapters
- Outstanding Site Visitor of the Year
- US Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook on Urban and Regional Planning