A plan that reviews poorly is often not describing poor assessment. It is describing good work incompletely: the measure exists, but the plan does not say how student work is scored, or the curriculum map lives in a spreadsheet nobody attached. Any review, whether a colleague or ProverbAI does the first reading, can only credit what it can find in the plan.
This note sets out six parts that a complete program assessment plan should contain, what belongs under each, and how to present the plan so that reviewers find the evidence quickly. It is practical guidance on content, not a description of how any review reaches its results.
Learning outcomes
The program's student learning outcomes, stated as what a graduate will be able to do. Each should be specific enough that you could say how you would know whether a student had achieved it. Number them, and use the same numbering throughout the plan, so every measure can be tied to its outcome without guesswork.
Curriculum map
A table of the program's courses against its learning outcomes, showing where each outcome is taught and where it is assessed. Include it in the plan itself, as a readable table rather than a link to a spreadsheet or an image too small to make out. If an outcome is assessed somewhere the map does not show, the map and the plan disagree, and a careful reviewer will notice.
Methods and measures
For each outcome, the plan should say:
- what the measure is, and whether it is direct (scored student work) or indirect (a survey, for example);
- where and when it takes place: the course, the assignment, the term;
- which students are assessed, and how their work is scored;
- what counts as success: the target, set before the results are seen.
This is where gaps are easiest to miss, because the people writing the plan already know the answers. Write down what a colleague from another department would need to be told.
Results and their use
In a reporting year, the plan should state what the results were against each target, who discussed them, and what the program did or will do in response: a change to a course, an assignment, a measure or the target itself. A plan that collects evidence but never says what was learned from it is only half complete. Where the results led to no change, say why.
Timeline and responsibilities
Who does what, and when, across the assessment cycle: when evidence is collected, when results are analysed, when the faculty discuss them, and who is responsible for each step. Name roles rather than individuals where you can, so the plan stays accurate after someone moves on.
Appendix
The instruments themselves: assignment prompts, the scoring guides used for student work, survey items, exam blueprints. Include them in the plan, not behind links. Links break, require a sign-in, or lead to a newer version than the one that was actually used.
Presenting the plan
Presentation matters as much as content. Before submitting:
- Keep the whole plan in a single document: narrative, outcomes, curriculum map, measures, results and appendix.
- Include the instruments in the document itself, not as links.
- Export the document from its original file rather than scanning a printout, so the text can be read and cited exactly.
- Use page numbers and clear headings, so feedback can refer to a specific place.
- Use the same names for outcomes and courses throughout.
If the answer is yes, the plan is complete in the sense that matters: the work is on the page, where a reviewer can see it and credit it.
