Building and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment at Your Library

BUILDING AND SUSTAINING A CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT INYOUR INSTRUCTION PROGRAM http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/4648615038/ MEREDITH FARKAS

WHAT IS A CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT?• Assessment is the norm• Doing it for the right reasons• Customer-service focused• Culture of learning, curiosity• Decisions based on data• New initiatives tied to performance measures• Changes based on what is learned

WHY BUILD A CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT?• Be better teachers• Make better decisions• Demonstrate value to ourselves and others• Use data to advocate for the library• Use data to grow the IL program• Hold ourselves to the same standards as any other academic department• Accreditation

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/smemon/5983676706/

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/cybershotking/329184504/

ASSESSMENT AT MANY INSTITUTIONS• Focused on doing what is needed for accreditation• Coercive and top-down• Little support• Coalition of the willing• Data is gathered, but rarely used• Not seen as an integral part of teaching and learning• Often a lot of cynicism around assessment

WHAT IT TAKES TOBUILD A CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT

“For a scholarship of assessment to thrive, we must align faculty culture, institutional structures, and leadership for change. The importance of this point cannot be overstated. A meaningful assessment program is more than just a new activity to be undertaken, it is a change in how we think about what we do in higher education.”Don Haviland. (2009). “Leading Assessment: From Faculty Reluctance to Faculty Engagement.” Academic Leadership 9(2).

I G N O R E C U LT U R E AT Y O U R O W N P E R I L http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/haveclipperswilltravel/4867305517/

Shared history BehaviorAssumptions Response to conﬂict Values ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE How thing get done Goals Beliefs Practices Power structures Response to change Fears

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT (OCAI)Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture.

NECESSARY CULTURAL TRAITS• Trusting• Positive/optimistic• Adaptive• Tolerance for the unknown• Open communications• People feel safe experimenting• Customer services focus• Learning culture

AND IF THIS DOESN’TDESCRIBE THE CULTURE AT YOUR LIBRARY...

GRASSROOTS IMPLEMENTATION(DEARDORFF AND FOLGER, 2008) http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/drachmann/327122302/

ADMINISTRATION WALKS THE TALK• Value assessment and articulates why we are doing this• Promote assessment • Built into planning • Built into reward structures• Support library faculty/staff engaging in assessment• Use assessment• Let library faculty/staff drive the bus

RESOURCES http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6355360253/

SHOW ME THE MONEY!• (Release) time to learn, develop, conduct and analyze• Building expertise in assessment• Incentives, grants, awards• Professional development• Technologies for collecting, analyzing and retrieving data

EDUCATION• Most librarians don’t have training in assessment of IL instruction• Need to speak a common language• Need to be able to develop assessment tools and analyze results

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT RESULTS? http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/laughingmonk/44551444/

HOW YOU USE THEM MATTERS• Results are easy to get• Results are shared• Results are used to make changes and decisions• Results are discussed• Results are shared outside of the library

WHY DON’T LIBRARIANS USETHEIR ASSESSMENT RESULTS?• Too busy with other work• Won’t be rewarded for assessment work• Don’t know how to use/analyze data• Lack of centralized support in library• Not valued by their libraryOakleaf and Hinchliffe. (2008). “Assessment Cycle or CircularFile: Do Academic Librarians Use Information LiteracyAssessment Data?” Proceedings of the 2008 Library AssessmentConference.

GRASSROOTS SUPPORT• Empowered to develop assessment plan and practices• Shared vision• See how assessment benefits them (and won’t hurt them)• TIME• Faculty/staff are motivated to learn from each other

COMMON STAFF/ FACULTY CONCERNS• Assessment imperative coming from the outside• Faculty don’t believe assessment is about student learning• Afraid of negative consequences for bad assessment results• Time constraints• Loss of control• Uncertainty of how the info will be used

LEADING CHANGE WITH KOTTER’S (1995) EIGHT-STEP MODEL

CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY;OR WHY WE STILL NEED LEADERS• Ideal leaders • Have operational and political knowledge • Build trust • Don’t try to be the expert • Are transparent • Aren’t afraid of conflict or dealing with difficult situations • Lead by example • Patient - change takes a long time

FORM A GUIDING COALITION AND VISION http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/bibendum84/5483569272/

DECODING RESISTANCE http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/umdnews/5985718936/

REMOVING OBSTACLES• Resources• Barriers • Time • Education • Organizational structures• Make sure people feel comfortable experimenting• Creating spaces for learning and sharing

CREATE SHORT-TERM WINS http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/davaodude/5012197242/

NO, YOU’RE NOT DONE YET• Build on the change • Remove any barriers discovered during the initial phases • Tackle bigger/more difficult assessment projects • Develop an assessment plan • Reward great assessment work

ANCHOR CHANGES IN THE CULTURE• Build assessment into P&T/review processes• Make learning and sharing together part of “what we do”• Create systems for indoctrinating new hires• Decision-making and planning is based on assessment

SUPPORTING ASSESSMENT• Provide plenty of education for faculty/ staff• Make sure there are no consequences for poor results• Build incentives for doing assessment• Focus on student learning• Give people time to reflect on their assessment results and improve their teaching

SUPPORTING ASSESSMENT• Develop a common language for talking about assessment• Develop common learning outcomes for your instruction program• Let faculty develop their own assessment instruments• Meet often to discuss what you’re learning from assessment

RESOURCES: LIBRARIESAriew, Susan, and Edward Lener. 2005. “Evaluating instruction: Developing a program that supports the teaching librarian.” Research Strategies 20 (4): 506-515.Hiller, Steve, Martha Kyrillidou, and Jim Self. 2008. “When the evidence is not enough: Organizational factors that inﬂuence effective and successful library assessment.” Performance Measurement and Metrics 9 (3): 223-230.Lakos, Amos. 2001. Culture of assessment as a catalyst for organizational culture change in libraries. In Proceedings of the Fourth Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Service, 12 to 16 August 2001, 311-319. New Castle, England: University of Northumbria.Lakos, Amos, and Shelley E. Phipps. 2004. “Creating a Culture of Assessment: A Catalyst for Organizational Change.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 4 (3): 345-361.Oakleaf, Megan. 2010. Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report. Chicago: ACRL.———. 2011. “Are They Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes and the Academic Library.” Library Quarterly 81 (1): 61-82.Oakleaf, Megan, and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe. 2008. Assessment Cycle or Circular File: Do Academic Librarians Use Information Literacy Assessment Data? In Proceedings of the 2008 Library Assessment Conference Building Effective Sustainable Practical Assessment, ed. Steve Hiller, Kristina Justh, Martha Kyrillidou, and Jim Self, 159-164. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries.Rabine, J, and C. Cardwell. 2000. “Start making sense: practical approaches to outcomes assessment for libraries.” Research Strategies 17 (4): 319-335.Schroeder, Randall, and Kimberly Babcock Mashek. 2007. “Building a Case for the Teaching Library: Using a Culture of Assessment to Reassure Converted Campus Partners While Persuading the Reluctant.” Public Services Quarterly 3 (1/2): 83-110.Shepstone, Carol, and Lyn Currie. 2008. “Transforming the Academic Library: Creating an Organizational Culture that Fosters Staff Success.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34 (4): 358-369.

RESOURCES: HIGHER EDUCATIONAnagnos, Thalia, Barbara J Conry, Scot M Guenter, Jackie Snell, Beth Von Till, and Sustainability Deﬁ. 2008. “Building Sustainable Assessment: One University’s Experience.” Assessment Update 20 (6): 5-9.Becker, R. 2009. “Implementing an Assessment Program: A Faculty Member’s Perspective.” Academic Leadership Journal 7 (1): 2-5.Bird, Anne Marie. 2001. “Faculty Buy-In to Assessment Activities: A Group Dynamics Approach.” Assessment Update 13 (1): 6-16.Deardorff, Michelle D, and Paul J Folger. 2008. Making Assessment Matter: Changing Cultures, Improving Teaching, and Transforming Departments. In Annual meeting of the American Political Science Teaching and Learning Conference, San Jose Marriott, San Jose, California, Feb 22, 2008.Ebersole, TE. 2009. “Postsecondary Assessment: Faculty Attitudes and Levels of Engagement.” Assessment Update 21 (2): 1-14.Ennis, DJ. 2010. “Contra assessment culture.” Assessment Update 22 (2): 1-15.Haviland, D. 2009a. “Leading assessment: From faculty reluctance to faculty engagement.” Academic Leadership 7 (1).———. 2009b. “Why are faculty wary of assessment?” Academic Leadership Journal 7 (3).Hill, Jeffrey S. 2005. “Developing a Culture of Assessment: Insights from Theory and Experience.” Journal of Political Science Education 1 (1) (February 9): 29-37.Irvine, P. 2009. “Perceptions of College Faculty Regarding Outcomes Assessment.” International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning 13 (2).Kramer, Philip I. 2009. “The Art of Making Assessment Anti-Venom: Injecting Assessment in Small Doses to Create a Faculty Culture of Assessment.” Assessment Update 21 (6): 8-11.Middaugh, Michael F. 2009. “Closing the Loop: Linking Planning and Assessment.” Planning for Higher Education 37 (3): 5-14.Ndoye, Abdou. 2010. “Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment.” Planning for Higher Education 38 (2): 28-39.Weiner, W. F. 2009. “Establishing a culture of assessment.” Academe 95 (4): 28-32.

RESOURCES: BUSINESS AND ORG. PSYCHAvey, J. B., T. S. Wernsing, and F. Luthans. 2008. “Can Positive Employees Help Positive Organizational Change? Impact of Psychological Capital and Emotions on Relevant Attitudes and Behaviors.” The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 44: 48-70.Cameron, Kim S., and Robert E. Quinn. 2011. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons.Choi, Myungweon. 2011. “Employee Attitudes toward Organizational Change: A Literature Review.” Human Resource Management 50 (4): 479-500.Ford, JD, and L Ford. 2009. “Decoding resistance to change.” Harvard Business Review 87 (4): 99-103.Ford, Jeffrey D., and Laurie W. Ford. 2010. “Stop Blaming Resistance to Change and Start Using It.” Organizational Dynamics 39 (1): 24-36.Fredrickson, B. L. 2003. Positive emotions and upward spirals in organizations. In Positive organizational scholarship, ed. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, and R. E. Quinn. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.Galford, Robert, and Anne Siebold Drapeau. 2003. “The Enemies of Trust.” Harvard Business Review 81 (2): 88-95.Kotter, J.P. 1995. “Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail.” Harvard Business Review 73 (2): 59–67.———. 1996. Leading Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Moran, John W, and Baird K Brightman. 2000. “Leading organizational change.” Leadership 12 (2): 66-74.Quinn, Robert, and J. Rohrbaugh. 1981. “A Competing Values Approach to Organizational Effectiveness.” Public Productivity Review 5 (2): 122-140.Waddell, Dianne, and Amrik S. Sohal. 1998. “Resistance: a constructive tool for change management.” Management Decision 36 (8): 543-548.

Questions? Find me atmeredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress mgfarkas (at) gmail.com flickr, twitter: librarianmer facebook: meredithfarkas http://www.flickr.com/photos/trucolorsfly/2401196653/ Slides at http://meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com

http://meredith.wolfwater.com	13643
http://feeds.feedburner.com	351
http://www.library.ceu.hu	29
http://www.newsblur.com	22
http://lillconnect.tumblr.com	8
http://newsblur.com	7
http://tweetree.com	6
http://keisok.sakura.ne.jp	6
http://translate.googleusercontent.com	5
http://meltwaternews.com	5
http://librarians.collected.info	3
https://si0.twimg.com	2
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com	2
http://www.linkedin.com	2
http://us-w1.rockmelt.com	2
https://twitter.com	1

Building and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment at Your Library

by Meredith Farkas

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

16 Embeds 14,094

Statistics