Closing the Assessment Loop: Nurturing Healthy, On-going Self-evaluation in Theological Schools

In his new book, Closing the Assessment "Loop": Nurturing Healthy, On-going Self-evaluation in Theological Schools, William R. Myers describes a four-step process of institutional assessment that is both appropriate to and feasible for seminaries, and that is intended to help administrators and faculty members to cultivate an ethos of regular and demonstrable self-evaluation and improvement in their schools. The four steps are: 1) the formulation of questions around an issue that has arisen or problem to be solved, 2) the gathering of data both about the problem and possible solutions, 3) the interpretation of the data as to solutions that are feasible and appropriate, and 4) the choice of strategies to implement that will solve the problem or improve the situation. Myers, then, gives examples of how these four steps might look in relation to the assessment of all levels of institutional life: student learning, program structures, administrative departments, presidential leadership, the effectiveness of the governing board, and institutional progress toward fulfillment of its mission. Implementing such daily procedures, a school may well find itself better equipped to refine and accomplish its mission because strategic steps to meet challenges both large and small will emerge from this ethos of regular and on-going self-evaluation at all institutional levels.