ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES IN THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT: Effective Methods of Measuring General Education Programs' Core Learning Outcomes at Urban and Metropolitan Universities

The foci of this qualitative study were twofold. First, the researcher wanted to know what instruments and methods of data collection are being used to assess core general education intended student-learning outcomes at 62 urban and metropolitan universities (members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities). Second, the researcher was interested in knowing the extent to which these approaches to measurement are producing data that can be used for improvement purposes. The study, using a researcher-developed instrument, surveyed 62 universities to determine how they were assessing their general education programs. The grounded theory model of Strauss and Corbin was used to analyze the data. The study indicated that 23 of the 27 institutions, responding to the survey were conducting assessment of the core curriculum. Key Finding: If institutions of higher learning know their stage of assessment they are better positioned to respond to assessment training needs, resource needs, stakeholders' expectations, and accrediting bodies' mandates.