Building and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment at Your Library
1. BUILDING AND SUSTAINING A
CULTURE OF ASSESSMENT IN
YOUR INSTRUCTION PROGRAM
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MEREDITH FARKAS
2. 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
3. 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
6. 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
8. âFor
 a
 scholarship
 of
 assessment
 to
 thrive,
Â
we
 must
 align
 faculty
 culture,
Â
institutional
 structures,
 and
 leadership
Â
for
 change.
 The
 importance
 of
 this
 point
Â
cannot
 be
 overstated.
 A
 meaningful
Â
assessment
 program
 is
 more
 than
 just
 a
Â
new
 activity
 to
 be
 undertaken,
 it
 is
 a
Â
change
 in
 how
 we
 think
 about
 what
 we
 do
Â
in
 higher
 education.â
Don
 Haviland.
 (2009).
 âLeading
 Assessment:
 From
 Faculty
Â
Reluctance
 to
 Faculty
 Engagement.â
 Academic
 Leadership
 9(2).
9.
10. 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
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11. Shared history
Behavior
Assumptions
Response to conďŹict Values
ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE
How thing get done
Goals
Beliefs
Practices
Power structures
Response to change
Fears
12. ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE ASSESSMENT
INSTRUMENT (OCAI)
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (1999). Diagnosing and changing
organizational culture.
13. NECESSARY CULTURAL
TRAITS
⢠Trusting
⢠Positive/optimistic
⢠Adaptive
⢠Tolerance for the unknown
⢠Open communications
⢠People feel safe experimenting
⢠Customer services focus
⢠Learning culture
14. AND IF THIS DOESNâT
DESCRIBE THE CULTURE
AT YOUR LIBRARY...
16. 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
18. 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
19. EDUCATION
⢠Most librarians donât have training in
assessment of IL instruction
⢠Need to speak a common language
⢠Need to be able to develop assessment
tools and analyze results
20. WHAT DO YOU DO WITH YOUR
ASSESSMENT RESULTS?
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21. 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
22. WHY DONâT LIBRARIANS USE
THEIR ASSESSMENT RESULTS?
⢠Too busy with other work
⢠Wonât be rewarded for assessment work
⢠Donât know how to use/analyze data
⢠Lack of centralized support in library
⢠Not valued by their library
Oakleaf and Hinchliffe. (2008). âAssessment Cycle or Circular
File: Do Academic Librarians Use Information Literacy
Assessment Data?â Proceedings of the 2008 Library Assessment
Conference.
23. GRASSROOTS SUPPORT
⢠Empowered to develop assessment plan
and practices
⢠Shared vision
⢠See how assessment benefits them (and
wonât hurt them)
⢠TIME
⢠Faculty/staff are motivated to learn from
each other
24. COMMON STAFF/
FACULTY CONCERNS
⢠Assessment imperative coming from the
outside
⢠Faculty donât 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
26. CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY;
OR WHY WE STILL NEED LEADERS
⢠Ideal leaders
⢠Have operational and political knowledge
⢠Build trust
⢠Donât try to be the expert
⢠Are transparent
⢠Arenât afraid of conflict or dealing with
difficult situations
⢠Lead by example
⢠Patient - change takes a long time
27. FORM A GUIDING COALITION AND
VISION
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31. NO, YOUâRE 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
32. ANCHOR CHANGES IN
THE CULTURE
⢠Build assessment into P&T/review
processes
⢠Make learning and sharing together part
of âwhat we doâ
⢠Create systems for indoctrinating new
hires
⢠Decision-making and planning is based
on assessment
33. 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
34. 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 youâre learning
from assessment
35. RESOURCES: LIBRARIES
Ariew, Susan, and Edward Lener. 2005. âEvaluating instruction: Developing a program that supports the teaching librarian.â
Research Strategies 20 (4): 506-515.
Hiller, Steve, Martha Kyrillidou, and Jim Self. 2008. âWhen the evidence is not enough: Organizational factors that inďŹuence
effective and successful library assessment.â 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. âCreating a Culture of Assessment: A Catalyst for Organizational Change.â portal:
Libraries and the Academy 4 (3): 345-361.
Oakleaf, Megan. 2010. Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report. Chicago: ACRL.
âââ. 2011. âAre They Learning? Are We? Learning Outcomes and the Academic Library.â 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. âStart making sense: practical approaches to outcomes assessment for libraries.â Research
Strategies 17 (4): 319-335.
Schroeder, Randall, and Kimberly Babcock Mashek. 2007. âBuilding a Case for the Teaching Library: Using a Culture of
Assessment to Reassure Converted Campus Partners While Persuading the Reluctant.â Public Services Quarterly 3 (1/2):
83-110.
Shepstone, Carol, and Lyn Currie. 2008. âTransforming the Academic Library: Creating an Organizational Culture that Fosters
Staff Success.â The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34 (4): 358-369.
36. RESOURCES: HIGHER
EDUCATION
Anagnos, Thalia, Barbara J Conry, Scot M Guenter, Jackie Snell, Beth Von Till, and Sustainability DeďŹ. 2008. âBuilding Sustainable
Assessment: One Universityâs Experience.â Assessment Update 20 (6): 5-9.
Becker, R. 2009. âImplementing an Assessment Program: A Faculty Memberâs Perspective.â Academic Leadership Journal 7 (1): 2-5.
Bird, Anne Marie. 2001. âFaculty Buy-In to Assessment Activities: A Group Dynamics Approach.â 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. âPostsecondary Assessment: Faculty Attitudes and Levels of Engagement.â Assessment Update 21 (2): 1-14.
Ennis, DJ. 2010. âContra assessment culture.â Assessment Update 22 (2): 1-15.
Haviland, D. 2009a. âLeading assessment: From faculty reluctance to faculty engagement.â Academic Leadership 7 (1).
âââ. 2009b. âWhy are faculty wary of assessment?â Academic Leadership Journal 7 (3).
Hill, Jeffrey S. 2005. âDeveloping a Culture of Assessment: Insights from Theory and Experience.â Journal of Political Science
Education 1 (1) (February 9): 29-37.
Irvine, P. 2009. âPerceptions of College Faculty Regarding Outcomes Assessment.â International Electronic Journal for Leadership in
Learning 13 (2).
Kramer, Philip I. 2009. âThe Art of Making Assessment Anti-Venom: Injecting Assessment in Small Doses to Create a Faculty Culture
of Assessment.â Assessment Update 21 (6): 8-11.
Middaugh, Michael F. 2009. âClosing the Loop: Linking Planning and Assessment.â Planning for Higher Education 37 (3): 5-14.
Ndoye, Abdou. 2010. âCreating and Sustaining a Culture of Assessment.â Planning for Higher Education 38 (2): 28-39.
Weiner, W. F. 2009. âEstablishing a culture of assessment.â Academe 95 (4): 28-32.
37. RESOURCES: BUSINESS AND
ORG. PSYCH
Avey, J. B., T. S. Wernsing, and F. Luthans. 2008. âCan Positive Employees Help Positive Organizational Change? Impact
of Psychological Capital and Emotions on Relevant Attitudes and Behaviors.â 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. âEmployee Attitudes toward Organizational Change: A Literature Review.â Human Resource
Management 50 (4): 479-500.
Ford, JD, and L Ford. 2009. âDecoding resistance to change.â Harvard Business Review 87 (4): 99-103.
Ford, Jeffrey D., and Laurie W. Ford. 2010. âStop Blaming Resistance to Change and Start Using It.â 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. âThe Enemies of Trust.â Harvard Business Review 81 (2): 88-95.
Kotter, J.P. 1995. âLeading change: Why transformation efforts fail.â Harvard Business Review 73 (2): 59â67.
âââ. 1996. Leading Change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Moran, John W, and Baird K Brightman. 2000. âLeading organizational change.â Leadership 12 (2): 66-74.
Quinn, Robert, and J. Rohrbaugh. 1981. âA Competing Values Approach to Organizational Effectiveness.â Public
Productivity Review 5 (2): 122-140.
Waddell, Dianne, and Amrik S. Sohal. 1998. âResistance: a constructive tool for change management.â Management
Decision 36 (8): 543-548.
38. Questions?
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meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress
mgfarkas (at) gmail.com
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facebook: meredithfarkas
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