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MayJune2015

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How one school keeps its curriculum-embedded assessments in perfect alignment with the four tenets of its mission. BY BRUCE K. GOULDEY AND MILES DAVIS SOME BUSINESS SCHOOLS use multiple-choice standardized tests provided by professional testing organizations to assess student learning and benchmark their students against those in other programs. But because standardized exams often are administered at the end of a program, they typically are not integrated into the curriculum. Larger schools often admin- ister standardized exams only to a sample of students—and sometimes not to every graduating class. Moreover, standard- ized exams may not help schools fulfill AACSB Internation- al's Standard 8 for business accreditation, which requires a school's learning goals, curricular design, and assurance of learning to align with its mission. That's why, at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Vir- ginia, we take a mission-driven approach to defining our learn- ing goals and assessing student learning, and we embed our assessments throughout our entire curriculum, not just at a program's end. This approach helps us gauge whether we need to make adjustments at each step of the program. Moreover, it allows us to better ensure whether our curriculum is aligned with our mission. MAY | JUNE 2015 BizEd 57

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