EDITORS’ NOTES (Victor M. H. Borden and Gary R. Pike).

1. Assessment and Accountability in America Today: Background and Context (Peter T. Ewell)
The Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education is the latest in an episodic history of governmental involvement in student learning outcomes assessment. This chapter examines the recent history of assessment development from institutional improvement and accountability perspectives and offers guidance as to how all parties can contribute to a productive future.

2. Measurement Validity and Accountability for Student Learning (Victor M. H. Borden, John W. Young)
Test producers expend considerable resources establishing the validity of their assessment instruments. However, new questions regarding validity arise when those instruments are used to represent institutional effectiveness.

3. The Voluntary System of Accountability for Accountability and Institutional Assessment (Christine M. Keller, John M. Hammang)
This chapter describes the rationale for and development of the Voluntary System of Accountability as a mechanism for public higher education to become more accountable for student learning anddevelopment.

4. The Texas Experience with Accountability and Student Learning Assessment (Pedro Reyes, Roberta Rincon)
The University of Texas has been at the forefront of using standardized measures of student learning as part of a comprehensive public accountability system. The lessons it has learned provide insights for institutions that are now following suit.

5. VALUE: Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (Terrel L. Rhodes)
The Association of American Colleges and Universities is leading an effort to define essential learning outcomes and develop shared expectations for student performance as demonstrated through work as presented in electronic portfolios. This promises a more comprehensive and authentic framework for establishing and accounting for the quality of undergraduate learning.

6. Rising to the Challenge: Developing a Survey of Workplace Skills, Civic Engagement, and Global Awareness (Judith A. Ouimet, Gary R. Pike)
The skills that business and political leaders seek from college graduates, such as leadership, teamwork, citizenship, and global awareness, are not part of the traditional domain of learning assessments. This chapter describes a survey being developed to assess such skills as part of a broader validation project.

7. Sharing Responsibility for Student Learning (Victor M. H. Borden, Gary R. Pike)
This final chapter integrates the experience and guidance of the chapters of this volume into a road map for moving ahead collaboratively and constructively, with due diligence to the significant road hazards. The chapter also highlights the pivotal role of institutional research and institutional researchers in this venture.

INDEX.