The leaders of three large faculty unions say they support assessments of student learning as a means of informing instruction and curriculum, according to a new paper being released by the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, an organization that encourages the use of assessment data to shape the conversation about undergraduate education.
In the paper, Lawrence Gold, director of the higher-education department of the American Federation of Teachers, Gary Rhoades, general secretary of the American Association of University Professors, and Mark Smith, a senior policy analyst in higher education of the National Education Association present a united front in advocating that, with local control, faculty should use student-learning assessments to improve students' experiences in the classroom.
They also emphasize that assessments can be used to begin discussions between labor and management to create nonbinding letters of agreement, in contracts, about how best to improve student learning. However, the union leaders say that care needs to be taken about how assessments are used in evaluating faculty and how such assessments might be used to determine how resources are allocated.
"It's very important that the three faculty unions have come together and made plain their intention to use assessments in a meaningful way," said George D. Kuh, director of the learning-outcomes institute.
In voicing their support for assessments, though, the leaders do not endorse any specific actions for their organizations to take.
"We would all like to see them go further at a time when faculty, organized or not, are being asked to do more," Mr. Kuh said. But he added that he understands it is necessary for the three organizations to not get too far in front of the wants of its members.
