A Human-Centered Approach to Assessment Available to Purchase

Much of the focus of the vast body of literature on assessing student learning is on how to assess and implement reporting processes on learning, whether at the classroom, cocurricular, program, general education, or institution level. Yet what is often not acknowledged within the literature or considered in the various recommendations for implementing new or revised approaches for how to assess student learning are considerations of the who—the individual people engaged in assessment. While there has been movement recently toward humanizing the work of assessment by elevating the individuals and people involved in the process of assessing student learning, this article argues that in order to cultivate and sustain meaningful engagement of people in assessment, assessment professionals need to take up a new line of inquiry: themselves. As individuals engaged in change processes, assessment staff can benefit from examination of their identity development as assessment professionals and that identity tempers their interactions with others. Implications for culture(s) of inquiry and the practice of assessment are presented at the end.