AACSB Expectations Regarding Assessment

AACSB's expectations regarding the transition to implement Assurance of Learning 

The recently adopted Eligibility Procedures and Standards for Business Accreditation for AACSB International include twenty-one standards that are organized into three areas:

• Strategic Management Standards
• Participants Standards
• Assurance of Learning Standards 

The Assurance of Learning standards (standards 15-21) clearly acknowledge assessment of student learning as part of the curriculum management process. The standards call for schools to define learning goals, assess student achievement for these goals, and utilize what is learned through assessment to continually improve their curricular programs.   AACSB expectations regarding Assurance of Learning Standards include: 

• Learning goals should link to the mission; thus, learning goals will differ from school to school.  Learning goals translate the more general statement of the school’s mission into the specific educational accomplishments expected of its graduates.
• Learning goals must be defined for each program.  Departmental goals and/or course goals (which are not required by AACSB)  are not a substitute for program goals.
• Learning goals must include both general and management-specific knowledge and skills.
• Four to ten goals should be developed for each program.  Schools are not required (or even encouraged) to develop and assess learning goals for all of the skills knowledge and skills areas listed in Standards 15-21.
• Student performance on learning goals must be assessed systematically and routinely.  No one approach to assurance of learning is prescribed.  Assessment programs should include direct measures of learning.  Course grades are not program assessment measures.
• Program assessment does not require that every student be assessed.  Sampling is acceptable as long as an appropriate and representative sampling methodology is utilized.
• Assessment results must be analyzed, disseminated, and utilized by the faculty toward curriculum planning.
• Assurance of Learning is not part of the annual reporting process.   For initial accreditation and accreditation maintenance purposes, schools will be expected to define their learning goals conceptually and operationally, discuss how they are addressed in the curriculum, and demonstrate levels of student achievement for each goal.  Schools also will be expected to show how assessment results subsequently impacted their curriculum planning. 
• Faculty involvement in, and ownership of, the Assurance of Learning process is critical. Faculty are expected to be actively involved in all stages of the assessment process including defining goals, curriculum alignment, developing appropriate measures, implementing course-embedded measures, and, improving the school’s curriculum. 

AACSB International recognizes that designing and implementing a thoughtful, mission-linked, comprehensive Assurance of Learning process is – at least initially – a time consuming task.  Thus, review teams and committees are being instructed to expect a transition period, specifically: 

• In the first 2 years of the standards (2003-04), schools will be expected to be involved, at a minimum, in defining learning goals, translating goals into specific objectives, and aligning their curriculum to meet the goals.
• By year 3 (2005), schools will be expected to have developed measurements for each specific goal, and begun collecting performance data on at least some of the measures.
• By year 5 (2007), schools should have a complete Assurance of Learning process in place, including feedback of the assessment data into the curriculum review process. 

Questions about AACSB accreditation expectations should be directed to: accreditation@aacsb.edu