CALS Outcomes Assessment: Leadership
Ad hoc committee: Ron Deiter (chair), Carmen Bain, Gretchen Mosher, Beth Foreman
Date: Spring 2014 (2-20-14 draft)
Committee Charge
To develop a process and rubrics CALS’ departments may consider using to determine the extent to which students are attaining the desired ‘leadership’ outcome.
Stated CALS Leadership Outcome
Organize, facilitate, and participate effectively in a group, team, or organization.
Define a problem or opportunity, implement an action planning process, work toward a goal and justify actions taken.
An Overview of Our Recommended Approach
The literature on leadership identifies a number of skills or traits associated with leaders that are related to other CALS’ outcomes such as problem solving/critical thinking, communication, and ethics. We decided NOT to address/evaluate these skills or topics with the leadership outcome as it would presumably duplicate what has been or will be done as part of the assessment of those other specific outcomes. Therefore, we will focus on evaluating attainment of items listed under the general CALS leadership outcome.
Assessment Types and General Recommendations
We propose that departments follow a process similar to what has been proposed previously for assessing other outcomes. The process involves a combination of direct/indirect as well as formative/summative evaluation methods.
Indirect
For indirect assessment of each outcome, the college (CALS) should initiate a first-employer survey for feedback on the ‘leadership’ abilities of CALS graduates.
Direct
Direct assessment of each outcome should be done at the departmental/program level. Each department/program will be expected to provide to the CALS SOA Committee by July 1, 2015 1) a list or description of their outcomes that are pertinent to CALS leadership outcomes, 2) formative and summative assessments of how well their students have achieved the leadership outcomes, and 3) a plan for continuous improvement regarding student attainment of leadership outcomes.
Formative
Formative assessments are usually regarded as attempts to monitor or measure learning while the learning is in process. This feedback can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Early course evaluations, in-class assignments, quizzes, discussions, etc. are examples of formative evaluation instruments.
Summative
Summative assessments are typically used to evaluate student learning or attainment of desired outcomes at the end of a specified period of time (e.g. midterm, end of course, at graduation, etc.). Midterm exams, final exams, course grades, standardized tests, entrance exams, individual or group projects, etc. are examples of summative evaluation instruments.
Some Leadership Concepts:
A Leader
A leader is a person who leads others in identifying and pursuing a desirable common goal.
Group vs Team vs Organization
Leadership skills are demonstrated by individuals working with others. Distinctions are often made regarding the context within which individuals work with others. Leaders may interact with others in a ‘group’, ‘team’, or ‘organization’ setting. The types of leadership skills students are expected to achieve or demonstrate can be similar or different depending upon whether or not they are part of a group, team, or organization.
A Group
A group is simply a number of people who have a common trait of being together, doing a common activity, or having a common interest. For example, members of a class or members of an organization are examples of groups. Individuals have an opportunity to demonstrate ‘group’ leadership skills when they are part of a group that has a group task to complete. Members of a group basically work independently without much collaboration. There is a strong individual focus, yet each individual typically may be expected to complete an assignment that is part of what the overall group has been directed or assigned to do. Groups can operate without a leader, but they usually operate more effectively if there is a leader who leads them and who demonstrates desired leadership abilities (i.e. outcomes) noted below.
Common examples of students being involved in a GROUP task would include members of a committee or members of a group project (either in class or at work). These are examples of settings within which departments should attempt to observe and measure the attainment of ‘Group’ leadership skills.
A Team
A team is a number of people who are pursuing a common goal (or goals) by working together collectively, collaboratively, and interdependently. It is the ‘working together’ aspect of teams that distinguish them from groups. There is much interaction among individuals on the team resulting in a shared sense of accountability and accomplishment. Members of a team often collectively develop goals to pursue rather than have goals be given to them. Members of a team work together versus independently on most tasks. Teams are groups, but not all groups are teams. For example, a student committee could operate as either a group or as a team. A team leader demonstrates desired leadership abilities for group leaders plus added ones (i.e. outcomes) noted below.
Common examples of students being involved in a TEAM task would include members of a peer mentor team, members of an ‘ambassador’ team, members of a committee, and members of a workplace team. These are examples of settings within which departments should attempt to observe and measure the attainment of ‘Team’ leadership skills.
An Organization
An organization is a broadly defined social entity or ‘community’ structured to often meet multiple, collective goals. An organization is usually made of not only individuals but also ‘groups’ and ‘teams’. Within an organization, the groups and teams are often referred to as divisions or departments or units. An organizational leader demonstrates desired leadership abilities (i.e. outcomes) noted below.
The main example of students being involved in ORGANIZATIONAL tasks would be students who serve as an officer of a club or organization (on campus or off campus). After graduation, students may be become leaders of organizations such as a private or public business firm, a school or university, an executive/legislative/judicial governmental agency, a sports’ league, an international organization, or a ‘professional’ organization.
Focus on “Skills” vs “Traits” of Leaders
There are many commonly identified inner-personal qualities typically referred to as “traits” associated with effective leaders. These include such things as honest, self-motivated, knowledgeable, self-aware, open minded, a sense of humor, energetic, determined, focused, intuitive, positive attitude, etc. That said, it is also recognized that there are different types of leadership ‘styles’ which suggests that there can be some variability in traits among effective leaders. Traits are features of one’s character or personality or style and often determine how one person may be perceived as different from others. Traits are often viewed as being integral to a person either through genetics or life experiences. How alterable a person’s traits are seems to be subject to debate. On the other hand, skills, including leadership skills, are things a person can do well. Examples of leadership skills include taking initiative, setting deadlines, consensus building, etc. More leadership skills are identified below. A person’s behavior and accomplishments are likely to reveal more about a person’s skills than traits and, thus, skills are likely more observable and quantifiable than traits. Also, skills are generally believed to be more alterable than traits. One can learn, acquire, or enhance skills via education, training, and experiences. Therefore, for many of these reasons, our suggestion is to focus on skills versus traits in assessing the attainment of CALS leadership outcomes by our students.
Desired Leadership Outcomes (e.g. Group, Team, Organization)
Group Leadership Skills/Outcomes
1) Takes initiative in overseeing group work.
2) Establishes deadlines for the completion of group tasks.
3) Articulates and sells a group goal (or goals) to members of the group.
4) Takes into account how their actions/behaviors are impacting others in the group.
5) Sets a positive example for others to follow in being an effective member of a group.
Team Leadership Skills/Outcomes
1) See list for ‘Group’ above.
2) Coordinates the collective development of a shared goal (or goals) by getting all team members involved in the process.
3) Actions reflect respect for fellow team members and their ideas.
4) Manages team tension or conflict, if it arises, so as to prevent team divisiveness from interfering with the attainment of team goals.
5) Demonstrates a sense of knowing when to bring closure to a group decision making process and how to get team members to back/support majority decisions in moving forward.
6) Motivates fellow team members by providing assistance and feedback when needed.
7) Helps a group develop a ‘plan’ or ‘strategy’ for the attainment of a team goal (or goals) including an appropriate delegation of tasks.
8) Carries out their obligations to the group in a timely and professional manner.
Organization Leadership Skills/Outcomes
1) See list for ‘Group’ and ‘Team’ above.
2) Develops an organizational structure that is most conducive to the achievement of organizational goals (i.e. matches resources with tasks).
3) Positions the organization for long-term success (e.g. makes sure the organization has sufficient resources to sustain itself; develops leadership succession plans; anticipates and acts on new challenges or opportunities; initiates new projects; promotes ‘partnerships’, ‘good citizenship’ and ‘community service’).
Suggested Rubrics
We propose the following rubrics be used to assess student attainment of selected group, team, or organizational leadership skills in noted above:
Numerical Score Term Demonstration of Desired Skill
0-1 Emerging Mostly to totally non-evident
2-3 Developing Partially evident
4-5 Competent Mostly to totally evident
Final Comments
There is a difference between ‘position’ and ‘action’ when it comes to students demonstrating desired leadership outcomes. Just because a student was a club ‘officer’ or a club ‘committee member’ (i.e. ‘position’) does not necessarily or automatically mean that the student acted as an effective leader in those positions. Departments may need to ‘dig a little deeper’ to determine how their students performed when serving in those positions. This could be done by asking students to explain times they were in leadership positions, the actions they took, and the results they got. It could also be done by asking others who observed students in action in leadership positions (e.g. peers, instructors, job supervisors) to rate a student’s attainment or demonstration of the possible leadership outcomes noted above. Finally, based on the information we present above, note it is possible for students to demonstrate attainment of desired leadership skills without necessarily having been an ‘officer’ of a club or organization.