Education Commons^™

Evaluating Honors Programs: An Outcomes Approach, Jacqueline Reihman, Sara Varhus, William R. Whipple

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs

The evaluation of academic programs has always been a complex and sensitive issue. Evaluations are undertaken to determine which programs will survive in an era of straitened economic circumstances, to gain or maintain accreditation, or to tell us how our programs can be improved. They may apply some normative standard of quality, 0r address an academic program's unique situation and mission. They may include the following: review of budget, evaluation of staff, description of the program's operation, demonstration of faculty and student satisfaction, or measures of what students have learned. They may use standardized or locally developed tests of achievement; …