Establishing Rigor and Quality in Doctoral Programs Through Program Assessment

This essay describes the development and implementation of a CPED-grounded program assessment system and the ways in which it contributes to quality assurance in Ed.D. programs broadly. We begin by articulating program quality and describing the contextual factors that guide our approach to program assessment. Next, we overview major components and processes of our program assessment system. Specific emphasis is placed on describing the development and evaluation of program effectiveness based on CPED-influenced student learning outcomes. We then briefly describe how we leverage an existing learning management system to implement program assessment efficiently, and outline continuous monitoring and improvement efforts that are based on our program assessment work. Finally, we describe our experiences with academic program review and discuss lessons learned and suggestions to promote program rigor and success.