Northcentral University

Elaine Willerton, PhD | Assessment Director, SSBS Student Progress Evaluations For years, the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) programs have maintained a unique process of student assessment. The Student Progress Evaluation (SPE) is a two-part process that occurs in the final week of most MFT courses. First, the student completes a brief self-evaluation and turns it in. Next, the Faculty member evaluates the student on the same criteria and returns the SPE to the student. The SPE forms were updated in the Fall of 2017. We now use unique versions for foundations and core courses in the MAMFT program and foundations, research, and specialization courses in the doctoral programs. While the content of the SPE varies, the objective remains the same: engage students in a process of reflection and identify strengths and growth areas. SPE items are rated on a 3-point scale: 1 = Below Expectations; 2 = Working Toward Expectations; 3 = Meets Expectations. Students and Faculty have the opportunity to provide comments about the ratings. The SPEs were once hosted in Taskstream, but are now housed in Jotform. At the individual level, a SPE or a series of SPEs can tell us about each student's performance. Taken together, we can see whether, on average, there are common areas where students struggle and whether perceptions of performance are congruent across students and Faculty. After reviewing SPE results collected over the past year, I found the following: • On average, students and Faculty ratings are quite congruent. • Student time management and use of APA formatting are consistently two of the lowest rated skills in both MAMFT and doctoral SPEs. • Connecting theory to case conceptualization and treatment planning is a growth area specific to students in MFT-5104 (Treatment Planning and Traditional Family Therapy). • In the doctoral SPEs, the ability to critique and to synthesize research literature are two of the lowest rated skills. The SPE results have even greater potential for informing and guiding our curriculum development and intervention planning than is represented here. The open-ended comments in the SPEs are also a source of insight into the student experience. If a SPE is required in the courses you teach, please remember to complete them for the benefit of your students as well as the programs overall. If you have any questions about the content of SPEs or how the data is used, please reach out to me (ewillerton@ncu.edu). If you have any questions about the functionality of the process (e.g., ensuring you have received a SPE or completed it correctly), please reach out to Brandon Lyons (brandonlyons@ncu.edu) who manages the Jotform.

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