Avila BSW Program Assessment Plan and Continuous Improvement
The Avila University Social Work Program has made a commitment to achieving excellence in social work education. The faculty recognize that this value is demonstrated through the use of effective assessment processes. A comprehensive multimodal assessment plan has been developed, is being implemented, and includes activities and procedures for evaluating student attainment of nine competencies, as demonstrated through the achievement of thirty-one associated professional social work behaviors. The plan guides the measurement of the Program’s ability to advance graduates who have attained the requisite knowledge, skills, values, and cognitive/affective processes of professional practitioners. The ongoing collection of data and the analysis of this data result in program viability and effectiveness by identifying potential areas for improvement and growth, as well as affirming strengths that can be applied toward continuous improvement.
Benchmarks
The assessment plan includes benchmarks for the achievement of each competency and for each outcome measure. The social work faculty establishes the benchmarks. The outcome measure benchmark for measure #1 and measure #2 (AMC – capstone) is set at 3 out of 4 or better as we use a four-point Likert scale. This was a determination made by the faculty for consistency in assessment data collection.
The competency benchmark is set at 80% for competencies 1 through 9.