| Program assessment practices are a cornerstone to the accreditation process for Athletic Training Education Programs (ATEPs) as written in the standards and guidelines by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). However, no standard means of program assessment, nor any link to the American Association of Higher Education's (AAHE) principles of good practice in assessment, has been described in discipline specific literature. The purpose of this study was to determine, first, the extent to which program directors of CAAHEP accredited ATEPs are implementing good practices of program assessment according to the guidelines provided by the AAHE and secondly, if program directors are receiving the knowledge and skills necessary to develop program assessment plans.; A researcher-developed Web-survey based on the nine principles of AAHE's Practices for Good Assessment of Student Learning and a tenth principle described by Banta, et al. (1996) was electronically delivered to 296 program directors of CAAHEP accredited Athletic Training Education Programs throughout the United States.; Overall, the majority of program directors who responded perceive they are incorporating the AAHE principles of good assessment practice into their assessment plans, except for reporting the assessment results in a meaningful way and to a continuum of constituents, including students, their parents, employers, governing bodies and legislators. Knowledge and skills for program assessment practices are obtained by program directors through a variety of resources, however, a small percentage reported they did not receive knowledge and skills related to this administrative task. Knowledge of the AAHE principles improved a program's directors' perception that they begin their assessment planning with a discussion of education values, pay attention to the experiences leading to program outcomes and use assessment to illuminate questions that people really care about.; As a profession, Athletic Training education bodies and accreditation agencies should continue to foster development in good assessment practices for both currently employed and future program directors. Further research is necessary to make conclusions on actual versus perceived practice in program assessment. |
