As a new school year is on the horizon, and we are asking staff to plan for their upcoming assessment, I think back to the foundation of assessment that is meaningful and manageable. To me, the core of assessment is “What do you really need to know in order to do the best you can?” Sounds simple, right? Obviously, it can get complicated, but let’s not overthink it.
If satisfaction is important, you can ask your customers/clients/users about their experiences, overall or for specific areas. If you are imparting knowledge to students, you can ask about learning (or have them demonstrate it, which would be even better). If you want to know your audience’s needs, you should get their feedback. When you get the results, you can make changes to improve what you do.
What you probably don’t need to do is prepare a complicated 50+-question survey that will take 20+ minutes to complete and require respondents to recall very specific information about something that happened more than six months ago. Why? First, your audience is probably not going to finish the survey—these days, most people are not willing to invest their time and mental effort in something they do not have a strong connection to. Second, you probably cannot address 50 things in a year. (That said, you may not need to make changes to all 50 things you ask about, but still….) Third, you might lose track of your main focus, because there is so much data to consume and interpret.
So, what’s the answer? Focus, focus, focus. Notice that the title of the blog is “What do you really need to know?” not “What do you really want to know?” As an assessment person, there are lots of fun things that I want to know, but that doesn’t mean I should lose track of what the most important areas are for me to improve. As you work on creating an assessment, create a strong purpose statement that guides your efforts. For every question you want to ask a respondent, ask yourself: “How will the answer to that question help me accomplish my purpose?” If the question does not get to the core of what you need, consider not asking it. I like to challenge people to create a five-question assessment, which really makes people concentrate on their purpose. Your respondents will also thank you, and you might get more feedback as a result. Think out of the survey box: maybe asking 1-2 qualitative questions on a 3×5 notecard will give you the information you need.
The great thing about assessment is that it is an iterative process. If you have more questions than you have space for in one assessment, you can always keep a running list to use next time. For example, if you were seeking customer satisfaction feedback, the first iteration could focus on the speed and efficiency of your service. The next iteration could focus on the quality of the interaction with the staff. The third iteration could be about the specific changes you made based on the first assessment you did. Assessment is not one-and-done; it’s an ongoing effort to collect and interpret data so you can make positive changes. Just keep focused on what you need to know so you don’t get off track.