A value-added student assessment model: Northeast Missouri State University

The Northeast Missouri State University Value-added Student Assessment Program developed from the proposition that an educational institution should be able to determine the value added to a person as he or she proceeds through that educational system. While traditional measurement practices assess normative output differentials. NMSU's Value-added Program attempts to measure gains in the total person — knowledge, skills, values, cultural awareness and other personal development — by measuring changes within each individual. The program has been in place for over a decade and impacts, today, nearly every aspect of the university: student development, academic curriculum, faculty development, university funding and fiscal formulas, long-range planning and even the regional accreditation association's institutional review. NMSU recently received the G. Theodore Mitau Award for Excellence in Higher Education for this program. The program's philosophy, evolution, implementation and impacts are described in this article.