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Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Assessment Model
Measures of corporate education often follow the popular Kirkpatrick Four-Level model of assessment.
With some modification, we recommend this model to those responsible for quality in operations and academics in adult-centered and professional higher education. The categories of information produced by this model are ideal for decision-support.
InterEd's summary of these levels is as follows:
- Level 1. Measures of participant satisfaction; “participants” limited to those considered learners in the course.
- Level 2. Measures of course outcomes in terms of cognitive learning and affective disposition relative to the application of the content.
- Level 3. Measures of on-the-job behavior that might be due to the effects of the cognitive and affective change.
- Level 4. Measures of the effects of changes in on-the-job behavior on corporate goals and performance, especially financial performance or closely related outcomes.
Shortcomings of Level 1 in the Four-Level Model
InterEd's principals have assessed the education of working adults continuously since 1986. In that time, we have conducted more than one million assessments in tens of thousands of adult-centered and professional educational environments — university, government, and corporate university. The main shortcoming in most Level 1 assessments is their under-appreciation of the potential to conduct meticulous process assessment — the very form of assessment that is credited for many gains in U.S. productivity over the past two decades.
Based on more than two million assessments, and careful analyses of the working adult educational environment, we recommend the following additional considerations as you contemplate your investment in Level 1 findings.
Invest In and Pay Attention To Level 1 Findings
- Structure Questions to Obtain Informed and Qualified Judgment
- Structure Questions to Obtain Critical and Comparative Judgment
- Focus on the Critical Elements Common to Most Learning Environments
- Focus on Probable and Actual Application to the Larger Environment
- Focus on Judgments Regarding Affective as Well As Cognitive Impact
- Assume the Learner's Perspective (cf. the Instructors) In Developing Questions
- Secure Convergence of Measures Between Instructors and Learners
- Quantify Important Qualitative Information (e.g., Comment Profiles®)
- Control for Well Understood Biases in Human Response Tendencies
- Validate the Instrument on the Target Audience (70% of instruments fail validation)
By regarding them as little more than “smile sheets,” ordinary Level 1 assessments set low expectations for participants to make valuable judgments regarding their learning experiences and the probable effects of those experiences on their workplace behavior.