Oral Communication Assessment Procedures and Instrument Development in Higher Education [microform] : II / S. Clay Willmington

In order to discover and evaluate the nature of large-scale, standardized assessment programs in colleges and universities in 1986, a survey followed up the Committee on Assessment and Testing (CAT)-sponsored study of 1982. A questionnaire was mailed to speech departments of more than 2,000 institutions, asking first whether the institution has (1) a standardized method for assessing communication skills outside of a required speech course; and (2) a required speech communication course that uses standardized procedures/instruments. In a second phase, 112 responses were received as the result of a direct mailing to directors of programs in the 1982 study and to institutions that indicated (in 1982) that they were developing a program. The 57 institutions who had a program were sent a questionnaire in which they were asked to report the details of their programs; 53 responded. Thirty-nine schools were included in both studies, and there were 14 new schools. In both studies, efforts were made to locate uniform testing programs. Results revealed four main purposes for uniform assessment of students' communication skills: course exemption (58%), placement/screening (34%), assessment within a class (19%), and teacher certification (13%). The most typical exemption test was a demonstration of competence in public speaking. The current study showed 10% more of the institutions using assessment procedures for either "exemption" or "placement/screening purposes" than the earlier study, and 30% of the institutions testing listening skills, as opposed to 18% in the earlier study. Findings suggest that respondents are still searching for "the" way to assess students' oral communication competence in valid and reliable ways. (Eight endnotes are included.) (JK)