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Book Review: Assessment, Evaluation, and Accountability in Adult Education, by Hill, L. H.

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Appropriate assessment and evaluation can offset recent accountability concerns that concentrate on measuring quantitative outcomes without acknowledging the sophisticated relationship between teaching and learning in adult education. This book recognizes… Click to show full abstract

Appropriate assessment and evaluation can offset recent accountability concerns that concentrate on measuring quantitative outcomes without acknowledging the sophisticated relationship between teaching and learning in adult education. This book recognizes the significance of conducting assessment and evaluation without sacrificing the goals of adult education. It argues that for “adult learning to continue as a meaningful experience, rather than a solely measurable experience, educators need to strengthen their knowledge” (p. 15) of assessment and evaluation processes. With this knowledge, they can effectively advocate for adult learners. The book’s contributors successfully support this claim. Assessment, determining levels of student learning, and evaluation, judging program efficacy, are complicated when accounting for the desires and motivations of diverse adult learners. Through multiple viewpoints, this work addresses the intricacies of the processes that match the complexity of adult education while arguing for the control of these processes to be within adult education rather than imposed from outside. As “the purpose of assessment is to improve learning” (p. 18), the diversity within adult education means there needs to be variation in assessment. First, the purpose, term definitions, and the importance of adult learning are established. Then adult education settings such as ABE, military education, continuing professional education, human resource development, and community education are examined. Next the focus moves to higher education—important not only as a location of adult education but also as the place students are taught to become adult educators and where research and scholarship is generated. Health professions, distance education, undergraduate, graduate, and faculty education are investigated. Finally, an answer to accountability is offered that sustains and improves adult education. Hill has brought together an impressive collection of contributors who are experienced not only in adult education but specifically in assessment and evaluation. Their expertise is invaluable. The contributors argue that if the field of adult education creates a “culture of evidence to provide accountability” (p. 191), it can be used to advocate for adult learners. 961769 AEQXXX10.1177/0741713620961769Adult Education QuarterlyBook Review book-review2020

Keywords: education; accountability; adult education; assessment evaluation

Journal Title: Adult Education Quarterly
Year Published: 2020

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