Assessing Student Learning about the Catholic Social Tradition: A Validated Rubric

Abstract

Catholic higher education aims to educate students about the Catholic Social Tradition, yet few resources exist to articulate specific learning goals and assess such learning. This article presents the process used by a multi-university team to validate a rubric intended to strengthen curricular and co-curricular student learning about the Catholic Social Tradition (CST). By analyzing validation data from Catholic universities through student surveys, oral history interviews with students, and focus groups with administrators and students, the research team refined the rubric to increase its usefulness as a course and program design tool, as well as an assessment framework. The authors present the findings, which are reflected in the final version of the rubric, and discuss the limitations and potential future uses of the rubric.