Accreditation Through the Eyes of Program Evaluation

Introduction

The increase in the demand for higher education has led to an increase in the number of related institutions. This brought the importance of the nature of the process to the agenda. According to Brittingham et al. (1999), sustainability of quality requires standards, evaluators taking into account the standards and the decision-making process in line with the standards. These factors lead us to the concept of accreditation. Accreditation is the process of determining whether a program complies with predetermined standards. In this context, it is possible to talk about the program evaluation process.

Although the main purpose of evaluation is to decide on the effectiveness or value of the program, it has many roles. These:

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  deciding the level of students achieving the goals

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  deciding on the value of the program itself

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  deciding on the basis of administrative practices and the structures in which the educational institution operates.

In this context, appropriate evaluation methods are selected. Considering the objectives and conditions help select the most appropriate model for program evaluation (Erden, 1998). One of the models to be employed in higher education is Provus’ Discrepancy Evaluation Model (İlhan & Kalaycı, 2019). In this model, the program design is compared with the standards. The compatibility of the determined standards with the possibilities of the program, the environment, the methods, the skills of the students and the qualifications of the staff are evaluated. The processes that include student and staff activities, functions and communication of a particular program are evaluated. The impact of the entire program is evaluated taking into account the final objectives. Examined products; It can be related to the educational institution and society, as well as to students and staff. The products of the program are also evaluated in terms of cost-benefit by comparing them with those of similar programs. In terms of cost, not only money but also morale and time should be considered. While searching for answers, economic, social and political values ​​are also taken into account (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2018).

In the accreditation process, although there are different applications in different countries, the institution or program generally makes a self-evaluation, and then a decision is made by making field visits by experts. In this process, the evaluators' decision whether the operation conforms to the standards can overlap with Provus' Differences Approach Model. In the difference approach model, performance and standards are compared and it is decided whether there is a difference. This coincides with the accreditation process. So in this section, the accreditation process is viewed from the perspective of program evaluation. The accreditation process is associated with the Provus’ Discrepancy Evaluation Model. In this context, a literature review was carried out.

Accreditation Thorough The Eyes Of Program Evaluation

In this section, firstly the concepts of quality assurance and accreditation, and then the accreditation process are mentioned. Afterwards, program evaluation in higher education in general and Provus’ Discrepancy Evaluation Model in particular are mentioned. Finally, the accreditation process is mentioned from the perspective of Provus’ Discrepancy Evaluation Model.