The Assurance of Learning Tool as Predictor and Criterion in Business School Admissions Decisions: New Use for an Old Standard?

Abstract

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business incorporates program assessment as an integral part of the accreditation process. Assessment tools created to meet assurance of learning standards, however, must go beyond grades and measure student learning directly. The author shows that an in-house assessment tool predicted student learning and correlated well with admissions criteria used to select students into an MBA program. Specifically, assessment exam scores from 182 MBA students correlated .47 with their final MBA grades. The assessment exam scores themselves were also well predicted by student GMAT scores and undergraduate grades. The results show that assurance of learning assessment tools can be useful for more than just accreditation decisions.