An examination of assessment practices in colleges of business at various Middle East countries compared to the USA

This study reports the results of a survey conducted during 2007 which was mailed to deans of schools of business at institutions of higher education located within the USA and the Middle East. Schools of business are now more engaged in assessment activities than a few years ago. Assessment activities are more costly and more emphasis seems to be placed on assessing communication skills, critical thinking, and professional knowledge. Colleges of business are relaying heavily on course-embedded measures, followed by indirect measures of assessment. Curriculum and instructional changes were the top-ranked uses of assessment results. Although almost the same percentage of colleges of business in 2007 has specific curriculum/programme objectives as they did in 1999 (92% in 2007 and 88% in 1999), significantly more US colleges actually assess their objectives. While 65% of the US institutions reported assessment activities annually, only 25% of Middle Eastern universities assessed their curriculum annually.