Assessment Resources & Services

An important part of enhancing program services is getting feedback directly from stakeholders. AHEAD offers a set of assessment tools designed to provide disability resource professionals with 360-degree feedback from key stakeholders: students with disabilities, faculty/instructional personnel, and campus administrators.

A self-assessment questionnaire, based on the AHEAD Program Standards and Performance Indicators, is also available. This comprehensive tool walks the DS director and/or a team of staff through the each of the Performance Indicators, providing prompts for considering how the office responds to each area and concluding in an informed self-appraisal of each Program Standard.  

AHEAD will host the brief online surveys for your institution on a secure server, collect and clean the data, and provide you with a summative report. The raw data is also provided for further analysis.

This service is available to AHEAD members for $500 and non-AHEAD members for $650. For more information, please contact Jeremy Jarrell.

AHEAD supports member institutions in arranging for comprehensive, external evaluations of their disability resource offices and/or approach to access for individuals with disabilities. Coordinated on an at-cost basis, AHEAD’s Executive Director consults individually with each interested institution to understand the specific goals for the external review and to identify a nationally-respected expert with appropriate background for the institution. Before any work is begun a service agreement that outlines the work and costs is prepared.

External reviews coordinated by AHEAD:

• provide a thorough and expert assessment of institutional policies, practices, and activities related to access for individuals with disabilities;
• strategically consider how current best-practice standards and philosophical models can be applied at the institution; and
• provide a comprehensive report of findings, recommendations, and strategies for enhancing equity for individuals with disabilities in higher education.

Once selected, the external reviewer will contact the campus administrator leading the review process to learn more about current issues and goals for the review. The consultant will provide a comprehensive list of documents to be reviewed prior to the onsite visit and consult in the development of the schedule for the one and one-half day visit to the campus. The reviewer will do significant research and reading prior to the visit and prepare the final report within 6-8 weeks after the visit.

Contact AHEAD’s main office at ahead@ahead.org or 704.947.7779 to arrange a time to consult with AHEAD’s Executive Director about your interest in an external review.