Presentation at Minnesota Colleges and Universities English Workshop St. Paul Conference Center April 4, 2009

1. How We Talk About and Do
Assessment
Changes Everything
LYNDA MILNE
HTTP://WWW.CTL.MNSCU.EDU
MINNESOTA COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
ENGLISH AND WRITING CONFERENCE
MINNEAPOLIS
APRIL 4, 2009

2. Ah, the Good Old Days
 Before the curse of [assessment] fell
upon mankind we lived a happy,
innocent life, full of merriment and go
and informed by fairly good judgment.
 Hilaire Belloc

3. What Graff said.
 “I've become a believer in the potential of learning
outcomes assessment, which challenges…us to
articulate what we expect our students to learn—all
of them, not just the high-achieving few—and then
holds us accountable for helping them learn it.”

4. What he said.
 Colleges, and faculty themselves, are more interested
in attracting and teaching “The best students” vs.
“Students we have actually taught something.”

5. What he said.
 “…In the hundreds of faculty meetings I must have
attended in my 40-plus years of teaching, I have
never heard anyone ask how our department or
college was doing at educating all its students.

6. What he said.
 “Outcomes assessment changes the question to what
students can do as a result of seeing [being taught
by] us.”

7. What he said.
 “Once we start asking whether our students are
learning what we want them to learn, we realize
pretty quickly that making this happen is
necessarily a team effort, requiring us to
think about our teaching not in isolation but
in relation to that of our colleagues.

8. What he said.
 “The problem is not that we don't value good
teaching, as our critics still often charge, but that we
often share our culture's romanticized picture of
teaching as a virtuoso performance by soloists… the
Great-Teacher Fetish, the counterpart of the Best-
Student Fetish.”

9. What he said.
 “For all its obvious value, excellent teaching in itself
doesn't guarantee good education….Outcomes
assessment holds us to that obligation by making us
operate not as classroom divas and prima donnas
but as team players who collaborate with our
colleagues to produce a genuine program.”

10. What he said.
 “To see outcomes assessment as merely a
conservative dodge designed to distract everyone
from structural inequality ignores the ways our own
pedagogical and curricular practices contribute to
the achievement gap.”

11. What he said.
 “The original motivations of assessment lie in
legitimate progressive efforts to reform higher
education from within, by judging colleges according
to what their students learn rather than by their elite
pedigrees.”

12. What he said.
 “Rather than reject assessment and circle the
wagons, however, we should actively involve
ourselves in the process, not only to shape and direct
it as much as possible but to avoid ceding it by
default to those who would misuse it.”

13.  (Quoting David Bartholomae): „We make a huge
mistake if we don't try to articulate more publicly
what it is we value in intellectual work. We do this
routinely for our students—so it should not be
difficult to find the language we need to speak to
parents and legislators.‟

14. What they said!
 First, Prof. Graff's article makes no mention of the
faculty labor involved in assessment--and it is
considerable.

15. What they said!
 The reservation I have about outcomes assessment is
that it will inevitably quot;assessquot; those things that are
most easily assessed . . . which often means things
that are trivial. For a writing course, it is fairly easy
to assess grammar errors or spelling or punctuation
or T-units or sentence variety. It is difficult (and
expensive) to assess the quality of thinking, the
effectiveness of language, the sophistication of
argument. I fear an increased emphasis on
assessment will mean an increased emphasis
on the trivial over the profound.

16. What they said!
 Finally, anybody is welcome to assess how I teach
by asking anybody anything they want--students, ex-
students, colleagues, superiors, professionals out in
the field where my students have gone. I just do not
wish to have to check little boxes and line up long
vertical columns of approved verbs relative to
quot;strategies,quot; quot;goals,quot; quot;objectives,quot; and other
educratic fetishes.

17. What they said!
 Faculty are concerned that outcomes assessment will
end up like student course evaluations in many
schools. Feedback comes too late to help the faculty
member and the administration uses what is
frequently a popularity contest to punish faculty.

18. What they said!
 Many humanists resist assessment because they
assume (or are told) that assessment begins with the
description of learning goals, and the more precise
their goals the better. In contrast, their idea of good
teaching may be more like that of a colleague of mine
[who] didn't mind if his students became taxi
drivers, if they were better, more humane,
engaged human beings. How does one state
that goal as a learning outcome? How
measure it with a test? Confronted with that
definition of assessment, many humanists resist.

19. What they said!
 “Outcomes Assessment is basically No Child Left
Behind as applied to higher education. Its
implications are profoundly anti-intellectual,
conformist, and conservative”

20. What they also said…
 Most of us are part of a noble enterprise, a university
or a college. What is the purpose of that
enterprise? What is its product? I would
argue that it is simply quot;learning.quot; That is
what students do in our classrooms and that
is what our faculties do in their scholarship
and research. If one accepts that idea, then is it not
reasonable to expect that an education institution
should attempt to ascertain whether its product
actually exists, and, if it does, to discover something
about its quality and quantity? I think the answer is
obvious.

21. And one said this.
 In our history department at a large Western land-grant
university, we were dragged kicking and screaming into doing
outcomes assessment. We started as simply as possible,
assessing just two learning outcomes using two essay-exam
responses as our instruments. What we found surprised us. No,
it didn't surprise us that our students performed rather badly at
some of our outcomes.
 It did surprise us that the entire assessment process (especially
the measuring) led us to the richest, most intellectually
engaging, and most useful faculty discussions we've ever had
about teaching and student learning. I actually look forward to
our assessment measurement day (it takes six of us faculty about
5 hours) each semester and the talk about what we might do to
improve. Each of us has changed the way she/he teaches,
and we will probably change our major in response to
what we've found in assessment.

22. What they also said!
 [Our department decided that it wanted] “students
to be able to fairly summarize someone else‟s
argument and critically evaluate it without making
ad hominem attacks . . . [Learning Outcomes
Asssessment] doesn‟t force a teacher to teach one
kind of content vs. another, but it does identify
certain skills that are important.” For example, it
forces “a teacher to actually help the students
correctly read an argument and learn how to
compare and contrast it with other arguments.”

23. Assessment of…?
 Student skills and knowledge at entrance to an institution—
e.g., placement exams
Student learning in a course—for example, using tests or

other evaluative procedures
Student knowledge, abilities at the end of a course

Student learning at the completion of an academic

program
Many or all students’ learning in an academic

program
Student learning outcomes across academic areas at the

conclusion of a major milestone of education—e.g.,
graduation from college.
Student gains in knowledge or skills, comparing entry

and exit points.

25. Ok, Some Definitions
 Assessment involves collecting information about
the quality or quantity of a change in a student or
group.
 Evaluation may be defined as judging the merit,
value, or desirability of a measured performance.
 You can assess without evaluation, but you cannot
evaluate without assessment.”
Roger T. Johnson, 2003


26. ENGLISH TEACHERS CAN CHANGE
ASSESSMENT TALK & PRACTICE

27. Know enough to learn from us?
 The University assumes that you are proficient in English
and in writing about academic topics. Fulfillment of the
University of California Entry-Level Writing requirement
(formerly known as the Subject A requirement) is a
prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition
courses. If you have not passed the Analytical Writing
Placement Examination (AWPE—formerly known as the
Subject A Examination) or otherwise fulfilled the
requirement by the time you enter the University, you
should enroll in College Writing R1A during your first
semester. College Writing R1A is a 6-unit course that
satisfies the Entry-Level Writing requirement and the
first half of the Reading and Composition requirement.
(University of California at Berkeley, English Department entrance

requirements)

28. Are you sure?
In addition to a passing score on the AWPE, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions accepts the following

means of fulfilling the Entry-Level Writing requirement before you enter the University:
A minimum score of 680 on the SAT Reasoning Test, Writing Section

A minimum score of 680 on the SAT II: Subject Test in Writing, taken since May 1998

A minimum score of 660 on the SAT II: Subject Test in Writing, taken May 1995 through April 1998

A minimum score of 600 on the SAT II: Subject Test in Writing, taken May 1994 through April 1995

A minimum score of 30 on the ACT combined English/Writing Test

A minimum score of 600 on either form of the College Board Achievement Test in English Composition—“with

essay” or “all multiple choice,” taken before May 1994
SAT Advanced Placement: A minimum score of 3 on the Advanced Placement Test in English Composition

and Literature or in English Language and Composition
A minimum score of 5 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English (Language A

only)
A minimum score of 6 on the International Baccalaureate Standard Level English and Exam

A score of “Pass for Credit” on the California State University and Colleges English Equivalency Examination

(discontinued 1993)
A minimum grade of C in a transferable college-level English composition course completed at an accredited

college or university and accepted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Berkeley.
A minimum grade of C in a transferable college-level English composition course completed at an accredited

college or university and accepted by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Berkeley.

29. Sharon Hamilton, IUPUI
Principles of Undergraduate Learning
Chancellor's Professor Emerita of English
Indiana University, Indianapolis
Office: (317) 278-1846
E-mail: shamilto@iupui.edu

30. Barbara Walvoord at Notre Dame
Effective Grading/A Tool for Learning and Assessment
Professor Emerita of English
334 Decio Faculty Hall
574-631-0101
Walvoord@nd.edu

31. Grade the Title: up to 5 points each
A. A Comparison of Prell and Suave Shampoo
B. The Battle of the Suds: Budweiser and Weiderman Beer
C. Would You Eat Machine-Made or Homemade Cookies?
D. A Comparison of Arizona and Snapple Ice Tea for pH,
Residue, Light Absorbency, and Taste
E. Research to Determine the Better Paper Towel
A Comparison of Amway Laundry Detergent and Tide
F.
Laundry Detergent for characteristics of Stain
Removal, Fading, Freshness, and Cloth Strength

32. Anderson‟s Grades
A. A Comparison of Prell and Suave Shampoo 3
B. The Battle of the Suds: Budweiser and Weiderman Beer
2
C. Would You Eat Machine-Made or Homemade Cookies?
1
D. A Comparison of Arizona and Snapple Ice Tea for pH,
Residue, Light Absorbency, and Taste 5
E. Research to Determine the Better Paper Towel 2
A Comparison of Amway Laundry Detergent and Tide
F.
Laundry Detergent for characteristics of Stain
Removal, Fading, Freshness, and Cloth Strength 4

33. Anderson‟s Criteria
Is patterned after another discipline or is missing.
1
Identifies function or brand name, but not both; lacks
2
design information or is misleading.
Identifies function and brand name but does not allow
3
reader to anticipate design
Is appropriate in tone and structure to science journal;
4
most descriptors present; identifies function of
experimentation, suggest design, but lacks brand
names.
Is appropriate in tone and structure to a science
5
journal; contains necessary descriptors, brand names,
and allows reader to anticipate design.

34. Meaningful grades vs.
 Description of a grade: An inadequate report of an
inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge
of the extent to which a student has attained an
undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion
of an indefinite material.
P. Dressel (1983). Grades: One more tilt at the windmill. In

A.W. Chickering (Ed.), Bulletin. Memphis: Memphis State U.
Center for the Study of Higher Education, Dec. 1983, p. 12

35. Joseph Eng at Eastern Washington University
Embracing the Exit: Assessment, Trust, and the
Teaching of Writing
Professor of English and Rhetoric
Director of the University Writing Program
California State University Monterey Bay
831-582-4721
joseph_eng@csumb.edu

36. EWU‟s Composition Program Exit Portfolio
 A reflection essay
 A major paper chosen and revised by the student
(Shared Criteria scored)
 An in-class, timed essay on an assigned Program
prompt (Shared Criteria scored)

37. Paul Carney at Minnesota State Community &
Technical College
Bridging the Gap: Identifying and Supporting College-
Ready Writing Skills Among High School Students
Instructor, English
MSCTC, Fergus Falls
218-736-1614
Paul.Carney@minnesota.edu

38. Teacher : Teacher
 Significant differences between high-school teachers
and college instructors on “college-ready” rankings.
 Notable inverse correlation between high-school
grades and “college-ready” evaluation.
 Frank talk from high-school teachers about lack of
understanding of what college-ready meant.
 Increased interest among college faculty in
collaborating more with high schools (e.g., helping
high-school teachers make better writing
assignments)

39. Berkeley in 2009: Learning Outcomes?
 The major in English is designed to introduce
students to the history of literature written in
English, to acquaint them with a variety of
historical periods and geographical and cultural
regions of English language and writing, to create
an awarenessof methods and theories of
literary and cultural analysis, and to provide
continued training in critical writing.

40. University of Illinois at Chicago says…
 The English major curriculum provides for a
significant broad-based knowledge as well as a
degree of independent choice and specialization for
each undergraduate major. It is designed to ensure a
dynamic and coherent intellectual experience, to
train students for further work in the discipline, and
to draw on the diverse strengths of the English
faculty.

41. Life After the Major
 A major in English can open a world of opportunity for
students. The analytical work we do in the English
department improves students' ability to think critically-
a skill that will be useful in any future endeavor.
Additionally, students in the English department learn to
produce precise, subtle, and well-crafted pieces of
writing. All in all, a student who graduates with an
English major is well-prepared to succeed in the world.
 To prepare for life after the major, English majors are
encouraged to complete a writing internship at a
newspaper, magazine, public relations firm, non-profit
organization or any place that relies on good writing
skills.

42. Iowa State
 Bachelor's graduates in Literary Studies will be able to
 Demonstrate knowledge of the nature of literature and the roles it plays in culture
and the expression of culture.
 Demonstrate knowledge of the relevant working language of the discipline of
literary study and the ways literature is defined, described, and classified.
 Analyze and interpret important literary texts written in English, particularly British
and American literature
 Demonstrate knowledge of literary study as a discipline that makes use of
specialized terminology and involves specific multiple intellectual perspectives,
various analytical strategies, research, and writing.
 Situate literature in historical, theoretical, aesthetic, social/political, ethical, and
other contexts.
 Demonstrate knowledge of skills in reading, writing, speaking, and research that are
fundamental to the disciplined study of literature
 Demonstrate knowledge of language as constantly changing and fundamental to
cultural expression.

43. Thanks!
 Hope your conference has been a great one.
Lynda Milne
lynda.milne@so.mnscu.edu
651-649-5741
The text and PPT will be up next week on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/lynda.milne