Pedagogy 8 (3): 2008

Using Assessment to Introduce Incremental Change, Lynne Rhodes, USCA

Finally, as noted by White (in “Use it or Lose it: Power and the WPA”), like most experienced WPAs, I have found that my most important “power” as a WPA involved with institutional assessment is my ability to improve instruction, even with tenured faculty who admittedly have less initiative than new faculty. I can set up meetings with new faculty to discuss the junior writing portfolio requirements, and thus initiate conversations with particular faculty who want assistance with setting up their own writing assignments or who desire to become graders (an especially attractive task because I am able to offer payment in the form of additional travel monies to supplement a relatively meager institutional allotment). I can also communicate with department heads and school deans through conversations about the department or school’s assessment data, especially with those departments and schools whose students do not do as well on average as might be desired. I can regularly ask for surveys and inventories of faculty, and then use results to initiate conversations or forums about the kinds of writing that faculty report using across the disciplines. Whenever accreditation reviews are required, I can assist with data collection to ascertain institutional effectiveness for any program or major that reportedly values good writing as a desired outcome for graduates.

To conclude, as Durst does in his review of WSU’s large and ambitious writing program, using writing assessment to foster long term changes takes considerable time, effort, and mentoring, but the outcomes can clearly be significantly positive. Using a general education writing assessment deliberately to promote writing both across the curriculum and within the majors can be an effective pedagogical tool. Writing can become a valued feature of the campus culture, and an effective tool for faculty development as well as for measurable student learning outcomes.

Works Cited

Durst, R. (Spring 2007). “Review: Beyond Outcomes.” WPA 30.3, pp. 137-142.

Sledd, J. (2001). “On Buying In and Selling Out: A Note for Bosses Old and New. CCC 53.1.

Ward, I. & Carpenter, W. (2002). The Allyn & Bacon Sourcebook for Writing Program Administrators. NY: Longman.

White, E. (1991), “Use It or Lose It: Power and the WPA.” WPA 15.1-2.