Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Dear Colleagues

I feel like Glenn Beck, Henny  Penny
and Turkey Lurkey: that triad—
the progressives are coming,
the progressives are coming.
 
A Culture of Assessment?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
 
I don’t know whether it’s the IDEA
of Assessmentalism, or  the Sound
of the Language (the way they talk )
that shrivels  me up.  I’m profiling,
I admit it. Hate to witness  their
inexorable legal migration. .
 
I know: I’ve played this song  before.
Jonny One Note.  I  don’t expect
converts or support. I do it for
my own wellness, is all. How
could I sleep at night
knowing I haven’t
been whistling
in the dark
best I
can?
 
Hark.   
Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place
For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.
                                  Wallace Stevens
 
OYEZ ! OYEZ! (obey! obey!) Listen. Hear.
.   
Redundantly:
 
 From AAC&U Peer Review
Promoting Change:
Moving Toward a Culture of Assessment

"Like many other schools around the country, the
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at the
George Washington University has recently turned
its focus to the assessment of student learning,
particularly assessment at the undergraduate level."

"At St. Olaf College,
a utilization-focused'
approach to assessment
has enhanced meaningful
departmental engagement
with evidence of student
learning.  With assessment
projects  centered on  'intended
uses by intended users,' departments
are using results in a variety
of  ways, from redesigning
gateway courses  [opposite
of capstone] to redirecting
feedback on student writing.
A utilization focus is helping
many departments begin
to realize some of  the rewards
that thoughtful assessment
can  deliver without the
excessive burdens
that many faculty fear."
 
The murky interface between the two domains of
college curriculum—general education and specialized
study in the major—has long been an area of concern
for curriculum developers. Colleges and universities
traditionally have been called to develop and implement
mechanisms to systematically bridge  institutional goals
and the goals within the major curricula."
 
Assessment Culture: From Ideal to Real
—A Process of Tinkering
"The California State University Monterey Bay culture
of assessment will be steeped in an understanding and
appreciation of how systematic assessment can inform
what and how we teach, so that deep and meaningful
student learning is more likely to occur. Building such
a culture with its attendant practices and perspectives
has become the centerpiece of program reviews and
preparation for reaccreditation."

nevermind

xxxooo, Sam