Latest posts tagged with #4c24 on Bluesky
I'll be chatting with a bunch of cool folks at the upcoming #4C24 Fall Virtual Institute on "Machine Writing and the Work of Rhetoric and Composition Program." My contribution is a generated game about the joys of navigating AI anxiety as an administrator. Join us: cccc.ncte.org/cccc/2024-cc...
Two more weeks til your 200-word proposals for Spark's Special Issue on CCCC at 75 are due! How might you contribute to how we understand CCCC's past, present and future? sparkactivism.com/volume-6-call/ #4c24 #4c25
Congratulations to the authors and editors of this year's winners and honorable mentions in the
CCCC book awards at #4C24! It was almost a #USUP sweep!
upcolorado.com/about-us/new...
I really dig how the presenters are differentiating between "effective"--meaning, it gets the job done--and equitable.
#SW06 #4C24
omg omg one of the presenters in Ohio has middle school students taking their classes, and here I was feeling surprised that I had middle-of-high-school students in my FYW classes.
#SW06 #4C24
Another thing that's surfacing in multiple stories: It's hard to get disaggregated data regarding how students are progressing, which makes it a challenge to assess how accurate placement measures actually are.
#SW06 #4C24
CCBC also currently are trying out an "English plus" lab-type thing, as students have indicated they want more help, but don't necessarily need an entire 3-credit reading/writing class. They're still figuring out how to do funding in the future, though.
#SW06 #4C24
The folks from CCBC make a point of saying "self-directed placement" rather than "directed self-placement" in order to emphasize it's the students' who are figuring out what they need. And they use student interview videos to help with the SDP!
#SW06 #4C24
One interesting thing that's popping up: Who "owns" placement? Where is it located, administratively and institutionally? Who feels their toes are being stepped upon if you try to wield your expertise?
#SW06 #4C24
Great, generative stories being told from other roundtable participants about the challenges they faced, the things they found useful, and what they still want to improve.
#SW06 #4C24
If you make changes in placement--particularly acceleration of programs--without concomitant support, the inequities of labor for faculty/staff will be significant.
#SW06 #4C24
If it's ethical and equitable, the assessment you do will ensure that changes are working, identify whether there are any changes causing harm and inequity, monitor impacts on faculty/staff, and target areas for improvement and when/how to scale up.
#SW06 #4C24
Giordano shares a cautionary tale: Without planning for a shift in labor, it's very likely the English instructors will be working overtime to help students who might have placed inaccurately AND it's difficult to go back to re-revise if the first attempt at reform is unsuccessful.
#SW06 #4C24
Securing funding for faculty/staff development *must* be part of the reform plan, because labor is also going to change as the local reality does.
#SW06 #4C24
Giordano: If you change your placement and don't change your curriculum, you're going to have a major mismatch in terms of what happens in the classroom.
#SW06 #4C24
Giordano emphasizes you have GOT to do that first step, collecting initial data, multiple measures as much as possible. To develop a pilot without assessing what you already have would be unethical in terms of impact on students.
#SW06 #4C24
So how do you develop a process for implementing reform initiatives?
1. Collect initial data
2. Develop a pilot
3. Assess the pilot
4. Scale up the change
5. Redesign curriculum
6. Provide faculty development
7. Assess over time
#SW06 #4C24
And if you haven't checked it out yet: Writing Placement in Two-Year Colleges: The Pursuit of Equity in Postsecondary Education, which is EXCELLENT.
wac.colostate.edu/books/practi...
#SW06 #4C24
Also, the Journal of Writing Assessment's special issue on placement:
escholarship.org/uc/jwa/12/1
#SW06 #4C24
What prompted this talk? The death of Compass in 2015 (WAIT IT'S DEAD?), then the TYCA White Paper on Placement Reform, which is worth a read.
#SW06 #4C24
publicationsncte.org/content/jour...
One of the goals of today's workshop is to begin developping a national open-admissions placement network, which is an EXTREMELY good idea.
#SW06 #4C24
What a kick-ass group of facilitators: Carolyn Calhoon-Dillahunt, Jason C Evans, Jamey Gallagher, Kris Messer, Joanne Baird Giordano, Bridget Kriner, Jessica Nastal, and Sara Amani!
#SW06 #4C24
I am being SO RESPONSIBLE because I am at a Saturday workshop, #SW06: Innovations in Writing Placement from Two-Year College Leaders: Designing, Implementing, and Researching Directed Self-Placement and Multiple Measures. #4C24
One book of poetry David Green mentioned earlier: The Trayvon Generation by Elizabeth Alexander.
www.nytimes.com/2022/03/31/b...
#L21 #4C24
Then two larger projects: Having students analyze Nas's "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)," particularly about invention. Finally, the students write a reflective paper about their experiences with invention and what they can do in the future.
#L21 #4C24
