Editor's Note: One of a series of presentations on assessment and related professional development issues at monthly meetings of the Languages and Literature Division.
Since SCI is exploring the feasibility of adding non-credit continuing education classes this summer, I decided it would be most useful for my presentation at this month's division meeting if I share some thoughts about assessing non-credit classes and a couple of techniques I've observed for getting the job done. I'm approaching it somewhat in the spirit of the noted CCC article by Robert Conners and Andrea Lunsford "Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research." Rather than Ma and Pa Kettle, however, I take my inspiration from another old-time radio show, Fibber McGee and Molly, which aired from 1935 well into the 50s. It fits. Fibber McGee was known to exaggerate -- hence his name -- but at heart he was just a cockeyed optimist. And his closet was a by-word for decades. "The legendary hall closet, piled high with a lifetime of mementos, knickknacks, and junk, made its first appearance in 1940," says old-time radio buff Eric Wilson, who has a website about the show. "You could hear it all, invariably climaxed by the tinkling of a tiny dinner bell." (It has attained immortality, for those who have sound cards, as a Real Audio clip linked to Wilson's website.) I remember a glorious, sustained clattering and ringing and banging of sound effects whenever the door opened to Fibber McGee's closet.
So in working up proposals for two not-for-credit courses on short notice, I tried to emulate Fibber McGee's optimism. And in suggesting ways to do assessment on the courses, I want to make sure it doesn't wind up in Fibber McGee's closet.
Luckily, I have good models. Last summer I studied southern Appalachian music and Cherokee Indian culture at the Swannanoa Gathering, a folk arts summer program of Warren Wilson College. While they don't carry college credit, its courses are approved by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for teaching certificate renewal credit, and assessment was built right into the curriculum. I was strongly impressed, and this month I already wrote an article for Nuts & Bolts, our assessment newsletter, on how SCI might emulate Warren Wilson. I'm trying to build assessment into my classes at the same time, and that's the angle I'm reporting on today. Since I'm sharing plans rather than results with you, I especially invite your comments and suggestions.
I am proposing two courses. I see both as one-day workshops, lasting five hours and covering a narrowly focused body of information. But one is pitched to elementary and secondary school teachers, who must answer to the Illinois State Board of Education, and the other is not. Therefore, I will have to handle assessment differently for each.
The courses are:
"How to Write a Press Release." I am pitching it to volunteer publicity chairs and others who wish to promote parish festivals, fund-raising events, community meetings and other civic or cultural events. To assess learning outcomes, I plan to use a technique I learned at Swannanoa, asking students to write down what they hope to learn at the beginning of the session and what they did learn at the end. I discussed the technique at greater length in last week's newsletter ("Assessment"), and would only note its similarity to the "one-minute essay" in this report. While I consider it a classroom assessment technique, I think its greatest value may come in focusing discussion. I plan to make up a questionnaire asking what participants in the workshop found most valuable and least values, and what other workshops or classes they would suggest. Among the purposes of assessment, as far as I am concerned, is market research; data gathered by the assessment I observed at Swannanoa would answer that purpose, among others, and I need data on how I might better position the course in the marketplace.
"Native American Voices on the Internet." If
the class is approved by ISBE, I will offer it to K-12 teachers
seeking recertification credit. Since I am focusing on the internet
as an information source, I believe I can pitch it to teachers
at all grade levels; I felt it would be most appropriate, however,
to focus it specifically on the State Board's social studies learning
Goal 16, students will "[u]nderstand events, trends, individuals
and movements shaping the history of Illinois, the United States
and other nations," and Goal 18, that they will be able to
"[c]ompare characteristics of culture as reflected in language,
literature, the arts, traditions and institutions," and understand
"the roles and interactions of individuals and groups in
society, and … how social systems form and develop over time."
I am sure language arts teachers also would benefit from using
Native American literature on the internet to supplement textbooks,
but I was short of time and I found the social science standards
to be most directly related to my subject matter. Assessment will
be rather different for this class, since ISBE requires participants
to fill out an evaluation form that asks them to rate the following
criteria a Leikert scale:
· This activity increased my knowledge and skills in my
areas of certification, endorsement or teaching assignment.
· The relevance of this activity to ISBE teaching standards
was clear.
· It was clear that the activity was presented by persons
with education and experience in the subject matter.
· The material was presented in an organized, easily understood
manner.
· This activity included discussion, critique, or application
of what was presented, observed, learned, or demonstrated.
Also included on the evaluation are open-ended questions soliciting
feedback on "best features" of the class, "[s]uggestions
for improvement" and "[o]ther comments, or reactions
that I wish to offer." If time permits, I would want to supplement
the ISBE form with the questions on what participants hoped to
learn, what they learned and what other classes they would like
to take. The ISBE forms will not give me the feedback I need in
order to improve my teaching, so I hope I will be able to supplement
them.
Discussion. My plans for building assessment into the summer classes necessarily are quite sketchy at this point. I am convinced, however, that it is something we all need to do - especially for those classes that have to meet ISBE standards for Continuing Educational Unit (CEU) or Continuing Professional Development Unit (CPDU) credit. Since our summer continuing education program is new, getting it off the ground seems to me a perfect opportunity to consciously use the Shewert (or Plan-Do-Study-Act/PDSA) cycle as a planning model (see Michigan Quality Council). I started to design my courses by searching the internet and studying ISBE-approved CEU classes at the University of Wisconsin-Stephens Point and Northeastern Illinois University. When I teach the classes, my gathering and analysis of classroom assessment data will correspond to the "Do" part of PDSA. Those data from the first year, in combination with further market research and ongoing discussions between SCI and outside agencies including ISBE and the Diocese of Springfield, will provide feedback to help us refine the continuing education program. In short, assessment doesn't have to merely give us another item to cram into Fibber McGee's closet; it can give us the feedback we need to enter into a cycle of continuous improvement as we get the new program up and running over a period of time.
Occasional Papers on Assessment, Springfield College in Illinois [link here to return to index]