In Spring 2022, supported by a grant from IRAP, WAC hosted an inaugural Inclusive Writing Assessment Working Group. The goal of this group was to give a group of faculty an extended amount of time to dedicate their attention to the topic of inclusive assessment in the context of a writing intensive course. Participants included faculty from Anthropology, Art, Biology, Communication, Government & Justice Studies, History, Public Health, Rhetoric & Writing Studies, and Special Education. As a group, we read the introduction and chapters 1 & 3 from Asaou Inoue’s Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom and the accompanying "Ecological Guide to Anti-racist Writing Assessment". We also read the following 3 essays from Susan Blum’s edited collection, Ungrading: “Just One Change (Just Kidding),” “Contract Grading and Peer Review,” and “Critique-Driven Learning and Assessment" and the article “Reflection Literacy: A Multilevel Perspective.” Via our dedicated ASULearn site, participants engaged in forum discussions, shared original course artifacts, and offered feedback on others’ artifacts. We also met monthly via Zoom to discuss readings and reflect on course revisions. Participants’ primary revisions involved making their assignment requirements more explicit, providing increased scaffolding for major assignments (with different, specific writing tasks broken down so that students could receive feedback on each task separately), implementing more directive and extensive peer review, and revising grading guides or rubrics to better align with assignment requirements. Moreover, all participants identified the impact the group conversations and readings had on their overall thinking about the role of writing in their classes, particularly noting that they appreciated the opportunity to think through their teaching practices in a safe and relaxed atmosphere.
