Overview of the Outcomes Assessment Process

1. ENGLISH 101
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT PROCESS
FOR INSTRUCTORS
BEGINNING-OF-SEMESTER

2. WHAT IS
• Outcomes assessment (OA) is the process assesses student writing at the end of each
semester to determine if students have met the course outcomes.
• The OA process applies to all students in ENGL 101, and the students must pass the OA
process in order to pass the course.
• English faculty at CWI collaborate to design the OA essay prompt for each semester, which
is typically argument essay, 4-6 pages not including Works Cited.
• The OA essay will be the last of four essays taught during each semester. Note that the OA
is counted in the total page requirement: at least 16 pages for 101.
• Each student’s essay is assessed anonymously by 1-2 CWI English instructors other than their
own.
• Essays that do not pass the initial reading are flagged for portfolio review, where all the
student’s major essays are assessed by at least two English instructors to determine if they
have met the outcomes.

3. HOW DOES
• The OA essay is taught like any other essay, including drafting, peer review, Writing Center
consults, etc.
• The OA counts toward the student’s grade, but instructors will not provide grades on OA
essays until the process is complete.
• Students who pass the OA process are eligible for the grade they earned in the course,
which is determined by the instructor.
• Students who do not pass the OA process but finished the course are assigned a final grade
of “NC” (No Credit) and will repeat ENGL 101 (and 100, if applicable).
• The “NC” does not impact a student’s grade point average.

4. BY WEEKS 11/12
Distribute the OA
assignment to
students
WEEKS 11/12-WEEK 14
Students read, draft, and revise
OA essays
WED/THURS OF WEEK 14
Students submit OA essays.
WED-WED OF
WEEKS 14-15:
Read and assess OA
essays online and
communicate results
to students
BY THURS OF WEEK 15:
Gather portfolios for students
flagged for review. Some
instructors collect portfolios from
all students, but this is not
required.
FRIDAY OF WEEK 15:
Attend portfolio review;
all 101 instructors are
required to attend
WEEK 16 (FINALS WEEK):
Many instructors use this time to hold final
conferences, reflect with students, return portfolios,
and/or have a class celebration.
WEEKS 3-4
Review the Student
Outcomes PPT with
classes. Post the OA
prompt for students
at any time.
OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT
TIMELINE
Weeks
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
BY TUES OF WEEK 14
Enter P/NP recommendations for
students based on their work in
the course so far.

5. BEGINNING-OF-SEMESTER OA CHECKLIST
1. Post the ENGL 101 Course Outcomes and OA Policy Statement in your course syllabus*
2. Consult the PRODEV: Department of English Blackboard site for that semester’s OA due
dates and prompt.
3. Plan your course schedule to teach the OA essay, which should be a minimum of two
weeks before the due date. We recommend at least three weeks.
4. Plan to cancel the first class session of Week 15 to allow yourself time to read OA essays
(optional but recommended).
5. Add the English 101 Portfolio Review date to your personal calendar and plan to attend
(typically 10 a.m.-2 p.m. the Friday of Week 15.
*See Appendices A & B for language, or visit the
PRODEV: Department of English organization on
Blackboard for the ENGL 101 Curriculum Guide

6. Remind students to keep everything.
• Students need to keep copies of all
draft work to be included in the
For online sections, one earlier draft is
sufficient.
• Remind students regularly and consider
putting a statement about it in your
syllabus.
PORTFOLIOS
AVOID SURPRISES AT PORTFOLIO REVIEW

7. AVOID SURPRISES AT PORTFOLIO REVIEW
1. Ensure that the major essays are worth enough of the total grade
• If the essays are not worth enough, students could fail the essays (which would cause
them to fail portfolio review) yet still have a passing grade for the course
• Students could potentially do grade appeals
• Avoid awarding too many points for anything besides the essays (quizzes, discussion,
participation)
• Make the essays worth roughly 80% of the total grade

8. 2. Provide a clear evaluation scale for all major essay assignments and provide
clear feedback.
• If you do not use traditional grades, at the least, students should know if an essay is not
proficient/failing.
• Check for understanding about grades with students regularly.
• Telepathy doesn’t work. The instructor understanding a paper is failing does not equal
the student understanding a paper is failing.
• Some students have been confused when they fail portfolio review because they
their essays were passing due to unclear evaluations from the instructor.
• Students could have potentially done necessary revision if they knew they weren’t
passing.
AVOID SURPRISES AT PORTFOLIO REVIEW

9. AVOID SURPRISES AT PORTFOLIO REVIEW
3. Beware of the generous or sympathetic “C”
• Students expect a grade of C or higher to indicate the paper would pass at portfolio
review
• The generous C may mislead the student and cause major problems if the portfolio fails
• Assess the writing itself rather than the student’s potential, progress, or effort.

10. QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about preparing for outcomes assessment, please
feel free to contact your dual credit liaison, faculty point-of-contact, or the
composition coordinator, Meagan Newberry, at meagannewberry@cwi.edu

11. APPENDIX A: ENGL 101 COURSE OUTCOMES
1. Write thesis-driven, analytic essays for an academic audience.
2. Demonstrate rhetorical awareness through use of structure, paragraphing, voice, and
tone.
3. Evaluate, analyze, synthesize own ideas and the ideas of others.
4. Read critically for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating.
5. Make basic but effective use of sources in an academic documentation format,
including in-text citation and a bibliography.
6. Develop flexible strategies for generating, revising, editing, and proof-reading.
7. Demonstrate awareness of grammar and usage conventions in academic writing.
8. Demonstrate basic computer literacy skills
9. Learn to critique own and others’ works.

12. APPENDIX B: OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT POLICY STATEMENT
Policy Statement on English Department Outcomes Assessment
Outcomes assessment is a departmental process that determines whether students pass English 101, while ensuring that each student’s
work is fairly reviewed. Here’s how it works: By the fifteenth week of a semester, composition instructors have evaluated enough student
work to confidently recommend that a student pass the class or repeat it. Instructors indicate their recommendations as either “P”
(Proficient) or “NP” (Not Proficient). In both situations, students will be able to participate in the Outcomes Assessment process. In some
instances, however, students may be ineligible to participate because of excessive absences, incomplete work, or plagiarism; these
students must repeat the course.
The Outcomes Assessment (OA) Essay
To verify instructors’ recommendations, all students enrolled in English 101 are given a common essay assignment. This essay is graded
by the instructor and counts towards the course grade, and it also submitted anonymously online for OA review. The CWI English
Department uses the OA essay to assess student proficiency across sections.
OA Essay Evaluation and Portfolio Review
Each essay is evaluated by two readers, neither of whom is the writer’s instructor; readers assess each paper as “P” (Proficient) or “NP”
(Not Proficient). If an instructor recommends a student as P and at least one reader agrees with that recommendation, the student is
eligible to pass the class. If an instructor recommends a student as NP and at least one reader agrees with that recommendation, the
student must repeat the course.
If the assessment of both readers conflicts with an instructor’s recommendation, the student’s portfolio will be assessed during the
portfolio review process. Students and/or instructors compile a complete portfolio (a folder containing the prewriting, draft, and
revised versions of all of the essays they have written during the semester).
Portfolio review readers assess folders as P or NP. If two review readers assess a folder as P, the student is eligible to pass the class just
as if they had passed the initial OA essay reading. If two review readers assess a folder as NP, the student must repeat the course. A
portfolio with a P and NP will be given to a third deciding reader.