Join the Community Sign up for free access to premium content, valuable teaching resources, and much more. Get Free Premium Access
My college is beginning its first semester under a new “multiple measures” placement policy (a misnomer in our case, for as Alexandros Goudas has pointed out, such policies are actually implemented as multiple single measures). In our case, this is a state decision; local faculty did not participate in the development of the policy and cannot deviate from it. Faculty responses have ranged from hand-wringing and consternation to resignation and cautious optimism. What we can say with confidence is that more students will place directly into our college composition programs and co-requisite courses, while enrollment in our developmental IRW courses will continue to decline.
The talk around the single-cup coffee maker these days raises important questions: are college composition instructors now de facto developmental or basic writing instructors? How will this change pedagogy, syllabi, and expectations? If instructors have no training in basic or developmental writing or familiarity with its rich history of research—what should they do?
I’ve been thinking about how to respond to these questions. Each class will be different, of course, and some instructors will notice the effects of our placement changes more than others. In general, however, there are three positive and proactive steps community college writing instructors can take in light of significant placement changes:
The placement changes can force us back into the role of learners—always a beneficial stance to take. As my students learn to make rhetorical choices in unfamiliar writing situations, I must make pedagogical choices in sometimes unfamiliar classroom contexts. Moreover, two-year community college instructors can—no, must—look at the changes as an invitation for reflection and scholarship: we should gather data about the results of these changes and look for ways to refine and improve them (and ensure faculty voices are included in policy discussions at local, state, and national levels).
Want to offer feedback, comments, and suggestions on this post? Join the Macmillan Community to get involved (it’s free, quick, and easy)!
You must be a registered user to add a comment. If you've already registered, sign in. Otherwise, register and sign in.