Two Journeys, One Goal: A Successful Equity-Centered Assessment Training

In my recent interview with Paul Holliday-Millard at UNC-Charlotte, we connected over both having developed and piloted an equity-centered assessment professional development training for staff over the past year. Below, I expand on this section of our conversation and add more about our approach to this work at the University of Delaware.

UNC-Charlotte Approach:

Program Title: Equity Minded Assessment Leaders

Structure: Six-workshop cohort program with topics around reflecting on biases and positionality and how that shows up in the assessment process, an overview of equity-minded assessment, the tenants of equity-minded assessment in the NILOA white paper, using multiple forms of evidence, disaggregating data in Excel, and equitable story-telling.

University of Delaware Approach:

Program Title: Intro to Equity-Centered Assessment Reading Group

Structure: Four cohort discussions over four months each focusing on a different equity-centered assessment resource (e.g., NILOA White Paper, SAAL Structured Conversation, Reframing Assessment to Center Equity chapters). Resources are debriefed via hour long conversation using three consistent questions to guide each session.

UNC-Charlotte Assessment Staff Reflection:

It's been great. We have learned a lot, I think. At times, it's also probably become a little bit of a therapy session because it's an add-on for a lot of people. I think I have learned a lot about the struggles they have in managing assessment, which I think at the end of the day is when you're not one of us, that's the hardest thing. “I write this assessment plan. How can I make sure that I'm doing it well throughout the year?” Then you add equity on top of it. People come to you for ideas and we can do a survey, but there's 50 other surveys going on at the same time. Can we think of something else?

Here's a great example. Someone in the group works in a Student Services Support Office and they have a women's group that has been really successful. They want to learn more about that. And I encouraged them to talk to the students instead of doing a survey.  Getting people to buy into that, and giving them the time to do that, giving them the confidence to do that. They've shared that they don't always feel as confident. Something else that came out of this is that my office helps to develop assessment plans, but maybe we should also help them create an action plan. It sounds like they want us to be more hands on with them, which is fine. It's given us a window. It's given me a window into their work and what is on their plate. It's also been, I will say, really refreshing to be with people who care about equity.

University of Delaware Assessment Staff Reflection:

I hear you on it being a little bit of a therapy session! It always seemed like my worst days were followed by one of these discussions and it would give me the energy to keep on pushing forward. I didn’t necessarily ask people to ground their conversation and thoughts in a specific type or level of assessment, so our conversations were often not at all about program level assessment the way it sounds like yours were. One of the interesting points we kept coming back to, or that sticks most in my head as something I continue to reflect on, centered around who has power to enact change on campus and what counts as progress. 

We had a lot of conversations about how we may be in roles supporting students going through a challenging experience (e.g., conduct and case management roles), where we feel powerless to help the student or advocate for change because the policy that is posing an issue is outside of our division. So to that extent, I also learned a lot about others' work, the UD culture, and challenges with advancing equity systemically and it’s giving me opportunities to think about how I move forward on program, department, division, and institution levels.

UNC – Charlotte Practitioner Reflection: 

At first, I felt as though it was daunting, but through this cohort, I learned that so much of this work can be ingrained into current practices and this made me appreciative of being an equity-minded assessment practitioner. – Anonymous Participant

Going into this I had an understanding of the importance of Equity-Minded Assessment (EMA), and my understanding developed significantly through critical reflection. This process has helped me better identify ways in which previously I was not as diligent in EMA and I am better able to identify gaps/biases within this process. – Anonymous Participant

My first impressions of Equity-Minded Assessment were that it was about bringing awareness and tuning in to how my biases might be impacting how I execute all aspects of the assessment cycle. My understanding has now become more expanded in the sense that I now have strategies to apply to each step of the assessment cycle, specifically, how to involve students in the process, disaggregating data, etc. – Anonymous Participant

University of Delaware Practitioner Reflection:

Going into this group, I was open to how the assessment cycle could be a more equitable process. I have struggled with the limitations of making informed decisions on how to best serve students when we have consistently used limited datasets. What we discussed made clear that there are reasonable and intentional ways to remove biases and allow for greater understanding of multiple student populations. I am eager to see if the foundational conversations can move beyond discussion and translate into action but am keenly aware of the limitation of power to create change when there are budget and political constraints. -- Vinny Jackson, Community Standards & Conflict Resolution

UNC-Charlotte What’s Next: