[Factc] How to Create an Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology During a Pandemic

[Jennifer Whetham]

Dear FACTC members:

Here is the announcement about the antiracist writing assessment ecology work I mentioned at our Friday meeting.

Please forward to your English faculty for their consideration.

With great gratitude,

Jennifer


[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]

Jennifer Whetham (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Assessment, Teaching, and Learning (ATL), Education Division

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)

jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-4354 • c: 206-310-1291

COVID 19 Remote Learning Resources<https://bit.ly/3byJaBm>

STEM Communities of Practice Information<https://bit.ly/2XmjnJ6>

Lifeboat/KISS Recordings<https://bit.ly/3ee4lLc>

________________________________
From: Jennifer Whetham <jwhetham at sbctc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2020 3:15 PM
To: atlc at lists.ctc.edu <atlc at lists.ctc.edu>; dehpd <dehpd-wactc at googlegroups.com>; 'Articulation and Transfer Council of IC (atc at lists.ctc.edu)' <atc at lists.ctc.edu>; 'Instruction Commission (deaninstr at lists.ctc.edu)' <deaninstr at lists.ctc.edu>
Cc: Clements, Rachel <rachel at collegespark.org>
Subject: How to Create an Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology During a Pandemic


Dear Faculty who Teach ENGL&101 and Co-Requisite Models:


After 3 years of convening (de)Composing ENGL&101<http://bit.ly/2t1EO2a>, our leadership team of English faculty has obtained a generous grant from College Spark Washington to fund an antiracist writing assessment ecology for ENGL&101 at the system level.

  1.  Purpose of this E-Mail: Do you want to join us in this epic professional development endeavor? Your work will be compensated.

  2.  Action Item: Please take this survey<https://bit.ly/2Z3ak0r> to indicate your interest and find out more.

A HUGE thank you to Leticia Lopez (South), Jeffrey Klausman (Whatcom), Ian Sherman (Green River), and Dutch Henry (Shoreline) for their hard work on the Letter of Interest (LOI) and the successful grant application, as well as all the faculty who provided your insights and expertise to inform our efforts during our (de)Composing ENGL&101 events. And, of course, to College Spark, whose grants to our colleges and English departments around placement reform created the bedrock and foundation for this "next level" of equity work in ENGL&101, the highest enrolled course in our CTC system.

Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology (AWAE) Grant Basics

  *   Who: Engage a critical mass of English faculty in the Washington State CTC system who teach ENGL&101 and co-req models.

  *   What: Create an antiracist writing assessment ecology to be used in ENGL&101 across our 34 CTCs based on the scholarship of Asao B. Inoue.

  *   When: Work begins on June 30th, 2020, and ends June 30th, 2021.

  *   How Much: We have $300,000 to build community, collaboratively develop artifacts, transform our mindsets and our practices away from deficit and towards equity, and (de)Compose our discipline and our identities.

  *   Why: Increase the number of students who successfully complete ENGL&101 in their first year of enrollment through a rigorous focus on closing equity gaps for Historically Underserved Students of Color (HU-SOC).

  *   Where & How: Here's where our leadership team is "Re-Composing" due to the pandemic (and hence the survey<https://bit.ly/2Z3ak0r>). Given that this kind of equity work/faculty pro-D is largely community-organizing, the majority of the funding was to be spent on F2F events, which, given the unknown of COVID-19, is no longer possible. In addition, we know that you are very overwhelmed with the steep learning curve teaching during this unprecedented moment in our history… and that the thought of even 1 more Zoom meeting is likely to push you past our breaking point.



And yet ... given that equity gaps are already exacerbated in online instruction and that the pandemic is further accelerating systemic inequities for our Historically Underserved Students of Color (HU-SOC), this kind of sustained, system-level, discipline-specific professional learning opportunity for faculty has already been delayed long enough.



In addition, there are a substantial number of English faculty who have

  *   been inspired by the scholarship of Asao B. Inoue and the theoretical/practical framework of his book Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future<http://bit.ly/2xvacY4>
  *   long desired to change not just their own individual practices, but to inspire collective reforms within their departments and across our system.

Am I describing you? Take the survey<https://bit.ly/2Z3ak0r>!

Peace,

Jen

PS-- You might be asking, “Who is Asao B. Inoue?” and/or “How Can I Find Out More About Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies?” and you don't have time to read his book<http://bit.ly/2xvacY4>?

  *   Listen to Asao B. Inoue on this short podcast episode<http://bit.ly/2SEtUen>

  *   Watch Asao B. Inoue's Chair's Address<https://bit.ly/35YQRzm> at the Conference on College Composition and Communication

  *   Read Asao B. Inoe's recent blog posts<https://bit.ly/2Auk9dz>

[Title: SBCTC logo - Description: Compass]

Jennifer Whetham (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Assessment, Teaching, and Learning (ATL), Education Division

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)

jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-4354 • c: 206-310-1291

COVID 19 Remote Learning Resources<https://bit.ly/3byJaBm>

STEM Communities of Practice Information<https://bit.ly/2XmjnJ6>

Lifeboat/KISS Recordings<https://bit.ly/3ee4lLc>
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