June 29, 2007

Assessments of Students' Learning, for Better or Worse

To the Editor:

I appreciate Laurie Fendrich's ability to get through a tirade about assessment without using the words "fascist," "jackboots," or "Orwellian" ("A Pedagogical Straitjacket," The Chronicle Review, June 8). However, I still have problems with her characterization of assessment as an effort shared by spineless administrators and their Vichy-esque faculty collaborators.

Like Fendrich, I was tapped to be the assessment coordinator for my department. This came about