or, the Metamorphosis of Samples into Scores into Action

Selecting the sample of classes
Each semester, shortly after the twentieth day of enrollment, the Office of Institutional Research selects a sample of classes to participate in the General Education Learning Outcomes (GELO) assessment process. To do this, they use the Banner database of class enrollment, removing those classes which probably would not generate any general education work samples, and also those classes which do not have any students close to graduation. Classes which remain form the population from which a sample of classes is selected. Letters from the Vice President of Instruction are then addressed to each instructor of a sampled class, along with response forms to be returned.

Selecting the assignment in a sampled class
After receiving a letter, each instructor of a sampled class determines which test, project, essay, or other assignment would best allow the students to demonstrate mastery of the JCCC general education learning outcomes. The instructor completes and returns the response form, giving an approximate date and time when the assignment would be available. Institutional Research schedules the appointed date and time on their calendar.

The big day
Shortly before the big day arrives, Institutional Research will confirm with the instructor that the assignment will be available at the originally scheduled date and time. When the assignment has been collected, but not yet graded, a staff member of Institutional Research will pick up the assignment from the instructor, make a copy of every student's submission for that assignment, and return the assignment to the instructor, usually in less than one hour.

Preparing the assignment for the scoring team
Institutional Research then identifies the papers from students who are close to graduation. On these papers, the instructor and student names are replaced by a code to protect the anonymity of both instructor and student. Several copies are then made for distribution in the following semester to the scoring team chairs. Sometimes an assignment will appear to meet more than one of the major outcomes, and then it will be distributed to more than one scoring team chair.

The samples become scores
Samples are scored in the semester following their collection. Each scoring team consists of about five JCCC faculty members, who score approximately 50 samples each semester. Often members serve on scoring teams that are not directly related to their disciplines. Assignments will be received by the chair of each scoring team, and distributed to some or all of their team. Each individual will score the sample according to the scale developed in the assessment plan. Discrepancies in scoring between individuals may be handled by discussion, by averaging, or by having the sample scored by yet another team member. The chair compiles the work of each scoring team. By the end of the semester, a single score for each sample of an assignment is reported by the chair to Institutional Research. The copies of student work are also returned to Institutional Research, and they shred the papers.

A report is created
Once each year, Institutional Research compiles the data, computes measures of success in aggregate form, and prepares a report to the GELO Assessment Committee of results to date. Since the collection and scoring take two semesters, an annual report will not include samples collected during the most recent two semesters. After reviewing the results reported by Institutional Research, the GELO Assessment Committee makes the report available to the faculty, along with any issues the committee wants to see discussed as a consequence of the report.

The report leads to action
After receiving the report, faculty are encouraged to discuss its implications in connection with their own department's commitment to the teaching of general education. When, in the view of the faculty of each department, the results suggest that change is necessary, instructional faculty implement the change at their level. Each annual departmental master plan addresses the results and action taken, and makes suggestions for institutional change necessary to improve general education.