What is Norming

As Jacqueline Jones Royster articulated at the 2006 Conference on College Composition and Communication, English departments are already assessing themselves and should resist suggestions by the Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education that a standardized method of assessing students and programs in higher education is needed. In the fall of 2006, the University of Louisville was due to be reviewed by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The First-Year Composition program chose to conduct an internal assessment in the fall of 2004. This chapter details the Composition program assessment conducted at the University of Louisville and includes a comprehensive analysis of its rationale, theoretical foundations, methodologies, and results. This chapter also articulates the difficulties of such a large-scale assessment as well as the uniquely local challenges faced during the process.