Assessing Writing at York College: Strengthening Student Learning Through Writing

Dr. Heather Robinson of the English Department delivered a presentation in October titled “Assessing Writing at York College.”

In her presentation, Dr. Robinson emphasized the central role of writing at York College and its importance to student learning and success. Dr. Robinson contextualized the importance of writing and writing assessment on campus by tracing the evolution of York’s assessment practices.

Since 2018, the College has been assessing writing across the curriculum through both General Education (GEAC) and major-specific (AAC) evaluations. These assessments reflect York’s ongoing commitment to developing students’ written communication skills in a range of disciplinary and professional contexts.

York College’s Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program is now advancing–and supporting–a more systematic and unified approach to assessing writing across all disciplines. The initiative seeks to align General Education and program-level assessment efforts with the Writing Intensive (WI) graduation requirement to create a coherent understanding of student writing development from their first year to their capstone courses in their majors.

The current goal is to align assessments across departments through the use of shared rubrics and consistent measures of written communication proficiency. Departments in English, Political Science, Business, Spanish, Psychology, and others are already contributing by assessing WI courses and developing discipline-specific rubrics that reflect the writing expectations of their fields.

Moving forward, WAC encourages all programs to:

• Conduct systematic assessment of each program’s capstone WI course at least every four years.
• Ensure alignment of program and General Education assessments to provide a cohesive picture of student writing development from first-year through graduation.
• Use shared rubrics and cross-departmental reporting to strengthen institutional understanding of writing proficiency and growth.

Together, these efforts reinforce York’s commitment to writing as a cornerstone of student learning and success. By participating in these assessment initiatives, programs contribute to a college-wide vision of writing as a foundation for critical inquiry, professional achievement, and lifelong learning.

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