An Assessment Specialist! (Sorry, I know that’s disappointing.)
It’s something to do in the summer that some college instructors take on for a little extra money, and it also helps us internalize the evaluation rubric so that we become better at evaluating our own students’ work. It involves looking over writing placement tests/samples to determine the class in which the student should be enrolled.
I just went through the training session today (hey, it’s paid too, so why not?) and it wasn’t too bad. The samples are all read by at least three people, unless the first two happen to “match” each other’s scores. If they don’t, it goes to a third reader. If that one matches either of the others, it’s a done deal. If there are three different scores, the facilitators must make the decision or let some others take a crack at it.
A students gets a zero and a retest if they write only a sentence or two, or they don’t write it in English, or they refuse to follow the prompt.
We also flag papers with “LD” if we see signs of a learning disability that may have gone undiagnosed.
Are you still awake?
Some funny stuff turns up now and then, too–like the fellow who wanted to talk all about his girlfriend’s firm ass. The poor guy apparently had no sense of audience.
