Assessment is Constructed and Contextual: Identity, Information Literacy, and Interview-Based Methodologies in the First-Year Writing Classroom

Over the past twenty years,the field of writing assessment has moved from critical theories that questiontraditional models of validity and objectivity (Huot, 2002; Lynne, 2004) toscholarship that exposes how traditional assessment perpetuates inequality(Inoue 2015, 2019) and advocates new approaches that take social justice astheir central goal (Poe, et. al., 2018). We report on a collaboration betweentwo writing instructors and one librarian that assessed first-year writing(FYW) students' information literacy when researching and writing with popularnews sources. In addition to the typical practice of analyzing students'written work, this project used interviews as an assessment methodology. Thisresearch produced three important findings: 1) minoritized studentsdemonstrated superior critical information literacy skills compared tomajoritized students; 2) these differences were made visible through the use ofmultiple measures (written artifacts and interviews); and 3) the use ofinterviews is an assessment methodology that invites students to engage incounterstory and draw on personal experiences, revealing new sources ofknowledge and countering narratives of deficit. Ultimately, we argue thatinterviews hold promise for antiracist revamping of student learning outcomesas well as assessment practices.