Editor’s Introduction: The “Accidental California Issue” – Critical Questions about Fairness and Equity in Writing Assessment and Placement

JWA 17.2 features five articles that explore these evolving practices and critical questions around fairness and equity. Daniel Gross (2024) examines the implications of construct validity in the discontinuation of the Analytical Writing Placement Examination (AWPE) at the University of California. Julia Voss, Loring Pfeiffer, and Nicole Branch (2024) share how they used interviews from programmatic assessment to understand student learning outcomes in ways that value minoritized students’ experiential knowledge. Edward Comstock (2024) investigates the interplay between self-efficacy and programmatic assessment, emphasizing the value of qualitative methods in evaluating writing programs. Sarah Hirsch, Kenneth Smith, and Madeleine Sorapure (2024) present on Collaborative Writing Placement (CWP). Julie Prebel and Justin Li (2024) critique of a first-year writing portfolio assessment through lenses of equity, curricular design, performance, and reliability.