One assessment per year.
One coherent developmental arc.
Each assessment introduces one new cognitive demand — building on every prior test while escalating the intellectual task. The same six-dimension rubric is used across all five, enabling true longitudinal comparability.
Diagnostic Placement Assessment
Administered at entry, Test 1 establishes a baseline record of each student's writing development. Students read a short passage and respond to one of three prompts designed to elicit recall, summary, and basic interpretation. The diagnostic is not high-stakes — it is the beginning of a longitudinal record.
First-Year Threshold Assessment
Administered at the end of Year 1, Test 2 asks students to move beyond recall into analysis and application. Students are expected to draw on what they have learned about writing during their first year — and to bring in ideas and examples from their other courses.
Multi-Source Synthesis Assessment
Administered at the end of Year 2, Test 3 presents students with three independent passages and asks them to choose one and respond. Students must go beyond analysis to synthesize ideas — drawing connections across their learning and producing original reasoning grounded in the text.
Disciplinary Positioning and Applied Argument
Administered at the end of Year 3, Test 4 requires students to bring their own disciplinary knowledge into the essay. Students evaluate theoretical frameworks against evidence from their own field of study. An essay that engages only with the passage cannot demonstrate the full range of skills this assessment measures.
Capstone Reflection and Integrated Argument
The capstone assessment asks students to do something no earlier test has asked: to reflect analytically on their own intellectual development across four years and use that reflection to make an original argument. The most powerful capstone essays use the student's own developmental arc as evidence for a claim about learning, knowledge, or their discipline.
Ready to see the arc in action?
Request a pilot consultation and we will walk your institution through the full five-assessment framework.
Request a Pilot Consultation →