At the first APSA Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC) in 2004, 11
professors and graduate students gathered to discuss and evaluate
the role of assessment in political science. Excited by the impact
of assessment in their classrooms and departments, the working group
concluded their session with a declaration of the positive role
assessment could have in the discipline and an articulated concern
that APSA needs to “play a greater role in assessment.” At the 2005
conference, 32 faculty and graduate students again gathered to
discuss “Student Assessment and Learning Outcomes.” Six of us
bridged both years' experiences. While the 2005 participants were
less unified, the discussion and debates that emerged built upon the
discoveries of year one and attempted to expand the conversation
from among the converted to the wider discipline.