News

Press Release

New York, NY (February 24, 2011) - The Teagle Foundation announced today the publication of Literary Study, Measurement, and the Sublime: Disciplinary Assessment, edited by Donna Heiland and Laura J. Rosenthal, with the assistance of Cheryl Ching. This volume demonstrates what a disciplinary perspective can bring to the discussions of learning outcomes assessment that are so important in higher education today. "We are pleased to have as the first-ever Teagle book this collection of essays, which represents a logical extension of the Foundation's signature work of the past several years to improve undergraduate student learning on the basis of evidence," said president Richard L. Morrill. "Each essay launches an important line of inquiry, exploring and articulating ideas and interpretations about the interplay of assessment, teaching, and learning within the context of a discipline."

Consisting of an introduction by the editors and eighteen essays by education leaders, faculty from English and foreign language departments, and assessment experts, the volume takes a pulse of a discipline. Individual essays explore what is at stake in the work of assessment in the literature classroom, what we stand to gain, what we fear to lose, and whether current assessment methods can even capture the outcomes we care about most: the complex, subtle, seemingly ineffable heart of learning. They also implicitly invite teachers and scholars in other disciplines to come to the table, and carry the discussion further. The book is being published electronically and can be downloaded from the Foundation's website at http://www.teagle.org/disciplinaryassessment/.

The Teagle Foundation is committed to advancing public understanding about higher education, and to being an influential national voice and a catalyst for change. "Publishing this book on Teagle's website is an important new venture in our communications program," Morrill added. "It takes advantage of the new technologies at our disposal and-importantly-speaks to the Foundation's commitment to disseminate as widely as possible the knowledge that has the potential to advance student learning."

The Teagle Foundation provides leadership for liberal education, mobilizing the intellectual and financial resources that are necessary if today's students are to have access to a challenging and transformative liberal education. The Foundation's commitment to such education includes its grantmaking to institutions of higher education across the country, its long-established scholarship program for the children of employees of ExxonMobil, and its work helping economically disadvantaged young people in New York City-where the Foundation is based-gain admission to college and succeed once there.

Contact information:

Teagle Contact:
Cheryl Ching
cdching@teagle.org
212-373-1972