TRUE

PROGRAM

ASSESSMENT
REPORT PREPARED BY:

LUCAS BEAL

2022 HANNAH DURAND

BRIAN FOX
ANTONIO OAKLEY
KAYLA PATTERSON

 Table of Contents
Meet your Assessment Team pg. 4

About the Program pg. 5

Program Partners pg. 6

Goals & Objectives of the TRUE program pg. 7

Prior to TRUE Retreat pg. 8

TRUE Retreat pg. 9

Need for Assessment pg. 10

Student Expectations pg. 11

Research Methods pg. 13

Benefits of the TRUE Program pg. 14

Drawbacks of the TRUE Program pg. 15

Program Matrix Reference pg. 16

TRUE Program Matrix pg. 17
Retreat Matrix pg. 18

Limitations pg. 19

Future Recommendations pg. 20

Supporting Literature pg. 21 - 22

External Literature & Existing Learning Outcomes pg. 23

Connecting it Back pg. 24

 Table of Contents cont.
Conclusion pg. 25

References pg. 26

Appendices

Appendix A pg. 27 - 28
Appendix B pg. 29 - 31
Appendix C pg. 32
Appendix D pg. 33

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

 MEET YOUR ASSESSMENT TEAM

Lucas Beal Hannah Durand Brian Fox Antonio Oakley Kayla Patterson

Message from the Team

Hello,
Throughout this semester, our team was provided the opportunity to work with Carrie
Rogers and members of the Transformative Rural-Urban Exchange (TRUE) Program at
Western Carolina University (WCU) to assess the effectiveness of this program for our
students. We were tasked with reviewing data from the retreat of this program and
assessing if the TRUE program met its intended outcomes, the overall effectiveness of
the program, and assess/ evaluate the overall program to inform future
recommendations and improvements.

In this report, readers will be provided a description of the Transformative Rural-Urban

Exchange (TRUE) program, their mission and vision, intended goals and outcomes, the
methods used to assess the program and retreat, and limitations to our assessment
project and the program. The information provided within this report is to provide our
clients and key members of the TRUE program with our findings and informed future
recommendations to both the program and the retreat.

We hope that this report presents our findings of the TRUE program honestly and
highlights recommendations that support a shared interest in the continued growth of
this program and all future participants.

Sincerely,

Lucas, Hannah, Brian, Antonio, and Kayla

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 4
 ABOUT THE PROGRAM

"When teachers ignore or reject different cultural

expressions of development that are normal and adequate
and on which school skills and knowledge can be built,
conflicts can occur which may lead to student failure (Nieto
& Bode 2008). Therefore, cross cultural experiences help
teachers interact more effectively with diverse children and
enhance children’s academic achievement." - (Education
Northwest, 2016)
The Transformative Rural-Urban Exchange (TRUE) is a collaborative undertaking involving the
College of Education and Allied Professions (CEAP) at WCU and the School of Education at North
Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NC A&T SU), a Historically Black University
(HBCU) in Greensboro, NC. Every year, a small group of students from WCU and NC A&T SU are
selected to spend a week at their partner university and, in turn, host their counterparts at their
home university.

The program is one piece of a comprehensive “diversity plan” of the College of Education and
Allied Professions for designing, implementing, and evaluating curricula and experiences to
ensure that undergraduate candidates for licensure as teachers acquire the knowledge, skills, and
dispositions necessary to close the achievement gap and help all students learn in school.
(Western Carolina University)

"WHEN WE AS A STATE FULLY INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION, WE INVEST IN

OUR STUDENTS, OUR GROWTH, OUR FUTURE, OUR ECONOMY, AND MOST
IMPORTANTLY OUR COMMON CONNECTIONS." - (EGAN, 2018, P.1)

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 5
 PROGRAM PARTNERS
TRUE 2018 PARTICIPANTS

NCA&T is a research intensive historically black
university in Greensboro, a community that is the site
of several key events in the civil rights movement
and continues to be one of the state’s most diverse,
politically charged communities.
WCU is a comprehensive regional university located
in Cullowhee, an unincorporated community in rural
southern Appalachia, that is near the Eastern Band
of Cherokee Qualla Boundary.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 6
 Goals and Objectives of TRUE Program

Goals Learning Objectives:

Acknowledge identity on the cultural competence

continuum
Acknowledge group memberships, how they serve as
an advantage or disadvantage in the larger society,
and how they impact interactions
Explore lived histories to articulate how their beliefs,
Develop Cultural values, and expectations have been developed
Interact with peers from diverse ethnic, racial,
Awareness socioeconomic, geographic and language groups to
acknowledge similarities and differences
Interact with peers from diverse ethnic, racial,
socioeconomic, geographic, and language groups to
acknowledge similarities and differences [Retreat]

Understand Diversity Interact with peers from diverse ethnic, racial,

socioeconomic, geographic and language groups to
in Education acknowledge similarities and differences [Retreat]

Develop pedagogy for equity

Develop Equity- Adopt a culturally relevant anti-bias teaching
pedagogy
Focused Pedagogy Develop Equitable Pedagogy & Skills

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 7
 Prior to TRUE Retreat
Overview
Leading up to a TRUE retreat (details provided on the next page) accepted students of the
TRUE program are expected to meet monthly over Zoom to explore topics that were
intended to prepare them for the TRUE retreat (where NCAT and WCU would visit each
other's campuses and complete additional activities and discussions. This page is an
overview of the modules and goals that were reviewed prior to the TRUE retreat. Further
details can be found within Appendix B.

Modules Goals

Participants will:
Introduction Meeting
State the goals of TRUE and participant requirements.
State the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to
support the learning of all students.

Module 1: University Participants will:

Explore lived histories to articulate how their beliefs,
History and Self values, and expectations have been developed
Acknowledge group memberships, how they serve as an
Identity advantage or disadvantage in the larger society, and how
they impact interactions

Participants will:
Acknowledge identity on the cultural competence
Module 2: Cultural continuum
Acknowledge group memberships, how they serve as
Identity & Proficiency an advantage or disadvantage in the larger society, and
how they impact interactions

There were no goals expressed (we provide a

recommendation to include this later). However, during this
Module 3: Diversity in Module students discussed their artifacts (activity), and
discussed plans for the retreat including preparation and
Education getting to know students from other campus.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 8
 TRUE Retreat

What is it?
The retreat component of the TRUE program is when a small group of accepted students
spend a week at their partner university, and then host their counterparts at their home
university. The retreat at WCU is available to students who have been accepted into the
education program but are not yet student teaching during the semester of the exchange.

Purpose
The intended purpose of the retreat component of TRUE is to provide opportunities for
students to "interact with peers from diverse ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, geographic and
language groups to acknowledge similarities and differences" which supports the programs
intended goal of providing students with opportunities to develop an understanding of
diversity in education.

Connecting Pre-Retreat Content and Activities

The previous section highlighted the elements of the True Program that happen prior to the
retreat. Prior to the retreat, accepted students of the TRUE program meet virtually for a
lecture, discussion, and activities that focus on exploring self-identity, and diversity issues
in education

What happens at the retreat?

At the retreat, students spend a week at their partner university and, in turn, host their
counterparts at their home university. Appendix A provides the itinerary of the retreat from
2019 which was also used by the program as an evaluation tool to assess the students'
perceptions of the retreat activities.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 9
 Need for Assessment

What is Assessment?
According to Upcraft and Schuh (1996), assessment is "is any effort to gather, analyze, and
interpret evidence which describes institutional, departmental, division, or agency
effectiveness (p. 18). Generally, student affairs professionals are tasked with supporting the
overall mission of the university or college, but primarily supporting college students
throughout their experience at that perspective college or university. Assessment is a
crucial piece of this goal in that when used effectively, results from assessment helps to
guide recommendations for improvement that are not only an aspect that is necessary to
sustain initiatives, departments, etc but something that we strive for in the pursuit towards
improving departments, initiatives, and programs in the future.

Need for Assessment:

The purpose of this assessment is to evaluate previous methods of assessment and to use
research to inform insights and future recommendations that connect both to the program
and the methods used to assess the program in the future. We will highlight additional
limitations within this study later on, however, it is important to note that there were many
limitations that would prevent us from getting an accurate assessment of the overall
effectiveness of previous adaptations of TRUE. For example, a major limitation in our
assessment process was not having the ability to collect our own set of data. Instead we
relied on data provided to us which was helpful in our understanding components of TRUE,
however, there were significant amount of gaps within the data.

Therefore, the need for this assessment is primarily to evaluate the data and information
provided to our team to inform recommendations for the future. This does not diminish the
potential impact that this program has had in the past, but we hope to highlight
opportunities for growth in the future that promote an intentional and positive impact on
students from both Western Carolina University (WCU) and North Carolina A&T University
(NCAT).

What we plan to Assess in TRUE:

We plan to utilize the data that was collected from previous adaptations of the TRUE
program in order to measure its effectiveness. We took the initial goals and outcomes that
were intended for the program and measured if these goals were met or not. Then utilized
the outcomes that were not met as well as research connected to inform recommendations
for the program later on. Our primary task was to assess the outcomes from the REAL Talk
conversation at the the TRUE Retreat.
TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 10
 TRUE PROGRAM:
What Students
Expect
The following portion presents two application
responses by two WCU applicants that highlight
their rationale for wanting to participate in the
TRUE program. These responses were in response
to the highlighted prompt question:

How might participating in the Transformative

Rural Urban Exchange help you grow as a
teacher?

This section provides an understanding for what

students hope to gain from participating in a rural-
urban exchange for aspiring educators. Within
their responses, key elements have been
highlighted that align with the True objectives.
Through the assessment process, it is important to
consider what students expected to gain from this
experience as it relates to what they actually
gained through the program.

PG. 11
 Student Expectations
How might participating in the Transformative Rural Urban Exchange help
you grow as a teacher?
"I think participating in the TRUE program
would help me grow as a teacher by
exposing me to different areas and how that
affects teaching. I don’t think we often think
that the community affects students and the
way we teach, however it plays a vital role.
While growing up, I may have experienced
more of an urban school system, it is very
different being a part of one and teaching in
one. My high school experience was very
different from others, so it is often hard for me
to relate, and in my younger elementary years,
it is hard to remember. When looking at
teaching, I plan to go back home to teach
special education in an elementary classroom. I
would like to be exposed to the urban
environment that I
will more than likely be located in with kids the
age I’m looking to teach.
Being a student at Western Carolina University
exposes me to the counties of Western North
Carolina, which are mostly rural, like Jackson,
Haywood, Macon, etc. I think this is a
wonderful experience to encounter the rural
education style I never really experienced. All
the teachers here see their students in the
stores, at events and know their moms on a
personal level. However, I don’t think we often
get exposed to those urban and suburban
communities here that we may end up
teaching in one day. I think it is important to
practice and have experience in both to be
prepared for whatever may come before us."
-2022 Applicant
TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT
PG. 12
"I think that participating in the
Transformative Rural-Urban Exchange
(TRUE) will help me grow as a teacher
because I will be able to learn from other
people on how I can become more accepting
and aware of my future students. Like I
stated before, I grew up in a middle to
upper-class area and that town created
some limiting biases in my mind. It was not
until college that I realized that I carried a lot
of privileges. I think that this exchange will
allow me to meet people who grew up in
different areas than me and I will be able to
learn from their personal stories. This is also
going to be a great time for me to learn how
to listen to others' stories without trying to
relate because sometimes I will simply not be
able to relate. I will be able to take this
knowledge and reflect on how important it is
to throw yourself into situations where you
are the outcast. I can use this to remember
that I will have students that feel like the
outcast, and I can take this knowledge and
help them feel safe in my classroom. This
experience will help me understand some of
my students on a deeper level. I hope to gain
a lot of insight from this and I cannot wait to
come out with new information."
-2022 Applicant
 RESEARCH METHODS
Instruments and Data Collection Processes:
Our group was tasked with assessing the TRUE program with a specific
focus on the effectiveness of the retreat that took place at Western
Carolina University (WCU). We did not collect any new data from previous
participants of the TRUE program as access to this population was limited.
Primarily, our focus was to analyze the collected data from previous years.
The data was initially assessed using a mixed methods approach (surveys,
focus groups, observation, etc).This section provides an overview of the
methods we used to further assess the retreat and TRUE program at WCU.

Organizing the Data:

Initially, members of our team took the data collected and organized it into an excel
spreadsheet so that we could evaluate any gaps in data that is missing or gaps.
Significant gaps in the data include: full roster of participants, demographic information,
survey results that connect to whether the initial outcomes were met, etc.

Process of Assessing Data:

To promote validity among data collection,

three members from our assessment group
combed through the participant's journal
entries and analyzed these for common
themes. These members then assessed
overlap in the themes expressed. We
utilized these themes and quotes
connected to report whether a goal or
outcome was expressed or not.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 13
 Benefits of TRUE
Let's hear from the students:
Overall, the student responses from the 2022 True Retreat depicted components of the
retreat as impactful. For example, a few students that participated in the retreat in 2022
reflected in their evaluation:

"I really just learned so much "I love how open minded and
about the different experiences respectful everyone was.
that people have, and also how Everyone participated and
to implement change in school were supportive!"
and in the classroom."

In addition to these reflections, students provided feedback of their experiences and

additional reflection of future learning and engagement opportunities. For example:

"More things I wanted to learn "Working to be antiracist is

would be different tools and continuous work and requires one
strategies to make sure we are to educate themselves. I ask to learn
being culturally proficient as more of my own identity and the
leaders". perspective of others ".

Common Themes:
Theme #1 Identity and Belonging

Theme #2 Increased Cultural Awareness

Theme #3 Connecting to Future Career

as Educators

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 14
 Drawbacks of TRUE
Let's hear from the students:
In addition to the perceived benefits of the TRUE program, feedback from students
provide potential drawbacks to the program, thereby allowing TRUE members the
opportunity to implement changes to address these concerns. Some example feedback
from Appendix D includes:

"I felt argumentative because of the
lack of knowledge of privilege and
opportunity. I felt like it was my
role, in a good way, to educate my
peers."
I felt like it was multiple of the
same people talking. And that
some of the conversation was
one sided. (TRUE retreat
journal, 2022)

In addition to these reflections, students provided feedback of their experiences and

additional reflection from their discussions at the Retreat. A few notable quotes:

"I was comfortable but wish we "I do not feel challenged or

had more time to share answers necessarily affirmed in my identity".
and discuss things". (Retreat (Student Journal Entry, 2020)
Evaluation, 2020)

"It caused a lot of tension with

"My identity has not been been
each other" (referring to
challenged or affirmed any".
comfortability level during
(Student Journal Entry, 2020)
Whiteness and Blackness
discussion during 2020 Retreat)

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 15
 OUTCOMES REFERENCE
The purpose of the next section is to provide a visual
representation for how the different components of the
TRUE program model align with their nine objectives. The
three sections in this portion are the following:

Part 1 - True Program Matrix: This diagram presents the

TRUE goals and objectives. The matrix indicates whether
these goals and objectives are being met through the TRUE
cultural modules (appendix b), the cultural retreat (appendix
b), and/or the campus exchange (appendix a)

Part 2 - The REAL Talk Outcomes: This section highlights

the content analysis for the Real Talk discussion during the
TRUE retreat that was evaluated during this assessment
process. The REAL Talk dialogue was one compoent of the
retreat portion of the TRUE program

Part 3 - The RE

PG. 16
 ** = No data to support
PART 1 : True Program Matrix
Campus & School
Goals Objectives Cultural Modules Cultural Retreat Visit
Acknowledge identity on
the cultural competence
continuum**

Acknowledge group
memberships, how they
serve as an advantage or
disadvantage in the larger
society, and how they
Develop Cultural Awareness

impact interactions

Explore lived histories to

articulate how their beliefs,
values, and expectations
have been developed

Acknowledge group
memberships, how they
serve as an an advantage
or disadvantage in the
larger society, and how
they impact interactions

Interact with peers from

diverse ethnic, racial,
socioeconomic
geographic and language
groups to acknowledge
similarities and
differences
Understanding

State the knowledge,

Diversity in
Education

skills, and dispositions

necessary to support
the learning of all
students

Develop pedagogy
Develop Equity Focused

for equity**

Adapt a culturally
Pedagogy

relevant anti-bias
teaching pedagogy**

Develop Equitable
Pedagogy & Teaching
Skills**

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 17
 What topics emerged during the REAL
Talk Dialogue experience... PART 2:

REAL
TALK
OUTCOMES
Student comfortability during
REAL Talk Dialogue
experience...

How students felt during the REAL Talk

dialogue experience...

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 18
 Limitations

For the assessment of the TRUE program, we recognized

various limitations in the data initially received for this project.
As a result, we deduced the following limitations for
assessment outcomes.

Assessment Program
Limitations Limitations
Data type inconsistent over time The REAL activity had no defined
2019 learning objectives.
2020
As a group, we wanted to find data
2021
WCU Student Data that could provide insight into the
School affiliation impact of COVID-19 on the program.
Demographic Information We needed to understand how the
Access to relevant data students' mindsets shifted after the
No access to the survey results of Post-
pandemic.
retreat data
No access to any data from NC A&T State
There were applications that the
University. students filled out, but there was no
Student Names information about their social and
University Classifications economic status or their current
attitudes and beliefs about
education.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 19
 Recommendations
How to know if your goals are being met?

Close the data cycle. Identify your measurement tools.

Pre Retreat Assessment Post Retreat assessment What is measured
tool tool

Implicit Bias Post-

Implicit Bias Pre-Test Change in Cultural
Test
awareness

Personal Identity &

Post Retreat
Pre Retreat Evaluation group identity:
Evaluation &
& Student expectations engagement, comfort,
Journal reflections
and growth

tba Comprehensive
tba
knowledge in
equitable pedagogy

The diagram above is a visual representation of different tools that can be used to measure the items
on the right. The items on the right were extracted from the program goals and objectives for the
TRUE program. The third row assessment items were left open in oder to accommodate site specific
educational practices for the unique needs of Western Carolina University and North Carolina A&T.

In addition to the recommended practices above, below is a general list of additional recommendations
that may provide supporting insight for as
Social Media presence (Engaging greater academic and teaching community/ keep a portfolio of
the impact you are making)
1 year post program or alum feedback (Understand long term impact of program once individuals
have entered the classroom)
Collect demographic data
Track institution affiliation
Cross compare retreat impact between partner institutions
Shared OneDrive/ Archive for WCU and NCA&T access

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 20
 Supporting Literature
While most of the work completed by our group focused on TRUE, and the data
that has been collected over the years, we also found it pertinent to look at supporting
external literature. Our review of this relevant literature yielded two big ideas:

1. With the evolution of the “Black and White

Conversations” into “Real Talk”, it is a good time for
TRUE’s coordinators to further explore and evaluate
what the goal and scope of this keystone
conversation can be.
2. How can TRUE become an educational experience
that transcends, and cannot be replaced by, the
traditional classroom environment?

Redefining “Real Talk” and Exploring Identity

The “Real Talk” segment of the TRUE retreat was originally known as the “Black
and White”conversation. In recent years, it has been rebranded by TRUE into “Real
Talk” because not all attending students identified as Black or White. We believe that
TRUE might find even more impact if it expanded the discussion into even more
identity vectors, such as a student’s spirituality or positioning on the spectrum of
sexuality.
A student of a minority religious faith or sexuality may find those identites to be
more pertinent to their self-expression than their ethnicity (Abes, Jones, & McEwen,
2007). Furthermore, students attending this event may find benefit in exploring
multiple facets of their identity, or may not always be able to separate one aspect of
their identity from the other. One identity may inform how they engage with the
others (Abes, Jones, & McEwen, 2007).
For some TRUE participants, they may have (or have had) to “navigate multiple
marginalized positionalities” and “complex intersections of oppression” in their
profession (Blackburn & McCready, 2009; Wright, 2008 as cited in Brockenbrough,
2016). Just like racial or ethnic discrimination, TRUE participants will likely also have
to address homophobia or religious intolerance in their classroom (Sauntson, 2018;
Gambrell, 2017). Discrimination inevitably connects all students “in ways both similar
and profoundly different” (Kernahan, 2019). Because of this, we believe that all
students would benefit from the expansion of ”Real Talk” into additional
positionalities.
TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 21
 How can “TRUE” transcend the classroom?
TRUE exists outside of the traditional classroom environment, while still being a
collaboration between two accredited institutions. Not all effective centers of learning
take place in the traditional classroom (Brockenbrough, 2016). This affords TRUE
unique freedoms, as well as limitations and challenges. As TRUE continues to
evaluate their assessment outcomes, and the future of “Real Talk”, they will find value
in pondering these questions:

1. What freedoms and restrictions do TRUE have when compared to the

classroom setting?
2. How does “Real Talk” fit within those freedoms and restrictions?
3. How do these freedoms and restrictions effect the assessment outcomes,
if at all?
a. If not, should they?

This new and exciting environment can encourage students to discuss ideas and
experiences they might never feel comfortable discussing in a formal classroom
setting (Brockenbrough, 2019; Sauntson, 2018). But, this space must be intentionally
created (Kernahan, 2019). Because TRUE creates an effectively new learning
environment for it’s students, how does TRUE ensure that “Real Talk” is an area of
growth, instead of an area of perfection (Kernahan, 2019)? Resistance to new,
uncomfortable knowledge and points of view can create resistance (Kernahan, 2019).
This can create feelings of shame or blame in students of all identities.
Furthermore, a common barrier to entry when discussing different identities is the
fear of saying things “incorrectly” (Kernahan, 2019). The goal is not to enshrine
protection for intentionally ignorant statements, but to create a space of
understanding and growth instead of perfection.
It is prudent for an instructor to be sensitive to these threats and challenges, and
to lessen their impact. (Kernahan, 2019). This is not to say that TRUE does not do
this, but instead we want to challenge it’s coordinators to intentionally ensure that
this is a space where students can be comfortable processing new information.
We encourage TRUE to acknowledge with their students the strengths and
weaknesses of it’s format. There is power in giving the attendees a stake in creating
this community; in acknowledging it’s unique positionality as a para-classroom
experience; and creating community expectations in navigating the initial discomfort
of creating a growing space with strangers in a new context. By doing so, we believe
that true can successfully and meaningfully transcend the classroom environment.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 22
 External Literature & Existing Assessment Outcomes
Overall, we find that the existing “Real Talk” assessment outcomes to be a great
start, with only a few minor critiques from a perspective informed by our external
literature. Outcomes we would like TRUE to revisit are in yellow text. Outcomes we
see no issue with are in green text. Justifications for each classification are below
each goal in white.

1. Acknowledge identity on the cultural competence continuum

a. What other identity work might also be done on this retreat (Kernahan,
2019)?
b. How does “Real Talk”encourage students to make meaning of their individual
positionality (Abes, Jones, & McEwen, 2007; Blackburn & McCready, 2009;
Wright, 2008).
2. Acknowledge group memberships, how they serve as an advantage or
disadvantage in the larger society, and how they impact interactions.
a. This is great. Discrimination affects everyone (Kernahan, 2019;
Brockenbrough, 2016).
3. Explore lived histories to articulate how their beliefs, values, and expectations
have been developed.
a. See above comment.
4. Interact with peers from diverse ethnic, racial socioeconomic geographic and
language groups to acknowledge similarities and differences. (Retreat)
a. Why not queer and spiritual identities as well? Those are just as salient to
student development (Abes, Jones, & McEwen, 2007; Brockenbrough, 2016;
Sauntson, 2018; Blackburn & McCready, 2009).
5. State the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to support the learning
of all students and develop pedagogy for equity
a. A good goal, but how does TRUE prepare these students for difficulties in that
pursuit (Sauntson, 2018; Brokenbrough, 2016; Blackburn & McCready, 2009)?
i. Or, is this outside the intended scope of the retreat?

We believe that the “Real Talk” segment of TRUE, from a literature informed
standpoint, is a valuable experience for students. It’s assessment outcomes align with
the literature, although there are some facets that deserve consideration. Namely
expanding the positionalities explored, and preparing students for pushback in their
future classrooms. Additionally, we recommend an intentional emphasis on giving
participants a stake in the creation of the TRUE community, it’s expectations, and the
acknowledgment of it’s unique nature. We believe that be doing so, TRUE - and as a
consequence, “Real Talk” will continue to challenge students to grow, innovate, and
face the challenges of the 21st century classroom.

TRUE PROGRAM ASSESSMENT REPORT

PG. 23