Outcome Assessment of a Writing-Skill Improvement Initiative: Results and Methodological Implications

This paper reports the outcome assessment of our accounting department's writing-skill improvement initiative. We employ complementary experimental designs to examine the effects of professionally relevant writing experiences on accounting students' writing-skill development. Using a between-subjects experimental design, we compare the writing skills of accounting students who participated in our writing initiative with the writing skills of other business students who did not participate. Using a within-subjects experimental design, we track improvements of accounting students' writing skills over time. Results from both outcome assessment methodologies indicate that accounting students' writing skills improve as students participate in our writing initiative. This paper provides insight into the features of a successful writing initiative and offers methodological suggestions for conducting outcome assessments of writing initiatives.