Talking Stick - September/October 2013 - 34

understand how it fits into the plot, and
then everything falls into place. In the
series “House of Cards,” Congressman
Underwood pushes Peter Russo as the
candidate for governor; only later does
the audience learn that Underwood
intends to destroy Russo and take
the vice presidency in the process. In
some stories, the set-up is obvious
to the audience, yet we still watch in
fascinated horror as the characters
head unknowingly toward the cliff or
to the house with the killer because
we know what is coming. In telling
an assessment story, we can provide
that same experience for the audience
by incorporating the set-up/pay-off
combination.

Endings and Cliffhangers
The power of a good story carries
through to the ending. When we are
presenting assessment results to an
external audience or are planning a

marketing campaign, we often choose
the up-ending, something that makes
us smile and leaves everyone feeling
good. Up-endings are also useful in
assessment when we want to talk about
contributions, value, and successes;
when the results are positive or the
outcomes are good, an up-ending is the
natural choice.
In contrast, down-endings leave
us in tears or deeply troubled. In an
assessment story, we may choose a
down-ending when we want to prompt
changes or action. We may highlight
data that makes us uncomfortable,
unhappy, or dissatisfied with our
programmatic or student outcomes.
Sometimes we might use the downending as an opportunity to make the
argument for continued or increased
resources.
Stories can also have false-endings,
which appear to be bringing the plot
to a conclusion but are accompanied

by a twist that then continues the
story. We can also use false-endings
with assessment data. For instance,
we can imply an ending when overall
data looks good and then continue the
story by mentioning subpopulations
or situations where the data is not as
positive.
Open-endings may leave elements
hanging or may imply an ongoing
narrative that continues beyond the
limits of the story. Imagine how the
first movie in a trilogy ends: If it does
not hint at more action to come, we
would not be compelled to watch
the subsequent parts. With some
open-endings, the story ends, but the
audience is left to interpret what is
good, what is bad, and what is valuable.
Open-endings are often used for
assessment stories, particularly when
we are talking about programmatic
efforts. The data can be used to
cOntInueS

52

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34

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Talking Stick - September/October 2013

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