Jessica Nastal

Dr. Jessica Nastal (she/they) is Assistant Professor of English, specializing in writing assessment and two-year college literacy studies. She is a fourth-generation union member and a single mother. In Spain and the US (in Wisconsin, Georgia, and Illinois), at private and public universities and colleges, Jessica has taught classes in composition, developmental writing, writing studies, professional and technical writing, and English language studies. More about her story was featured by the college; you may find it here.

With Mya Poe and Christie Toth, Jessica's edited collection, Writing Placement in Two-Year Colleges: The Pursuit of Equity in Postsecondary Education won the CWPA Best Book Award. She received the 2025 TYCA–Midwest and 2021 NISOD Teaching Excellence Awards and the 2013–2014 Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship for (Re)Envisioning Placement for 21st Century Writing Programs from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Jessica’s research focuses on writing pedagogy, response to student writing, and assessment. It has appeared in ETS Research Reports, Journal of Response to Writing, Journal of Writing Assessment, Pedagogy, Teaching English in the Two-Year College and several edited collections. She serves on the editorial boards for Assessing Writing, Journal of Writing Analytics, and Journal of Writing Assessment. Her students’ work has been published in Queen City Writers and Composition Studies. Jessica is an incoming editor of Teaching English in the Two-Year College. 

At her previous institutions, Jessica chaired or co-chaired assessment, equity and inclusion, reaccreditation, and strategic planning efforts. She has served as an English Department chair and Interim Dean of Learning Resources and Assessment. Jessica has contributed to revising, writing, and implementing course-level, programmatic, and general education assessment methods on campuses and writing placement efforts statewide. She serves as co-leader for her child's Scouts troop and book trivia team. 

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, 2014. English: Rhetoric and Composition.
Dissertation: (Re)Envisioning Placement for 21st Century Writing Programs.
Advisor: Charles I. Schuster 

M.A., Saint Louis University, 2007. English.

M.A., Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 2007. North American and British Literary and Cultural Studies.                     

B.A., Loyola University Chicago, 2002, magna cum laude. English; Political Science minor.

H.S. diploma, Downers Grove South High School, 1998.

Research Focus

• Writing pedagogy
• Response to student writing
• Writing placement
• Writing assessment
• Two-year college literacy studies
• Faculty development
• Learning outcomes
• Accreditation and strategic long-range planning

Forthcoming Publications 

• Toth, C., Nastal, J., Buckingham Barney, T., Messer, K., & Godfrey, J. (2026). White Paper on Generative Artifical Intelligence, Writing Placement, and Principled Decision-Making in US Postsecondary Contexts. Journal of Writing Analytics, 9. [commissioned by the editors]
• Nastal, J. Conclusion. Advancing writing studies at “democracy’s open door.” In J. Janangelo & E. Lehman (Eds.), Preparing Writing Program and English Department Graduate Students for Successful Two-Year College Teaching Careers. Parlor Press. [invited]
• Nastal, J., Poe, M., & Elliot, N. Open-access publishing and activity theory: An extension of consequences. In A. Blakeslee & H. M. Falconer (Eds.), Imagining Futures: Honoring and Extending the Contributions of Mike Palmquist. WAC Clearinghouse.

Selected Publications

• Nastal, J. (2024). Ungrading in the ethical turn as an Assessment Killjoy. Teaching English in the Two-Year College, 52(2), 169–187. Available at https://publicationsncte.org/content/journals/10.58680/tetyc2024522169 
• Nastal, J. (2024). A sociocognitive grading model for first-year writing classes. Pedagogy, 24(3), 405–426. Special issue on ungrading, Ed. Ellen Carillo. Available at https://read.dukeupress.edu/pedagogy/article/24/3/405/392073/A-Sociocognitive-Grading-Model-for-First-Year?guestAccessKey=191f0284-faad-4182-a85a-8ef60fb7381b 
• Nastal, J., Poe, M. & Toth, C., Eds. (2022). Writing placement in two-year colleges: The pursuit of equity in postsecondary education. WAC Clearinghouse. Available at https://wac.colostate.edu/books/practice/two-year/ * winner of the CWPA Best Book Award
• Hazleton, L., Nastal, J., Elliot, N., Burstein, J. (2021). Formative Automated Writing Evaluation: A theory of action. Journal of Response to Writing. Available at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/journalrw/vol7/iss1/3/
• Nastal, J. (2019). Beyond tradition: Writing placement, fairness, and success at a two-year college. Journal of Writing Assessment, 12(1) [special issue on placement in two-year colleges]. Available at http://www.journalofwritingassessment.org/article.php?article=136
• Poe, M., Nastal, J., & Elliot, N. (2019). Reflection. An admitted student is a qualified student: A roadmap for writing placement in the two-year college. Journal of Writing Assessment, 12(1) [special issue on placement in two-year colleges]. Available at http://www.journalofwritingassessment.org/article.php?article=140

Awards

Dr. Nastal recently won the TYCA–Midwest Teaching Excellence Award! 

The College featured her in a brief video. Dr. Nastal was recognized for her "deep and abiding commitment to students" in her teaching and in her award-winning scholarship.

Courses Taught at College of DuPage

• English 1101: English Composition I
• English 1102: English Composition II
• English 1105: Workplace Writing
• English 1110: Technical Writing
• English 2105: Writing in the Professions

Courses Taught Elsewhere

• Advanced College Writing (English Language Studies [ELS])
• Advanced Listening, Grammar, and Reading (ELS)
• Advanced Writing for Professionals
• Composition I
• Composition II
• Fundamentals of College Reading and Writing
• Grammar (ELS)
• Immersion (ELS)
• Introduction to English Studies
• Introduction to Writing Studies
• Reading (ELS)
• Teaching Writing
• Writing (ELS)
• Writing for Publication

At COD

• Strategic Long-Range Planning Committee
• Women’s Studies Committee
• Budilovsky Literary Endowed Scholarship Review Committee
• Civic Engagement Community of Practice
• College Completion Committee
• Writing Studies Committee
• Composition Steering Committee