Judy Wertheim Slides

Transcript Judy Wertheim Slides

Assessing Current Institutional Practices: The ALFI Toolkit

PLA with a Purpose Symposium Columbus, Ohio April 29, 2014

Serving Adult Learners Adult-Learning Focused Institutions (ALFI) Project Origins CAEL’s 1999 Benchmarking Study of six high-performing, adult-serving colleges and universities  Best Practices in Adult Learning, a CAEL book  Study findings distilled into Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners 2

CAEL’s ALFI Project CAEL’s Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult Learners 1.

Outreach Life & Career Planning Financing Assessment of Learning Outcomes Teaching-Learning Process Student Support Systems Technology Strategic Partnerships Transitions 3

All of the Principles

The Principles of Effectiveness are:  Integrated – they work together  Indivisible – they form a whole  Imperative – not just “a good idea” 4

The ALFI Assessment Toolkit The ALFI Assessment Tools (2 surveys)  Institutional Self-Assessment Survey NCHEMS) is for adult degree program administrators and faculty.

(CAEL &  Adult Learner Inventory (CAEL & Noel-Levitz) is an adult student survey based on ALFI.

ISAS Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (ISAS)  The ISAS is a survey that is completed by administrators, faculty, and staff and offers an opportunity for dialogue across departments about adult learners.  It provides the framework to reflectively examine how resources, structures, and practices impact the success of adult learners.

ISAS Survey Categories

       Institutional Background Mission, Leadership, and Organizational Structure Tuition and Financial Aid Teaching and Learning Faculty Recruitment and Development Student Services Key Constituencies 7

Completing the ISAS

 

Approximately 50 items One survey is submitted; completed by an institutional team

ISAS Items The ISAS: The Institutional Self-Assessment Survey  Sample Item:  To what extent does your institution partner with other organizations (community-based organizations, employers, other post-secondary providers) to deliver student support services:  Not at all     Not very much Somewhat A great deal Almost always (provide examples on supplementary page) 9

The ALI

      Survey to capture the experience of adult students in undergraduate programs Developed through a partnership between CAEL and Noel-Levitz ALI focuses on eight of the nine CAEL ALFI Principles (Strategic Partnerships principle is not covered because students are unlikely to know about this area) Version for four-year institutions and a version for two year community colleges; same items with text adjustments Structure of the instrument follows the Noel-Levitz model with students indicating both the level of importance and the level of satisfaction for each item Items rated on a 1-7 scale (1 is low; 7 is high)

ALI Items

     47 items rated for importance and satisfaction 10 optional items defined by the institution, rated for importance and satisfaction 2 summary items – overall satisfaction and likelihood student will recommend to other adult students 18 standard demographic items (gender, age, employment, class load, etc.) 2 optional demographic items (one major/program and one other

ALI Scores    Importance scores  How important is it for your program to meet this expectation?

Satisfaction scores  How satisfied are you that your program is meeting this expectation?

Performance gap scores  The discrepancy between the expectation (importance score) and the reality (satisfaction score).

The ALFI Report Provides:

 Comparative data:  External: Your team’s and your students’ ratings vs. students and teams at other institutions that have used the ALFI Assessment Tools  Internal: The institution’s perspective vs. adult learner perspective for each scale 13

ALFI Is Not:

An evaluation of performance based on an external evaluator’s “grades”

Using the Tools How Institutions Have Used the Tools       Identifying and marketing strengths Setting priorities for strategic planning Preparation for accreditation review Internal program review Development of strategic plans Aligning resources to best meet the needs of adult learners 15

Using the Tools

How Institutions Have Used the Tools (cont’d.)      Baseline data for future assessments Including data in annual report Creating recruitment messages Facilitating discussion & debate Helping with market niche reporting Focusing attention on adult learner needs and issues 16

To Learn More about Using ALFI  http://www.cael.org/Whom-We-Serve/Colleges-and Universities/Adult-Student-Services/ALFI-Assessment Tools  www.cael.org

 http://www.cael.org/pdfs/21_ToolsforTwoYearColleges