Collegiate learning assessment
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The Collegiate learning assessment, or CLA, is an open-ended standardized test administered by computer with the intent of gauging analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem solving, and written communication skills. It differs from other assessments in that results are analyzed to measure the school's results against other comparable institutions. Due to its focus on general academic skills, there is little to no test content on specific subject areas or disciplines. This allows the test to be administered to any student at any higher education institution in the country. Rather than measure a student's performance, it measures the school's performance in enhancing the academic skills of its students relative to the incoming ability of that particular school's freshmen or transfers. This gives a particular institution a way to identify how well it is educating its students in a general academic sense. The test also uses value-added analysis, which is a method of measuring growth of a student's knowledge over time, serving to provide a more complete display of a school's effectiveness. Again, there is a heavy emphasis on the fact that the CLA does not measure general intelligence or knowledge of a particular major or subject area.[1][2][3]
External links
- Carnegie results
- City University of New York: "CLA task format"
- The Spellings Commission report and the CLA
Footnotes
