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
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CAEL’s ALFI Project
CAEL’s Principles of Effectiveness for Serving Adult
Learners
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2.
3.
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6.
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9.
Outreach
Life & Career Planning
Financing
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Teaching-Learning Process
Student Support Systems
Technology
Strategic Partnerships
Transitions
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All of the Principles
The Principles of Effectiveness are:
 Integrated – they work together
 Indivisible – they form a whole
 Imperative – not just “a good idea”
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The ALFI Assessment Toolkit
The ALFI Assessment Tools
(2 surveys)
 Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (CAEL &
NCHEMS) is for adult degree program
administrators and faculty.
 Adult Learner Inventory (CAEL & Noel-Levitz) is
an adult student survey based on ALFI.
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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.
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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
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Completing the ISAS
 Approximately 50 items
 One survey is submitted;
completed by an institutional
team
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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)
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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 twoyear 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)
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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
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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).
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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
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ALFI Is Not:
An evaluation of performance
based on an external evaluator’s
“grades”
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Using the Tools
How Institutions Have Used the Tools
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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
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Using the Tools
How Institutions Have Used the Tools
(cont’d.)
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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
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To Learn More about Using ALFI
 http://www.cael.org/Whom-We-Serve/Colleges-andUniversities/Adult-Student-Services/ALFI-AssessmentTools
 www.cael.org
 http://www.cael.org/pdfs/21_ToolsforTwoYearColleges
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Questions?
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