Rhode Island College College Portrait

All colleges and universities use multiple approaches to measure student learning. Many of these are specific to particular disciplines, many are coordinated with accrediting agencies, and many are based on outcomes after students have graduated.

Although the responsibility for teaching on the college campus rests primarily with the faculty, student achievement is a campus wide responsibility. Consequently, finding out if we are doing our job effectively here at Rhode Island College requires the shared participation of faculty, students, administrators, and alumni, among others. Faculty consult regularly with alumni, with local and regional employers, and with others in the on-going quest to determine if our graduates meet real-world expectations for sustained learning. Moreover, each year we assess our academic programs to determine if we are succeeding in our educational goals. Educational excellence requires a continuous self-assessment so that we might serve our students effectively. Rhode Island College is proud of its General Education Program. General Education provides a common foundation for all fields of study. Students who achieve the goals of the General Education Program are ready to pursue their academic majors. In order to achieve the goals of General Education, students develop their abilities to speak persuasively, to listen receptively, and to write effectively. General Education at the college emphasizes critical thinking, understanding multiple perspectives and the rich and ever growing ways in which technology and learning interconnect. The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) was administered for the first time in the 2007-2008 academic year in order to assess some of the skills we expect graduates to demonstrate.Rhode Island College is proud that its many programs, from General Education to our many diverse majors, meet and exceed standards set by groups such as the Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, National Association of Schools of Music, National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Collegiate Commission on Nursing Education.

Learning Assessment Examples

Colleges and universities participating in the College Portrait measure the typical improvement in students' abilities to think, reason, and write using one of three tests. This is part of a pilot project to better understand and compare what students learn between their freshman and senior years at different colleges and universities.

- Results from the Collegiate Learning Assessment

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) measures critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication using a performance task and an analytic writing task. The scores from the tasks are reported separately below.

Test Administration Process

Test Information

Performance Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the performance task is at or near what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1056
Senior Score: 1130
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 985
Senior Score: 995

Analytic Writing Task Results for First-time, Full-time Students

The increase in learning on the analytic writing task is above what would be expected at an institution testing students of similar academic abilities.

Freshman Score: 1070
Senior Score: 1188
CLA score range: 400 to no maximum score.

Average EEA scores for tested students
Freshman Score: 1000
Senior Score: 975