University Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness

Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) Overview

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a Web administered, value-added assessment program developed by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE) that measures how an institution as a whole contributes to student development and learning. The CLA is comprised of "essay-type" questions designed to assess critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication. ASU is among hundreds of other institutions that use the CLA on an annual basis to measure the value an institution contributes to student learning. For more information on the CLA in general, visit CAE’s Website: http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegiate.htm.

ASU began administering the CLA to freshmen and sophomores in the 2004-2005 academic year, testing between approximately 600-1000 students annually. ASU began a large scale study using the CLA in fall 2008, and the University Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness coordinated testing to for over 9,500 first year composition students. A subset of these students have been tracked over their collegiate experience at ASU to understand the value ASU adds to student learning and development. Spring 2012 completes the longitudinal study. Information will be updated before testing begins in Spring 2012.