Collegiate Learning Assessment

The Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) outside page icon

is a nationally–normed, authentic assessment developed by the Council for Aid to Education to measure institutional achievements in student learning in four key general education core skills: critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication. CLA results are controlled for incoming academic ability.

Cross-Sectional Study

The University of Kentucky first administered the CLA as part of a longitudinal study of the general education learning of UK undergraduates in fall 2007. The initial administration tested two cohorts: (1) first-time, full-time freshman and (2) UK seniors. This test design ensures that the initial results are immediately useful as a cross-sectional (or "snapshot") analysis of learning. A basic summary of the cross-sectional results are included in the tables below; the full institutional report is available here: 2007-2009 Cross-Sectional Institutional Report

Freshmen tested in fall 2007

	Student Count	Mean SAT Score	Expected CLA Score	Actual CLA Score	Percentile Rank	Performance Level
Total CLA Score	303	1173	1147	1164	87	At
Performance Task	307	1171	1142	1201	93	Well Above
Analytic Writing Task	303	1173	1147	1123	74	Below
Make-an-Argument	303	1173	1151	1109	71	Below
Critique-an-Argument	306	1172	1143	1136	82	At

Seniors tested in spring 2008

	Student Count	Mean SAT Score	Expected CLA Score	Actual CLA Score	Percentile Rank	Performance Level
Total CLA Score	102	1191	1243	1283	89	Above
Performance Task	51	1202	1247	1317	95	Well Above
Analytic Writing Task	51	1179	1239	1248	78	At
Make-an-Argument	51	1179	1233	1253	81	Above
Critique-an-Argument	51	1179	1243	1242	73	At

Value-added Estimates

	Difference Score	Percentile Rank	Performance Level
Total CLA Score	0.6	73	Above
Performance Task	0.0	54	At
Analytic Writing Task	0.9	77	Above
Make-an-Argument	1.5	91	Well Above
Critique-an-Argument	0.2	57	At

Longitudinal Results

A complete picture of UK’s general education learning, however, can only be gleaned from following a single cohort through their general education learning experience. Therefore, the longitudinal design of the CLA required that it be administered to the same cohort three times: first in fall 2007, next in spring 2009, and finally, in spring 2011. The summary results are provided in the tables below. The full institutional report is available at the following link: 2007-2011 Longitudinal Results

Comparison of UK students’ scores in Phase 1 (Fall 2007) and Phase 2 (Spring 2009)

		Phase 1		Phase 2		Summary Statistics
Phases 1 and 2	# of Students	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Effect Size*	Performace Level**
Performance Task	146	1158	165	1173	134	0.09	Below
Analytic Writing Task	144	1076	128	1117	149	0.32	Above
Make-an-Argument	144	1053	159	1083	172	0.19	Near
Critique-an-Argument	146	1098	164	1149	166	0.31	Near
Total Score	144	1117	121	1146	122	0.24	Near

Comparison of UK students’ scores in Phase 2 (Spring 2009) and Phase 3 (Spring 2011)

		Phase 2		Phase 3		Summary Statistics
Phases 2 and 3	# of Students	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Effect Size*	Performace Level**
Performance Task	81	1171	136	1261	146	0.66	Well Above
Analytic Writing Task	80	1117	151	1123	146	0.04	Well Below
Make-an-Argument	81	1084	176	1085	170	0.01	Well Below
Critique-an-Argument	80	1145	171	1155	176	0.06	Well Below
Total Score	80	1144	125	1192	121	0.38	Near

Comparison of UK students’ scores in Phase 1 (Fall 2007) and Phase 3 (Spring 2011)

		Phase 1		Phase 3		Summary Statistics
Phases 1 and 3	# of Students	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Mean Score	Std. Dev.	Effect Size*	Performace Level**
Performance Task	110	1155	174	1249	147	0.54	Above
Analytic Writing Task	108	1067	132	1121	143	0.41	Below
Make-an-Argument	109	1034	153	1088	164	0.35	Near
Critique-an-Argument	108	1101	175	1148	176	0.27	Well Below
Total Score	108	1113	125	1185	123	0.58	Near

*Indicates how much change occurred between Phases. The larger the positive effect size, the greater the improvement.

**Effect sizes are the standardized difference in mean performance between a pair of phases and indicates whether the change in UK students’ CLA performance was well above, above, near, below, or well below.

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Last modified: November 13, 2012 9:40 AM | An Equal Opportunity University