For Educators

For more than 30 years, faculty, academic staff and administrators from all over this country and the world have visited Alverno College to learn about the college’s ability-based curriculum and performance-assessment methods. The college offers daylong and weeklong workshops through the Alverno College Institute for Educational Outreach, conducts research on lifelong learning and outcome-based education, offers consultation services, produces publications and offers the Alverno Diagnostic Digital Portfolio used by faculty and students.

Longitudinal Research on College Outcomes
Since 1976, the Educational Research and Evaluation office has been conducting an ongoing research program. We tracked entire classes of students, from entry to graduation, using 16 different research instruments (12 drawn from outside the college). We have undertaken intensive studies of our alumnae to ascertain whether they are using the abilities they learned in college. We have studied how the abilities of Alverno's graduates compare with the abilities of other working professionals and managers in corporate and nonprofit agencies in the Milwaukee area.

In 1983, we summarized more than 2,000 pages of research in a report titled "Careering after College." Since then, we produced other publications outlining the results of our ongoing and widely cited longitudinal studies of Alverno students and alumnae. These include "Abilities That Last a Lifetime: Outcomes of the Alverno Experience," "Paths to Integrity: Educating for Personal Growth and Professional Performance," "Connecting Education, Work, and Citizenship: How Assessment Can Help," and "The Proof is in the Performance."

These studies tell us that our students are acquiring the knowledge and complex abilities that our faculty have identified and our studies have verified to be keys to effective performance as workers and citizens. Alverno students grow and change in significant ways. Even more, these studies become a part of our journey together as a community of educators. They inform us and our colleagues in higher education and help map the new tarries we are exploring.

For more information about our research, call 414-382-6263 or leave your request, along with your name, address and phone number in e-mail to ere@alverno.edu

Innovation and Inquiry for Student Learning (IISL)
Alverno College is also collaborating with community and technical colleges in a consortium-based project focusing on Innovation and Inquiry for Student Learning. Alverno College is a baccalaureate and master's degree granting institution and is a coordinating partner for the consortium.