The core of Alverno’s proposed new curriculum model would consist of eight abilities, experiential learning, mastery and assessment.
The curriculum would need to be studied and promoted. The Alverno College Educational Research and Evaluation department (ERE), formerly known as the Alverno Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE), was established in 1977 to study the Alverno learning process: assessment, abilities (competences), outcomes, and follow-up studies with Alverno graduates. Established in 1980 as the Alverno Institute, the Alverno College Institute for Educational Outreach was created to facilitate and manage the many resources that the college developed for the ability-based curriculum and assessment models. These two departments and the Assessment Center have now been merged to become the Assessment & Outreach Center.
A key component to the success of a unique curriculum program like Alverno’s ability-based learning process rests upon the shoulders of its administration, faculty, staff and students. Alverno’s administration, faculty and support staff firmly believe in the effectiveness of a learning process that involves emphasis on learning the abilities needed to put knowledge to use. An ability-based education best prepares a student for success in school, in the workplace, at home and in their communities. It provides a student with a basis for life-long learning opportunities as they adapt their classroom experiences to actual life situations.
For students, the Alverno experience brings the learning process to a new level of understanding, creates multi-faceted professional skill sets for handling diverse and complicated situations, and prepares students to adapt to an ever changing world as they move beyond the academic setting.
