Comprehensive Learner Record

AACRAO is a long-standing leader in the advancement of the Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR). In 2015, The Lumina Foundation awarded AACRAO and NASPA: Association of Student Affairs Professionals $1.7 million to pilot a project to develop models for a more comprehensive student record.

After the success of the pilot, Lumina awarded the two associations a $1.2 million grant in 2017 to continue their work on the development and adoption of CLR in American higher education.

In 2021, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation further supported AACRAO's efforts and awarded the organization a $1.2 million grant to bring CLR to scale in several states to address important challenges in credit mobility for learners.

The CLR seeks to capture, record, and communicate learning when and where it happens in a student’s higher education experience. This includes learning outcomes from courses, programs, and degrees and the experience they have outside the classroom that helps develop their career-ready skills and abilities.

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News
Guidance
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Showcase

News

book open with pages fanned out sitting on top of 2 other books — Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) Phase II Report Is Out Now

Jun 28, 2021

Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR) Phase II Report is out now and available for download.

illustrated figures help one another climb a staircase made out of books — Comprehensive Learner Record to the Rescue! Transforming Student Learning to Skills

Jun 1, 2021

The Comprehensive Learner Record doesn't just verify student learning - it can prepare them for the workforce too.

Utilizing Student Data to Inform Classroom Pedagogy

Apr 3, 2021

Annual Meeting presenters discuss the importance of using data to facilitate and expand the faculty-student relationship.

Comprehensive Learner Records — AACRAO Consulting Partnership - Parchment Award CLR Services

Mar 22, 2021

AACRAO Consulting is partnering with Parchment CLR Services to enable higher education institutions to develop and deploy CLR.

parchment_clr_webinar_resize2 — Parchment Award CLR Services - Enabling Higher Education Institutions

Mar 8, 2021

Implementing, designing, and issuing Comprehensive Learn Records (CLR) with Parchment.

tablet facing upright on a table with a holographic graduation cap coming from the screen — AACRAO hosts final showcase on Comprehensive Learner Records

Jan 11, 2021

Join the free virtual event: January 26 and 27.

illustration of people sitting around table with colorful word bubbles — New CLR Roundtable series kicks off

Jul 9, 2020

An open monthly forum for institutional leaders to discuss and get advice on implementing a comprehensive learner record.

screenshot of a tweet expressing excitement and support for AACRAO's Comprehensive Learner Record standard — AACRAO recommends IMS Global Learning Consortium digital standard

May 18, 2020

Standardization and interoperability to support students.

Comprehensive Learner Record2 — A competency-based educational record: What is standard?

Sep 10, 2019

CBE may not result in grades as we traditionally recognize them, but rather outcomes. How do we record that?

MuM9qpEg — 4 questions about data integration on campus

Jul 20, 2018

Challenges and solutions to creating better records from multiple data sources.

tree of digital resources — Credential Engine improves credential transparency, literacy, and decision-making

May 18, 2018

Institutions can create a free account to publish all types of credentials in a common language on a cloud-based Registry, allowing institutions to better understand what sets them apart. Learn how.

What it means to be an "Engaged Scholar in Critical Thinking"

Nov 29, 2016

A pilot student record badge that certifies critical thinking in a community context.

SmartScript: A model competency-based transcript

Nov 23, 2016

UW-Extension and UW Colleges develop comprehensive transcript pilot for CBE degree programs.

black male student with backpack and books — Tracking students' emotional development

Nov 1, 2016

How Dillard University's extended transcript is raising the emotional sophistication of the entire campus.

Documenting and validating learning outside the classroom

Sep 20, 2016

IUPUI Student Records and Student Affairs partnering to formally recognize out-of-classroom learning

The 'gamification' of education

Aug 9, 2016

LaGuardia Community College's digital badging project helps keep students committed to college.

One institution's stellar comprehensive student record

Jul 18, 2016

The tools, infrastructure, training, funding, and steps necessary to implement a holistic learning document.

Assessing and documenting beyond-the-classroom learning

Jun 27, 2016

USC's model cocurricular transcript will help the institution assess the success of experiential learning programs.

student graduating holding cut out red heart — A student record a student can love

Apr 19, 2016

Stanford's pilot comprehensive student record is not for academics.

Growing student records beyond the traditional transcript

Mar 7, 2016

Elon University's visual representation of cocurricular experiences.

Guidance

Reports

Implementation of the IMS Global Comprehensive Learner Record Standard: A Practical Guide for Campus Personnel

The IMS Global CLR Implementation Guide is a comprehensive data standard that meets the objectives of an official institutional learning-focused and comprehensive learner record.
CLR Phase II Report
CLR Phase II seeks to expand the understanding and use of CLRs among additional institutions. Download the CLR Phase II Report to learn more.
2020 Guidance on the Review of the Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR) Standard from IMS Global
Per our review, the CLR Standard from IMS Global is the only comprehensive data standard in place today that meets the objectives of an official institutional learning-focused and comprehensive learner record.
2019 Standardized Components for a Competency-Based Educational Record
For this second phase of the Lumina grant there were four main goals:
- Facilitate the scaling of CLRs in up to 150 colleges and universities
- Standardize the components of a CBE transcript/record with the goal of achieving 10 participating institutions in this second phase
- Address the data integration issue
- Leverage existing degree audit technologies to track progress toward learning outcomes/competencies.
To achieve the goals outlined for the second item above, AACRAO partnered with the expert organization on competency-based education, member institutions of C-BEN, a “network of colleges, organizations, and individuals, dedicated to realizing the potential of competency-based education”.
2018 CLR Data Integration Work Group White Paper
During the first phase the CLR project, one of the most significant barriers to the development and implementation of the student record was the integration of data to populate the record with data and evidence of learning.
In the second phase of work, AACRAO assembled the CLR Data Integrations Work Group to identify the barriers to data integration that exist today at most institutions. While some colleges and universities will be able to address these challenges through internal resources and expertise, most lack the infrastructure to address the barriers they may face. This Work Group provided universities with information on moving forward, creating potential guidelines, and working to promote standards that not only benefit students but also employers and other admitting institutions.
2016 Fact Sheet
2016 Comprehensive Student Record Report
Credential Engine: Reimagining the Higher Education Ecosystem
IMS Global: Enabling an Opportunity Ecosystem