Promoting Evidence for Adult Learning

Research Allies for Lifelong Learning is approaching its 14th year! As you learn more about our research and evaluation, we invite you to view our latest adult education research findings.

Starting with Learners to Measure the Value of AFE

Do U.S. adult learners really “get what they came for” in adult foundational education programs – and how do we measure the value of what they get? Measuring the return on investment (ROI) of adult foundational education (AFE) is an important priority of the Evidence-Based Adult Education System (E-BAES), an initiative of the Open Door Collective. Research Allies for Lifelong Learning partnered with E-BAES / Literacy Minnesota on an E-BAES research grant from ALL IN. The ROI Pilot research started with perspectives of adult learners – what drew them to AFE and what they gained from AFE participation. An Adult Learner Survey (ALS) of 793 adult learners determined learners’ priority reasons for starting AFE programs and outcomes learners made. Focus groups in 2024 confirmed ALS findings with educators and collected insights from instructors, program directors, and state directors in four states – on measuring costs and benefits of AFE and designing a future national ROI study.

Now that the ROI Pilot is complete, check out these findings. A new paper shares major survey results and offers four quantifiable priority areas that may be considered as topics for further study of learner return-on-investment.