About the Journal

The Focus

Prior Learning Assessment Inside Out (PLAIO), an international journal, provides a platform for sharing theory, research, practices, and policies on evaluating prior learning as part of a broader international movement for social change and social justice. The journal challenges conventional understandings of learning, assessment and recognition by offering critical perspectives on and alternatives to conventional definitions and evaluation standards. PLAIO seeks to document the significant growth of the validation of prior learning movement and its influence on policy bodies at local, regional, national, and international levels. An abiding principle of PLAIO is that equitable access requires ongoing scrutiny of how learning acquired outside formal education, in communities and workplaces, is recognized and legitimized.

The Scope

PLA Inside Out is a refereed, open access e-journal that is available free of charge on the Internet.

Each issue includes theory, research, practice, case studies, literature reviews and other writings.  PLA Inside Out is a resource for those engaged in PLA: access to ongoing research, a networking site, a source for conference news, and a link to other sources.

Prior learning assessment is known throughout the world by many different names: Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), Assessment of Prior Learning (APL), Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL), Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR), and Prior Learning Assessment and Articulation (PLAA), to name a few. The scope of PLAIO is to address all forms of recognizing, articulating and assessing prior college-level learning, regardless of its name or its country of origin.

Journal History

Since 2012, when PLAIO was first published, the journal has sought to provide a space in which ideas, practices, policies, and research around the evaluation of so-called “prior learning” could be brought together and shared. In many ways, we have seen PLAIO as part of a broad international movement for social change and social justice that questions taken-for-granted understandings about learning, expertise, and assessment. Taken as a whole, the PLA/RPL/VPL agenda offers a critical perspective and alternatives to conventional assumptions about how we define and evaluate knowledge, what we assume about those who know, and how those bypassed by academic and work-related institutions can be properly recognized.

The published issues of PLAIO have highlighted the remarkable growth of the “validation of prior learning” movement and its worldwide scope. This movement has influenced local, regional, national, and international policy bodies; reshaped how we think about the fairness of evaluation standards; and encouraged critical reflection on the tools used to judge skills, knowledge, and competencies. It has reminded educators, policymakers, and practitioners that “access” as an ideal requires ongoing scrutiny of who is included, how they are treated, and how learning acquired at home, in communities, and in the workplace is granted legitimacy.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Peer Review Process

All inquiry manuscripts (research and theory-based) submitted to PLA Inside Out are double-blind peer-reviewed by at least two appropriate scholars/professionals in the field.  Reviews, case studies, and other writings (including invited essays, practice pieces, and interviews) will be reviewed by the co-editors. 

The Team

Founding Editors:
Nan Travers, Sustainable Progress & Equality Collective
Alan Mandell, Emeritus, SUNY Empire State University

Co-editors:
Ruud Duvekot, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences
Susan Forseille, Thompson Rivers University
Carl Burkart, SUNY Empire State University

Associate Editor:
Amy Giaculli, SUNY Empire State University

Editorial Team Member:
Alexa Collesides, SUNY Empire State University