Focus on Workplace Literacy Resources for Program Design, Assessment, Testing, & Evaluation
Recent national and international surveys of adult literacy skills have raised questions about workforce readiness for international competitiveness. This report provides information on the design and evaluation of workplace literacy programs to improve workforce readiness, and an overview of concepts about the nature, uses and abuses of standardized tests in program evaluation and accountability. This is not a "how to do it" guidebook.
Three Different Approaches to Increasing Computer Literacy in the Community
This report describes a project that was designed to assist the people of Houston, BC with technological literacy. The project's organizers decided that the most effective way for individuals to increase their skill and comfort level was to have fun with computers, so they provided computers for open-ended learning and play, with back-up support and instruction. Instruction was low-key and relaxed. All instruction was free.
A detailed report on three successful projects developed by Houston Link to Learning (British Columbia) to increase computer literacy in the community.
The International Adult Literacy Survey(IALS) was a seven-country initiative conducted in the fall of 1994. The Canadian component of the IALS study was primarily funded by the Applied Research Branch and the National Literacy Secretariat of Human Resources Development Canada. This document, published by Statistics Canada, is a report that stems from IALS.
The Literacy, Welfare and Work Longitudinal Research Project (LWW) is a multi-phase study of the complex relationship between literacy and employment, within the context of Welfare Reform. For Phase II, the researchers began tracking a group of seven individual students over 10 months, to better understand their experiences with education and employment.
This article examines the "fit" or "mismatch" between the job requirements of Canadian workers and their literacy skills. It explores patterns of literacy use and under-use in the labour market. The study uses the Canadian results of the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) to measure three types of literacy (prose, document and quantitative).
Little systematic research has been done on how workers actually use their literacy skills in their jobs. Previous research has focused mainly on individuals' literacy “deficits” and the need for remedial training.
The authors of this study examine the determinants of literacy and numeracy among native-born Canadians. The role of literacy and numeracy as determinants of labour market outcomes is assessed. The effects of years of schooling are also assessed. Significant differences in the male and female estimates are noted.
This discussion paper is about a framework of good practice principles and how well it held up to some documented workplace program experience. It is also about how you can use the same framework of good practice as :
- a tool for new instructors
- a marketing concept for clients
- a guide for planning programs
- a way to structure instructor training
- as a format to evaluate workplace education programs
