National Adult Literacy Database

Authors: PEI Literacy Alliance

This is a report on the Summer Tutoring Program for Kids that runs during July and August every year in libraries, schools and community centres across P.E.I. The purpose of this program is to support the learning objectives of the school system by offering an alternative learning environment during the summer months. It gives children with reading difficulties a chance to maintain their literacy skills over the summer months and provides relevant summer career employment for qualified students. Tutoring is offered in French, English and English as an Additional Language.

This report consists of three parts: The first part includes a description of the program, its purpose, benefits, staffing, and supporters; the second part is the program coordinator's report for 2008; and the third part consists of parents' and children's evaluations of the program.

Added: 2008-11-12

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• Programme de tutorat d'été pour les enfants 2008 - Rapport final

Authors: PEI Literacy Alliance

The Summer Tutoring Program for Kids (STPK) in Prince Edward Island has been running for eight weeks every summer since 1998. The program, which is offered free of charge, gives children with reading difficulties a chance to maintain their literacy skills over the summer months and provides relevant summer employment for qualified students. Students in Grade 1 through 6 are referred to the program by resource teachers in their schools.

This document summarizes the delivery of the 2009 program, which saw 26 tutors working with 600 children in communities around the province. Some of the tutors worked specifically with French-speaking, French-immersion or English-as-a-Second-Language students. The authors outline the orientation process for tutors and explain how tutors contacted both school resource teachers and the libraries where the tutoring takes place.

The authors describe the program’s successes as well as the problems that arose and offer a series of recommendations for improvements.

Added: 2010-01-26

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• Programme de tutorat d’été pour les enfants - Rapport final

Series: International Adult Literacy Survey

Authors: Albert Tuijnman, Emmanuel Boudard

In this paper, the authors present 15 indicators of participation in adult education as part of their analysis of the results of the International Adult Literacy Survey, a 22-country initiative conducted between 1994 and 1998 to determine how well adults used printed information to function in society. The 15 indicators described here allow readers to compare the functioning of training markets in North America with those in of other advanced countries.

This document has three main chapters supplemented by five appendices and begins with a "Summary and Highlights" section.

Added: 2008-03-19

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• La participation à l'éducation des adultes en Amérique du Nord : Perspectives internationales

Return on Apprenticeship Training Investment for Employers - A Study of 15 Trades

Authors: Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF)

This study, commissioned by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF), examines the costs and benefits to employers of apprenticeship training.

The study involved a national survey of employers across 15 trade areas, carried out in 2005-2006. The trades included automotive service technician; bricklayer; carpenter; construction electrician; cook; heavy duty equipment technician; millwright; insulator; machinist; mobile crane operator; motor vehicle body repairer; refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic; sheet metal worker; sprinkler system installer; and tool and die maker.

According to the cost-benefit analysis presented in this report, apprenticeship training is a worthwhile investment, returning on average $1.38 for each $1 invested in an apprentice.

Roundtable discussions with employers backed up the accuracy of the cost-benefit analysis. However, the authors note that organizational and regional differences will affect the applicability of the results.

Funders:

Added: 2011-12-02

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• L'apprentissage - Une main-d'oeuvre qualifiée crée une entreprise prospère

A Report on Pre-employment Testing Practices - Part 1 and Part 2

Series: Workplace Literacy Special Initiative

Authors: Kingston Literacy, Literacy Link Eastern Ontario (LLEO)

This report is based on a research project that analyzed five pre-employment tests to determine the skill level required to complete them successfully. Three of the tests were commercially available ones, while the others had been prepared in-house by individual employers. All were being used by employers in eastern Ontario.

In particular, the researchers were interested in how well the tests assessed Essential Skills (ES) and whether they demanded an ES level beyond the ability of an entry-level candidate.

The project also involved a review of literature about pre-employment testing.

Based on their findings, the authors encourage employers to choose pre-employment tests carefully to make sure the skills being tested match the skills required for the job in question. They urge employers not to rely solely on such tests to screen would-be employees, but to use them simply as part of the selection process.

They also point out that pre-employment testing is on the rise, a fact that has important implications for literacy practitioners. Instructors must ensure that adult learners develop test-taking skills as well as literacy skills.

Added: 2011-10-05

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Yearbook - Graduation 2004-2005

Authors: East End Literacy

As a training and development organization, those working and teaching at East End Literacy in Toronto "look behind the statistics and make a difference by focusing on developing, expanding and channeling human potential. Our programs are rooted in each individual’s reality, goals and dreams and aspirations. And we go the extra mile to ensure that the learning experience is based on the reality of the world around us."

This Yearbook celebrates the work of the 2004-2005 Graduates and highlights their personal stories about "believing in achieving".

Added: 2006-09-22

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Authors: OECD Publishing

This document is housed on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) server.

The authors point out that skills have become the global currency of the 21st century. Without proper investment in skills, people languish on the margins of society; technological progress does not translate into economic growth; and countries can no longer compete in an increasingly knowledge-based global society.

The OECD’s skills strategy is designed to help countries build better skills policies and turn them into jobs, growth, and better lives.

Specifically, the strategy offers three interlocking policy strategies: developing relevant skills and thereby ensuring that the supply of skills is sufficient in both quantity and quality to meet current and emerging needs; activating skills supply by integrating underrepresented groups into the labour force; and putting skills to effective use by ensuring that available skills are used effectively so that no investment is wasted.

To complement its strategy, the OECD will develop guidelines to help countries develop and implement their own national skills strategies.

Added: 2012-10-16

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• Des compétences meilleures pour des emplois meilleurs et une vie meilleure : Panorama de la stratégie de l’OCDE sur les compétences

A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report on cross-country consultations in 2012

Authors: Canadian Chamber of Commerce

This document outlines the findings of country-wide consultations carried out by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in 2012 to explore the issue of skill and labour shortages.

Three key issues emerged from the consultations: the need to upgrade the skills of existing Canadian workers; the necessity of improved connections between educators and employers; and the need to find the right approach to immigration.

As well, the roundtable discussions revealed regional preoccupations in two major areas. In the western provinces and the territories, employers emphasized the need to address education and skills gaps among Aboriginal people, who are seen as a large and valuable potential workforce.

In Eastern Canada, employers spoke about the need for more emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in the school system.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is a network of more than 420 chambers of commerce and boards of trade, representing 192,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors of the economy and in all regions. For more information, please click here: www.chamber.ca.

Added: 2012-10-19

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• Crise des compétences au Canada : ce que nous avons entendu

Authors: Canadian Chamber of Commerce

This report grew out of a one-day forum organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and with funding from the Department’s Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES). The forum brought together stakeholders from small businesses, industry and sector associations, and the learning and training communities.

Based on participants’ written responses and verbal comments, the authors have put together a series of core recommendations for promoting skills development within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Recommendations include providing small businesses with a clear route into the world of skills development through relevant guidance and tools, in clear and simple language, housed in one area; helping to reduce complexity for small businesses in order to free up more time to invest in skills development; designing courses around demand linked to real challenges faced by businesses in certain sectors, and finding ways to reduce costs of implementation; and motivating employees and companies by showing them the benefits of training, and demonstrating the return on investment from developing skills.

In addition, the authors have provided a skills development roadmap that includes examples of best practices for each of the recommendations. For instance, one tool that helps clarify the process of developing training programs is a checklist offered by the Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre, a federal-provincial initiative.

The authors note that SMEs constitute the largest number of businesses in the economy, and any plan for improving the skills of the domestic workforce must include a focus on SMEs.

Funders:

• OLES

Added: 2013-03-28

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• Pallier la pénurie de compétences : des pistes pour les petites entreprises - Rapport du Symposium sur les compétences et les petites entreprises tenu le 14 novembre 2012 à Toronto

Project overview and recommendations

Authors: Goforth Consulting

This report outlines a project aimed at helping literacy networks plan their services.

The project proposal noted that there was a significant gap between the demographic and labour market data networks needed for planning and what they were actually able to obtain. A survey carried out during the project showed that networks were concerned about the value and relevance of the data on which they based their planning.

Given the constraints of human and financial resources, the researchers proposed that networks focus more directly on the best source of information about community needs. A companion document, “Counting the Beans: Data for Decisions,” provides a model for collecting, analysing and delivering that information.

Added: 2013-03-25

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