National Adult Literacy Database

Authors: Richard Carrière, Literacy Network Northeast

This guide helps assess your students proficiency in the following literacy skills. It also includes answer sheets for literacy practitioners.

It includes:
- An Initial Interview Guide
- Literacy Skills Testing (LBS 1-3)
- Literacy Skills Testing (LBS 4-5)
- Numeracy Skills Testing (LBS 1-3)
- Numeracy Skills Testing (LBS 4-5)
- Oral Assessment 1
- Oral Assessment 2

Added: 2007-08-10

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• Le premier pas

Authors: Frontier College, Collège Frontière

The International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) is the Canadian component of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) study, which was a joint project of the Government of Canada and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The study was conducted by Statistics Canada.

The survey included data from over 20,000 Canadians between the ages of 16-65. The survey was conducted in either English or French. Of the 20,000 people who responded 3,400 were aboriginal Canadians; 2,600 were established immigrants (10 years + in Canada); 1,200 were recent immigrants (less than 10 yrs in Canada); 3,500 were francophones outside of Quebec; and 3,500 were youth 16-24.

The IALSS measured:
Prose literacy: the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from texts such as editorials, news stories, poems, and fiction;

Document literacy: the knowledge and skills required to locate and use information contained in various formats such as tables, forms, graphs, and diagrams;

Numeracy: the knowledge and skills required to effectively manage the mathematical demands of diverse situations;

Problem solving: the ability to solve problems by clarifying the nature of the problem and developing and applying appropriate solution strategies.

Added: 2005-12-01

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• Sommaire de l'Enquête internationale sur l'alphabétisation et les compétences des adultes (EIACA) 2003 par Collège Frontière

Series: Best Practice and Innovations

Authors: Lisa Hagedorn

The goal of this series is to provide important information on three topics of high priority to the literacy community and to highlight new, innovative, and successful practice relevant to LBS-funded agencies across Ontario.

Added: 2003-05-29

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Series: Comments on the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey

Authors: Thomas G. Sticht

Thomas Sticht, an International Consultant in Adult Education, offers comments on the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey.

Added: 2006-03-30

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Series: Comments on the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey

Authors: Movement for Canadian Literacy

This press release from the Movement for Canadian Literacy regarding the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALLSS) which reveals serious cracks in Canada's literacy foundation with as many as 4 in 10 Canadian adults below the skill level considered necessary to thrive in today's knowledge society.

Success in today's world demands continuous learning, and the study confirms that millions are being left behind.

Added: 2006-03-30

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Part of the Learner Skill Attainment Initiative

Authors: Goforth Consulting

The Learner Skill Attainment (LSA) Initiative, led by Ontario's College Sector Committee, was undertaken in early 2007 to develop a framework for measuring learner skill attainment in three key essential skills areas: reading text, document use and numeracy.

The LSA Framework Development Team identified TOWES (the Test of Workplace Essential Skills) as a reliable test that has potential for assessing learners in five different learner transition paths. This document describes the LSA project to field test TOWES. This project involved 95 students from 10 Ontario colleges representing all four regions of the province.

This report is organized into the following four main sections:
- Background
- Field test design
- Findings
- Summary

Added: 2008-08-20

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Project Findings

Authors: Bow Valley College

The Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES) is a competency-based test that uses problem sets and authentic workplace documents to assess essential sills proficiencies in three domains: reading text, document use, and numeracy. This report provides the Ontario College Sector Committee with the demographic data and TOWES test results for participants of the TOWES Baseline Testing portion of the Learner Skill Attainment Framework Initiative in Ontario. Participants from colleges across Ontario who were approximately half way through the Academic and Career Entrance adult upgrading program completed TOWES assessments in either a paper or online format.

This report includes an explanation of TOWES testing and scoring, presents the test results, and discusses sample size limitations, statistical project findings, demographics and scores.

Added: 2008-08-26

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• Testing...TOWES

A Literature Review of the Best Available Evidence about Effective Adult Literacy, Numeracy and Language Teaching

Authors: John Benseman, Alison Sutton, Josie Lander

This document originates from the New Zealand Ministry of Education. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a critical evaluation of the available research evidence about effective practices in literacy, numeracy and language (LNL) teaching and programme provision in order to inform policy development within the broader arena of foundation learning.

Added: 2006-10-03

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