LBS learners who do not possess a secondary school diploma will obviously need to meet this requirement if they wish to enter an apprenticed trade, either through completing a secondary school credit program or a secondary school equivalency. Therefore, these learners will need to gain the academic skills required for a secondary school program or equivalent before they attempt to enter an apprenticeship program. But, many LBS learners have already graduated from secondary school, and still lack the literacy and basic skills they need to meet the hands-on and classroom requirements. For this group of learners, it is essential to develop both kinds of skills before they enter an apprenticeship program regardless of the trade they choose.

The next phase of research involved examining the specific literacy and basic skills required for success both on the job and in the classroom. We decided that the Evaluating Academic Readiness for Apprenticeship Training (EARAT) test and the Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES) would serve as ideal benchmarks for the academic and practical skills needed for apprenticeship programs.

The EARAT is an assessment process that helps potential trainees decide if they have the appropriate academic skills need for the in-school portion of apprenticeship training in specific trades. The tests consist of a number of documents, and asks the trainee to answer multiple choice questions based on the skills and knowledge required for the particular apprenticeship.

TOWES, on the other hand, is an assessment tool that tests a learner’s literacy and numeracy skills in tasks associated with the workplace. The test content is based on documents actually used in the workplace. Reponses mimic the types tasks that would be expected in a workplace setting.

If a candidate could successfully complete the TOWES and EARAT for his/her chosen trade, it would be safe to assume that the required literacy and basic skills had been acquired.

However, after examining a selection of EARAT tests, it became apparent that the literacy and basic skills required for success far exceeded the skill level that learners in LBS programs normally acquire. This would mean that the LBS learner would need to achieve a minimum of level five in reading and numeracy skills, and then participate in further education in these and other job-specific skills (like sciences and technology) before attempting to enter an apprenticeship training classroom.

Therefore, our project would focus on the academic skills necessary to achieve success at LBS Level 5 only.

Finally, we conducted a scan of all the apprenticeship programs offered in the province of Ontario, to determine which two of these trades would be most appropriate for this project. In order to narrow the range of trades that we would consider, we developed selection criteria. Table 1 lists the criteria for the selection of trades.