TOWES is a versatile test that has several uses. For the business community, TOWES is being used to determine training needs, to assess job applicants, and to assist with succession planning. For educators, it can be part of an initial skills assessment or a final evaluation. It is changing the way that educators build workplace literacy skills curricula. For career counsellors, TOWES provides an accurate assessment of skills required by front line occupations.

TOWES is based on current Canadian research, and uses literacy definitions and scales developed by Statistics Canada as part of the International Adult Literacy Survey. In addition, occupational standards determined by the Essential Skills Research Project are used as the basis for test item development. TOWES provides useful information about how the skills of the workforce fit with job requirements.

Bow Valley College and the BC Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council (SkillPlan) entered into a joint venture with the National Literacy Secretariat to develop this new workplace assessment tool. (Both SkillPlan and Bow Valley College are national leaders in essential skills training and development.)

The Test of Workplace Essential Skills is innovative and relevant because it:

• uses authentic workplace documents and actual workplace tasks
• recreates workplace scenarios
• exists as a bank of test items that discriminate at a variety of levels
• is a practical, high quality assessment of skills in reading text, document use and numeracy
• is a multi-purpose assessment that can be used for:
  • counselling
  • student diagnostic and exit
  • credentials
  • needs assessments
  • program development
  • job applicant assessment
  • workplace training
• is based on current Canadian literacy and occupational standards research
• has been developed for the needs of the Canadian workplace

Further information can be obtained from the TOWES Website: www.towes.com, or from:

Bow Valley College
Conrad Murphy
Business Development Unit
332 – 6 Avenue SE • Calgary, AB • T2G 4S6
phone: (403) 297-4929 • email: cmurphy@towes.com

SkillPlan
Lynda Fownes
BC Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council
405 – 3701 Hastings Street • Burnaby, BC • V5C 2H6
phone: (604) 436-1126 • email: lfownes@towes.com