SUMMARY

January 2007 saw the beginning of an ambitious initiative for the literacy field in Ontario driven by two significant forces of change. The initiative involved the development of the Learner Skill Attainment Framework, designed in part to introduce greater consistency and transparency into current assessment approaches by incorporating the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) Essential Skills, but also to provide a comparable measure of accountability to three stakeholder groups including funders, service providers and learners. The forces of change were Employment Ontario, a new network model of integrated employment and training programs and services, and CIPMS, a performance management process based on a model of continuous improvement and commitment to efficient and effective use of resources.

Modest progress was made in developing the framework which is now acknowledged to be a large-scale, multi-year initiative. Several accomplishments can be attributed to the Framework Development Project Team and the many others who contributed in various ways to its development.

Accomplishments include

• identification of five distinct goal pathways
• primary research conducted for each path identifying skills and tasks required by learners for successful transition to their next steps
• an innovative assessment approach which links specific tasks to successful learner transition
• samples of “key transition tasks” for all five paths
• identification and exploration of valid, reliable instruments based on IALS/Essential Skills 500-point scale
• a long-term plan for the development of a valid assessment framework organized by learners’ transition paths, incorporating Essential Skills and using valid, reliable tests

Other less tangible accomplishments include a stronger appreciation of the interconnectedness of assessment and accountability, and a greater understanding of the role of Essential Skills in the successful transition of learners to their next-step destinations.

The following report lays out why the Learner Skill Attainment Framework was needed, what the development process looked like, how well the process worked, what was accomplished and what needs to be done next. Narrative accounts are provided to capture the “flavour” of the process and highlight challenges the Project Team encountered.