Presenter: Conrad Murphy (Bow Valley College)
TOWES is the “made in Canada” Test of Workplace Essential Skills (www.towes.com). It assesses individual ability in three of the nine essential skills identified by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada – text reading, document use and numeracy. These three key dimensions to literacy have been found to be closely linked to success in the workplace. They are basic skills that contribute to a foundation for satisfactory job performance, skills that are essential for learning new skills. The Test of Workplace Essential Skills is significantly different from other tests of literacy skills. TOWES uses authentic workplace documents – such as catalogues, order forms, labels, schematics, regulations and manuals – as the source materials for problem set construction. And, the responses required from test takers mimic actual workplace tasks.
Reading Text - the ability to understand and use information contained in prose passages.
Document Use - the skills and knowledge needed to understand and use information from documents such as tables, catalogues, maps, and scale drawings.
Numeracy - the ability to understand and use numerical information embedded in print materials.
A TOWES test consists of 17- 20 problem sets in a pen and paper format which can be completed in 1.5 to 2.5 hours, depending on the difficulty level of the test items and the ability of the test taker. Each TOWES problem set is presented in two parts: a question page where the test-taker reads the question and provides a response, and a workplace document (e.g. a manual or a form) from which the testtaker obtains the required information to respond to the question. The test-taker assumes the role of a worker who needs to use information embedded in documents to complete tasks.
All TOWES tests are marked by specially trained evaluators, and rigorous quality control processes are in place. Scores are referenced to the requirements of the occupation(s) relevant to the test taker. TOWES reports scores using the same internationally accepted scales as the Essential Skills Research Project and the Essential Skills and Workplace Literacy Initiative (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) and the International Adult Literacy Survey (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). However, it should be noted that actual scores are less important than providing individual workers and educators with a meaningful interpretation of assessment results. There are sufficient items on a TOWES test to discriminate across the full range of skill levels demanded by jobs in Canadian workplaces.
TOWES is a more accurate assessment of workplace literacy skills than conventional assessment tools. This is because: