Seventy-eight percent of the respondents were female, reflecting the common bias in the field. Their ages ranged from 18 to 74, and the highest percentage of respondents (41 percent) were in the 45-to-54 age group. Their hours of paid time per week ranged from less than 10 to more than 40; the largest cohort (43 percent) worked between 31 and 40 hours.

The Programs

The respondents worked in adult literacy and basic education programs situated across Canada from Dawson City, Yukon, to St John's, Newfoundland, and from as far south as Windsor, Ontario, to as far north as Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island. The number of respondents who worked in programs delivered by community-based agencies and colleges was almost equivalent: 44 and 40 percent respectively. A smaller percentage worked in a program offered by a school board (11 percent) or workplace (5 percent). The adult literacy and basic education programs were offered in urban, rural, and remote communities, with 43 percent of the respondents working in programs that served rural communities, 41 percent urban and 7 percent remote. The remaining respondents stated that they worked in other locations such as reserves. The highest percentage of respondents (35 percent) worked in communities with a population of 2,500 to 19,999, and the lower percentage (6 percent) worked in large urban centres that served more than one million residents.

The programs served a broad cross-section of students, from beginning readers to students seeking their Grade 12 (see Figure 2). These programs provide instruction in reading, writing, and numeracy; and to a lesser extent, instruction in life, employment, and essential skills. The respondents indicated that the four primary modes of instruction are one-to-one (75 percent), small group (65 percent), self-paced (63 percent), and class (54 percent). Given the high percentages for each mode, it is apparent that many programs use a combination of these modes.

Figure 2. Levels of upgrading provided by programs.*

*A total of 22 people skipped this question.