APPENDIX D

GOALS AND TEAM TASKS

ARTICULATION

The goal of the Task Team on Articulation is to develop a system with common terminology for services and programs and expected outcomes and standards. The first responsibility of the Articulation Task Team is to provide the dictionary for many of the other groups' activities. Therefore this group will submit a draft preliminary report on this item by December, 1996. The tasks are to:

• verify and add to the list of learning opportunities and services as identified by the department;
• develop a dictionary of terminology for programs and services;
• develop the menu of educational offerings and levels where appropriate;
• identify learning outcomes and standards which respect the autonomy of providers to create equivalent course/program content;
• work with the PLA team on the establishment of entry requirements;
• ensure the system structure facilitates client entry into work or further education or training;
• ensure the system structure provides a platform for exchange of information and research results;
• ensure the system structure lends credibility to the performance indicators;
• ensure the system structure can provide a common voice for discussion of adult development issues with external bodies, e.g., business and industry, other government departments, other provinces;
• ensure the system structure encourages resource exchange and development;
• ensure the system structure facilitates the transfer of students from one provider to another.

PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT AND PORTFOLIOS

The goals of the Task Team on Prior Learning Assessment and Portfolios are to develop a provincial process for the recognition of prior learning (PLA) and for the creation of a standard portfolio that will ensure consistency in:

• the intake of clients into adult development programs and
• the transition of learners into work or further learning opportunities.

The tasks are to:

• identify portfolio activities and projects already underway in Alberta and incorporate where possible;
• coordinate with PLA activities in other jurisdictions in Canada;
• work with employers and post-secondary programs to establish a competency-based matrix of skills, knowledge and attitudes for use as a PLA framework;
• develop a standardized process to assess the needs and strengths of clients who want to access adult development programs and services;
• design a simple portfolio format to provide consistency in demonstrating the learners' preparedness for work and/or related post-secondary programs and to guide learners in determining their need for further education or training;
• determine appropriate assessment instruments, e.g. interviews, self assessments, written tests, "discovery time" and information sessions;
• work with other government departments to integrate PLA into one-stop client entry centres;
• link PLA to labour market information and ongoing career planning;
• work to eliminate artificial barriers to post-secondary entry, i.e., unnecessary prerequisites;
• include access to labour market information and career guidance for all learners;
• work closely with the Collaboration and Marketing Task Team to ensure province-wide acceptance of the portfolio by institutions offering further learning opportunities and by employers as a recognized and relevant vehicle for demonstrating experience and knowledge;
• correlate the portfolio with the work of the Curriculum Alignment task team;
• align the portfolio with Alberta Education transcripts or grade levels where required;
• determine a consistent, efficient and cost-effective entry process for learners entering the adult development system with PLA as an integral part;
• develop a process to identify essential skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for individual clients; and
• determine the feasibility of developing some form of recognized and relevant credentials to mark the exit from the adult development system.

PLA refers to a process which measures learning resulting from experiences outside a formal educational setting. Such learning may be acquired, for example, through work, independent reading and self-help projects. Implicit in the process is determining what an adult has learned and whether that learning is equivalent to, or exceeds, the outcomes expected in a formal course. The front-end process must also clearly inform the clients of their responsibilities; the learners' commitment is essential to the success of any learning opportunity. Initial work on the portfolio will be updated as the learners progress through the system to help them make the transition to work or further education and training.

To warrant the time and effort of portfolio development, it must be demonstrated to be more effective than a straight grade and credit level transcript, and should more appropriately meets the adults' needs. The value of keeping their portfolio/ lifelong learning transcript current must be emphasized to clients. A portfolio will also facilitate the transfer process for clients who move within the province and ultimately to other provinces.

CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT -LINKING LEARNING WITH DOING

The goal of the Task Team on Curriculum Alignment is to ensure that all learning offerings fit on a continuum with recognized outcomes and standards that lead to work and/or the next level of further learning or training. The tasks are to:

• identify and organize the necessary sub-committees needed for this task;
• coordinate the work of all curriculum sub-committees to maintain a consistent format for program and service outcomes;
• identify expected outcomes for programs and services in collaboration with Articulation Task Team;
• write expected outcomes in plain language;
• collaborate with employers and labour organizations to determine the essential competencies to make the curriculum and delivery relevant to up-to-date labour market needs;
• integrate work related activities into the learning opportunities wherever applicable;
• integrate the employability skills identified by the Conference Board of Canada (C.B.C.) in learning opportunities and employment services wherever appropriate, i.e. the employability skills are not to be an "add on" to existing curricula that would increase length and cost;
• eliminate unnecessary or redundant components of existing curricula;
• encourage the use of a practical or applied approach to academic curricula wherever possible;
• collaborate with receiving institutions and agencies to identify competency standards so that graduates are well-prepared for entry to post-secondary programs, but there are no artificial barriers to entry;
• identify ways to ensure that the quality of exit standards is maintained;
• work with receiving institutions to establish course audit options to help learners with career selection;
• work with receiving institutions on establishment of advanced credit options;
• work closely with the PLA/Portfolio Development Task Team to identify the essential/core skills, knowledge and attitudes;
• establish a process to gather input from learners; and
• identify projects for the Collaboration and Marketing Task Team.

Curriculum will be aligned with contextual learning theory. Contextual learning recognizes that, for many students, learning occurs best when they process new information/knowledge in such a way that it makes sense in their frame of reference. Contextual learning theory encompasses the approaches often referred to as "applied", "hands-on", practical, "real world" and "work-based" learning. Outcomes-based curriculum with a context orientation can respond to learners' needs and to individual learning styles.

The only sub-committees identified under the Task Team on Curriculum Alignment are the English as a Second Language and Basic Literacy committees. The others will be identified by the Task Team. The purpose of the English as a Second Language Committee is to coordinate the ESL programs and services and integrate them into the mainstream of adult development in the province. The goals of the ESL group are to:

• establish common terminology that is consistent with the federal Language Benchmarks Project;
• identify expected outcomes for all ESL programs and services that are aligned with the provincial key performance indicators;
• identify duplication and overlap of services;
• ensure that there will be a variety of responses for survival and for training to meet the diverse needs of the ESL learner as to time and place;
• integrate the employability skills in the ESL courses;
• identify ways to link ESL with short skill training courses;
• identify ways to link ESL with post-secondary preparation;
• ensure that curriculum and delivery are relevant to the workplace;
• encourage a practical or applied approach to academic curricula wherever possible;
• work closely with the PLA and Portfolio Development Team to ensure that client placement is consistent throughout the province;
• identify projects for the Collaboration and Marketing Task Team;
• determine what providers see as their roles and responsibilities within the system; and
• determine opportunities to save money by eliminating unnecessary duplication or overlap.

The purpose of the Basic Literacy Committee is to examine how the basic literacy needs of adults and the unique characteristics of programs that serve their needs can fit within the policy for the Adult Development Reform Initiative. The goals of the Basic Literacy group are to:

• work with the Articulation Task Team to determine that common terminology that is developed is useful for basic literacy and inclusive of terms unique to literacy programs;
• ensure that the work of the Adult Development Reform is informed by the concurrent project on developing standards for community literacy programs;
• identify expected outcomes for various basic literacy programs and services consistent with the community literacy standards being developed for programs or with provincial key performance indicators, whichever is more appropriate;
• ensure that there will be a variety of responses across the province for the wide variety of basic literacy needs that adult learners have;
• examine the extent to which employability skills can or should be integrated into the various basic literacy programs and services;
• examine links between basic literacy and both short skill training courses and career education studies;
• encourage a practical or applied approach to curricula or learning materials to address learner needs wherever possible;
• work closely with the Prior Learning Assessment Portfolio Development Team and, when necessary, the Curriculum Alignment Teams;
• write expected outcomes in plain language;
• determine what providers see as their roles and responsibilities within the system; and
• determine opportunities to save money by eliminating unnecessary duplication or overlap.

COLLABORATION AND MARKETING

The goals of the Task Team on Collaboration and Marketing are to design collaboration structures that will meet the needs of those involved with the system and to design ways and means to market the adult development system's graduates, outcomes and standards. The tasks are to:

• investigate marketing strategies used for educational initiatives in other jurisdictions;
• develop a strategy to inform employers, educators, clients and the public of the background and need for an adult development system, including its goals, standards, outcomes and impacts;
• develop an over-all marketing plan for the reform initiatives and processes;
• keep informed of what is being developed by other task teams to anticipate marketing needs;
• develop a social marketing plan that targets specific groups in specific ways to foster recognition and acceptance of the portfolio as a lifelong learning record;
• determine mutual benefits for employers, labour organizations, post secondary receiving institutions, and providers that will result from collaboration;
• develop a plan to locate and to share quality resources;
• develop a plan to maintain and update these resources for ease of access by all providers;
• identify pilot projects and research activities that will provide information on the goals of the reform;
• work closely with the Curricula Alignment Team to coordinate collaborative projects;
• identify staff professional development needs related to the reform initiatives;
• work with business, industry and workers to establish principles and guidelines for work experience, job shadowing, volunteering and employer classroom visits; and
• develop a plan to set-up a provincial internet link of providers and connect with groups in other jurisdictions.

Instructors, counselors and other professional staff must not be the objects of reform but must, instead, be partners in reform and, in fact, leaders in reform. In order to take an active role, they will need access to information about, and the resources to attempt, new initiatives, e.g., Employability Skills, Career and Technology Studies, U. S. Secretary of Labour's SCANS, Adult Applied Academics, outcomes-based curriculum and the AVC's Adult Competency Profile. The use of educational technologies will be encouraged in the delivery of province-wide professional development. Casting the providers in the role of learners in a virtual learning system would provide invaluable insight into the effectiveness of various techniques and support structure.

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