Foundations in Family Literacy

E-Newsletter #2
January 2007

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to send a further issue of an electronic family literacy newsletter based on the work of the Next Steps in Foundational Training Project. There are some exciting new developments that we would like share with you.

Partnerships have been formed and funding received to develop three new modules for Foundational Training: Family Literacy and Health, Family Literacy and Immigrant Families, Family Literacy and Schools. We are also currently exploring a partnership to develop a new module on Family Literacy and Libraries. In addition to adding valuable information and perspectives, we hope that these partnerships will provide a model for further cross-sector collaborations. For more information, click on "New Modules for Foundations in Family Literacy."

Over the last nine months, the Training & Accreditation committee has reviewed both the Trainers’ Manual and the Practitioners’ Resource. They have also collected information for the development of a tool-kit for the training. To obtain input into this and other Foundational Training (FT) issues, the committee developed a questionnaire about the Training and posted it on “Survey Monkey,” an online survey tool. There was an excellent response, suggesting a continuing strong interest in the Training. A summary report of the survey is included in this newsletter.

We have also worked closely with Literacy B.C., Legacies 2010/Literacy NOW and Vancouver Community College on a process for certifying the training at a College Level. The process used here could well provide a model for its use in other community colleges or post-secondary institutions. As part of that process, members of this project, Centre for Family Literacy staff and several B.C practitioners have worked together on development of An Introduction to Family Literacy module, already delivered in Alberta and to be piloted in B.C. in the spring.

The Promotion & Awareness committee has gathered and is compiling a list of promotional materials with respect to Foundational Training. The Development committee has been completing their work of compiling the sources of funding for family literacy programs, as well as gathering information on the costs of providing different delivery methods of Foundational Training in various regions. The Research committee is collecting evaluation tools, processes and reports with a view to developing a standard evaluation tool for the training. We have also worked closely with La Fédération canadienne pour l’alphabétisation en français (FCAF) and hope to use FCAF’s model, which is currently underway, to research the effectiveness of Foundational Training.

The Steering committee submitted a new proposal to the national funding stream of the National Office of Literacy and Learning to make revisions, adaptations and further additions to Foundational Training, including modularizing it. The proposal met with a positive response and we are waiting for final approval. We look forward to continuing to work with others who have an interest in this training over the next couple of years.

Maureen Sanders
Project Coordinator

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