Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Step Two: Understanding Cause

Although understanding results and understanding cause are shown in the Agency Assessment Guide as two separate steps, they really happen at the same time. Analyzing the results of your data collection and understanding what brought about those results should go hand in hand.

Through the various tracking mechanisms and data collection instruments we use, we gather a significant amount of information. For example, we know

1. how many learners we work with
2. how many contact hours we have
3. how many volunteers we have
4. what learners have generally achieved in our programs
5. how many learners leave our program
6. what learners are doing three and six months after they leave us.

However, we do not always deliberately tie all of this together in a cohesive, comprehensive way so that we can tell other people clearly and succinctly what we do, what learners achieve, and how we verify information. When we do not take the final step of analyzing the information, we cannot confidently demonstrate that we do make a difference in our communities and how. A coordinated, deliberate CIPMS can bring this all together and give us the tools to do that.

At this point in the agency assessment process, you should be able to use the information you have gathered and analyzed to help you determine your strengths and weaknesses. If you don't have enough information, or if there are gaps in your analysis, you may need to gather further data to fill those gaps. The information you collected and your analysis should begin to help you identify what areas of programming are bringing you the greatest successes (the vital few) and areas where there is room for improvement.

Questions for Reflection

When thinking about your strengths and weaknesses and what outcomes you will want to improve, here are some questions to ask yourself.

1. Who is our client group (our learners) and what do they need from us? How do we currently help them meet those needs?
2. What gaps are there and how might we address those gaps?
3. If we can't help them meet all of their needs, can we refer them to another agency? If so, which one?
4. How do we know that we are successful in helping our learners meet their stated needs?
5. What is the most effective and efficient way to help our learners meet their needs and goals?
6. How can we let our learners, our funders, our community, our referral partners and other stakeholder know about our successes?

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