Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Intake and Initial Assessment

Not everyone who walks in the front door of your literacy program will end up as a program participant. Based on your initial conversation, you may refer the person to a central assessment service in your community (if there is one), or you may arrange to carry out an initial assessment yourself. You might also determine right at the start that your agency is not what the person is looking for and refer him or her to a more appropriate program or service in your community.

The intake process and initial assessment provide us with the information we need to make a number of informed decisions:

• Is your program the right one for the learner, given his or her current skills, stated goal and commitment to learning?
• Does the learner meet eligibility criteria set out by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU), your literacy services plan (LSP) or other stakeholder requirements?
• Do you have the information you need to begin to develop a training plan?
• Do you need to spend more time setting and/or researching short and long-term goals?
• Can you meet this learner’s needs based on your program’s structure, capacity and mission?

Here are some tips to help you get started with initial assessment:

• Work with the prospective student in an area that is private and comfortable; you should not be interrupted.
• Don’t jump right into the assessment. Take the time to offer coffee or a cold drink. A bit of small talk can help the learner relax.
• Clearly explain the process: how long it will take, what you can or can’t help with, what the student needs to do on his or her own, what the next steps are. For example, you might identify at the outset of the telephone call or interview that the person is looking for a different type of program than you offer.
• Start with a "fact-gathering" interview (name, address and so on) before moving into skills assessment. Some programs do the interview first and then ask the prospective student to return for the skills assessment. Standard intake/interview forms can be very helpful. We've included a few samples here - please note that the identification questions will give you the information you need to set up a new learner profile in MTCU's Information Management System (IMS).
• Choose the appropriate assessment material based on the information the learner provided in the interview - for example, if the learner's goal is independence, you might choose an assessment task that includes grocery shopping. Listen to what the prospective student says - often you can get clues as to the level of difficulty you should start with in the skills assessment. Although you may have a standard assessment package or kit, you probably will not use everything in it. Some programs use a "quick screen" tool to help them roughly gauge the prospective student's level; after the quick screen has been administered, you can then choose the appropriate tools to more specifically identify skills knowledge and gaps. We've included a sample of a quick screen here.
• Explain the purpose of the assessment tasks you select. This can help reduce "test anxiety" and show the student how the task relates to his or her goal.
• Be sure to provide an opportunity for the learner to ask questions.
• Once the prospective student has completed the assessment activities, review the assessment results with him or her. This piece is critical. Let the learner know what skills he or she has and what needs to be worked on. Briefly discuss the LBS levels in terms the learner can understand. Provide details and examples. Focus on the positive.
• Clearly explain the next step(s), e.g. will the learner have to wait to be matched with a tutor or can he or she start next week? Or will he or she be enrolled in a small group or a class.
• If, based on the assessment results, you feel that it is more appropriate to refer the learner elsewhere, explain why. Be sure to provide a contact name and phone number for the other literacy program or community service. Have the learner sign a release of information so that you can share the assessment results.
• Introduce the training plan to the prospective student. Explain how you will work together to develop a plan that is individualized, designed especially for him or her. Talk about agency expectations with regards to attendance and progress. If you have agreement forms or other documents, this is a good time to have the student sign them. You can find samples of these documents in the Exit and Follow-Up module.

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