ABC CANADA's “Who Wants to Learn?” Study
In 2001, ABC CANADA released the results of a national study it conducted with Literacy BC called “Who Wants to Learn? Patterns of Participation in Canadian Literacy and Upgrading Programs.” This report, written by Ellen Long with assistance from Sandy Middleton, was based on findings from interviews with 300 people who were seeking information about literacy programs. Research findings are used with ABC CANADA's permission. You can view the full report at: www.nald.ca/fulltext/abc/whowants/cover.htm.
“Who Wants to Learn?” found that 33% of adult learners who had signed up for a literacy program dropped out by the six to eight month mark. This report examined various retention issues such as who drops out and why.
Who Drops Out?
The “Who Wants to Learn?” report found that there were various demographic and socio-economic factors that affected rates of learner retention.
Demographics:
- Men were more likely to drop out than women (39% of men versus 23% of women).
- Age was also a factor with young people being much more likely to drop out. 42% of those aged 16-24 dropped out while only 17% of people over 45 dropped out.
Level of education:
- Dropout rates were highest for people with a formal education level of Grades 5-9 (36%), Grades 10-12/13 (no diploma) (37%), or who had a high school diploma (32%).
- The people least likely to drop out were those with the lowest and highest level of formal education. People with less than a grade five education had a drop-out rate of 20%, while 19% of people with some post-secondary education dropped out.
Community size:
- Rates of retention were lowest for learners in both the largest cities (more than 500,000) and the smallest communities (less than 15,000).
Level of annual household income:
- Learner retention increased as household income increased. As noted by ABC CANADA: “Nearly one-third of learners with household incomes below $20,000 left their programs, compared with about one-quarter of those with household incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 and less than one-fifth of those with household incomes of more than $40,000. Those with lower household incomes were twice as likely as those with higher incomes to say that worrying about money was a factor contributing to their decision to leave”.
Employment status:
- Interestingly, dropout rates related to employment status only resulted in small variations. Dropout rates for those employed full-time were 28%; while 35% of those working part-time dropped-out.
- Dropout rates for people receiving social assistance were 30% while people who indicated “other income” had a dropout rate of 34%.
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