Literacy Basics - Community Literacy of Ontario

Resources

Through our research, CLO has gathered a number of data collection forms that programs have found useful. Practitioners have told us that the key to forms is keeping them simple and making them serve more than one purpose if possible. Don't track data that you don't need, but use the data you collect.

The forms within this module are a sample of what is being used in the field. You are free to reproduce or adapt any of these forms for use in your agency. CLO thanks the many literacy agencies and practitioners who took the time to assist us in our research and were willing to share their forms and resources.

Monthly Activity Report

One example of a way to keep track of the quantitative information in your agency is a summary of activity. North Channel Literacy Council is a multi-site agency in Northern Ontario, and it is important that their main administrative centre is able to keep track of what goes on at each of the sites. Therefore, each site in the agency submits monthly summaries of information. There is a wealth of information available from the reports that the sites send in.

Although this example is from a multi-site agency, this type of document can easily be adapted for a single agency as well. It is an excellent example of how to summarize a wide variety of information on a single document.

Learner Progress tracking

You also need to track learner progress. You need to know where learners started, how close they are to reaching their goals, when they have demonstrated new skills and so on. Tracking learner progress over time can also help you articulate the overall results your program is achieving in terms of the time it takes for learners to progress from one skill set to another, to complete learning modules and so on.

For example, Skills for Employment, Life and Family (SELF) in Peel shared the following combined learner self-assessment and progress report. You can find the document here.

North Channel Literacy Council in Elliot Lake also shared a one-page tracking form for learner progress. This type of document can be used to summarize a learner's achievements, while the previous example provides a detailed listing of accomplishments. You can find it here.

Learner self-assessment is an important component of learner progress. CLO's Literacy Basics website (www.nald.ca/literacybasics) and Together We Can Do It: The Role of Volunteers in the Assessment Process (available online at www.nald.ca/clo/resource/together/cover.htm) both provide some detailed information about learner self-assessment. We have also included other samples here, with thanks to Cambrian College for the Student Evaluation and to Skills for Employment, Life and Family for the Self Management evaluation.

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