National Adult Literacy Database

TORONTO – September 28, 2010 – ABC Life Literacy Canada, in partnership with Grass Roots Press, and with support from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, today launched the first six (of 12) titles in the innovative Good Reads series for adult literacy learners. “Being able to connect adult learners to bestselling Canadian authors is an incredibly powerful experience for all involved,” said Margaret Eaton, President of ABC Life Literacy Canada.

Reading is essential not only to our education and our work, but also to our enjoyment. Books and magazines make it possible for readers to explore various themes and discover new worlds.

Read with your young. Read just for fun. Read in the sun or when the day is done.

Celebrate NWT Literacy Week September 27-October 1 by taking part in these numeracy activities on Monday.

The project team for Measures of Success: Workplace Literacy and Essential Skills is seeking field researchers to undertake research activities at sites in Nova Scotia and Manitoba. Each province will require at least one full-time field researcher (or alternatively two half-time researchers), with additional part-time researchers to be hired as necessary.

The Task Force on Financial Literacy today released a summary of its nationwide public consultations with Canadians. The document, entitled What We Heard, is a summary of the presentations, submissions and comments Canadians made to the Task Force during its public consultations in every Canadian province and territory, which wrapped up in May 2010.

York University's Glendon College is breaking ground on its new Centre for Excellence in French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education. With assistance from the Ontario government, the college is building the new facility to improve access to postsecondary French-language programs for Francophone students.

"It's the most important development in my 30-year career," speech-language pathologist Sandy Collins told me last week when I visited White Rock elementary to watch as two young girls - Kaitlyn Peterson and Sarah Cairns, pictured above with Collins - showed me how they use the Fast ForWord software.

The Department of Labour and Workforce Development is seeking input from interested groups and Nova Scotians to develop an Adult Learning Act.

ABC Life Literacy Canada is pleased to proclaim September 23 as the inaugural Essential Skills Day.

These awards recognize the outstanding contributions in the advancement of literacy. The awards will be presented at the Literacy & Learning Symposium Banquet on Friday, October 29th, 2010 in Edmonton.

Many school libraries are underutilised resources that do not fulfil their potential to improve literacy levels and support pupil learning and attainment.

Influential rankings put nine schools in top 200, with University of Toronto edging out McGill for the top spot in Canada.

As recently as 2008, one in five Canadian teens were not pursuing a formal education — a figure that falls below the average of other developed countries, a new Statistics Canada report suggests.

Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration Minister Rob Norris announced yesterday that Dr. Michael Atkinson, Executive Director and Professor of the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, will lead the 2010 review of the regional college system.