An extensive set of OALCF tools and resources has been designed to inform practitioners and other stakeholders about the OALCF, and to provide guidance in implementing the principles and approach of the OALCF in adult literacy training. Below you will find a brief description of these resources, along with applicable links, grouped by the five LBS program services available to all learners.
A complete list of available resources (October 2011) including descriptions, is available as well as a one-page overview of OALCF tools and resources (October 2011) organized by the five LBS program services. These documents provide a comprehensive overview of all the resources that MTCU has developed to support practitioners in implementing the OALCF.
As well, a Glossary (October 2011) of key terms and acronyms used in OALCF products and papers is available.
Resources for Information and Referral
The Information and Referral Service ensures that information about the LBS service provider’s literacy training opportunities, approaches and targeted clients is available to learners, potential learners, clients, volunteers, referring organizations and other interested individuals. It is often at this stage that a service provider conducts a general literacy screening of a client to determine if the LBS Program would be appropriate.
Literacy practitioners understand that unless learners can devote the recommended time, energy and focus to their learning activities they will not make the necessary progress to achieve their goals. Supporting Learners through Service Coordination and Referral (October 2011) provides practitioners with an overview of the kinds of non-instructional supports that contribute to positive learning outcomes. The document also provides practitioners with a practical approach to building a comprehensive learner plan.
Resources for Assessment
Assessment is any process or procedure that gathers information for making decisions about a learner’s knowledge, skills, behaviours and abilities. It includes a wide range of approaches from informal procedures to formal standardized assessments or tests. LBS service providers conduct assessments at intake, during programming, and at exit.
The Selected Assessment Tools (March 2011) guide includes 25 English and 11 French assessment tools and provides practitioners with practical direction on how to use a variety of assessment approaches to collecting information about learning. The information will assist practitioners in determining the most appropriate assessment tool for learners, relating current assessments tools to the OALCF and providing strong direction in developing an assessment strategy for their agency.
Each of the assessment tools included in the Selected Assessment Tools collection uses the Assessment Tool Evaluation Form (October 2011) to provide key information to the practitioner (where to access, potential purchase costs, comments on usefulness, etc). The template can be used by practitioners to analyze the assessment tools they use and its appropriateness for particular learners.
Resources for Learner Plan Development
Learner plan development is an on-going process that creates and updates the learner plan which describes the goal path. It includes the learner’s goal, background information, assessment plans and results, milestone tasks, culminating task, learning activities, program duration, additional supports required by the learner and referral results.
The Learner Plan Template is a tool for LBS service providers that can be used with any learner. This template is designed to ensure that there are common elements which provide a description of the learners’ background, goal path, learning activities, other supports and achievements. The template is designed to be compatible with MTCU's accountability requirements.
An Introduction to Goal Path Descriptions for Practitioners and Learners (October 2011) has been developed to explain how the goal path descriptions were developed and how they can improve learner outcomes.
Detailed goal path descriptions are available for each of the OALCF’s five goal paths:
Goal path descriptions provide a snapshot of the each goal along with a description, associated requirements, key trigger questions and a list of skills that contribute to the development of the six OALCF competencies that are important for the transition to the goal.
Supporting Learners through Service Coordination and Referral (October 2011) provides practitioners with an overview of the kinds of non-instructional supports that contribute to positive learning outcomes. Furthermore, the document provides practitioners with a practical approach to building a comprehensive learner plan.
Resources for Training
The focus of the LBS program is the literacy instruction delivered to adult learners to enable them to acquire the necessary skills and competencies to transition to their goal. All other LBS services support the training component of the LBS program. Learners not only acquire the skills, but also demonstrate the ability to use the newly acquired competencies for authentic and meaningful tasks.
The components of the curriculum framework (the introduction and six competencies) can be accessed individually or as a whole through the links provided below. The introduction outlines the elements of the framework, describes how it is organized, and describes how it helps support the various aspects of LBS programming.
The curriculum framework includes example tasks, organized by goal path, that reflect what a learner can do at the end of each of the three levels. The Supplemental Tasks for Practitioners (March 2011) guide provides more examples of tasks but they represent what a learner can do within a level and are organized by streams. Included in this listing of tasks are notes on the cultural considerations a practitioner must keep in mind when working with learners who are Anglophone, Deaf, Aboriginal or Francophone.
Practitioners’ Guide to Task-Based Programming (March 2011) is a practical tool for practitioners to understand the elements of task-based programming: goal setting; requirements of the goal; balance of skill development and literacy use; creation or selection of appropriate tasks, levelling a task and developing learning activities to prepare for doing a task.
Integrated tasks are complex tasks and include at least two or more competencies that are often at varying levels of complexity. Integrated Tasks by Goal Path (March 2011) describes an integrated task developed for each of the five goal paths to serve as an example for practitioners. Each integrated task includes a number of suggested learning activities that illustrate how a practitioner would prepare a learner for the task. These are not meant to provide practitioners with learning content, but rather to guide them to understand how to teach a task.
The five Selected Lists of Learning Materials provided below provide practitioners with examples of familiar materials that can be used with the OALCF. The learning materials in each list are categorized by competency and have been selected by service providers from each of the four cultural streams:
Each item is briefly described and information is provided on how to access or purchase them. The materials were selected by practitioners who found them useful for learners; however, the lists are not meant to be prescriptive nor do they serve as a recommended list.
The Checklist for Evaluating Learning Materials (March 2011) is a template that practitioners can use when evaluating their own program’s collection of resources to better understand how they fit with the competency-based approach of the curriculum framework. The checklist includes 13 questions practitioners ask when evaluating a resource to assess its appropriateness for particular learners.
A practical guide, How to use the "Checklist for Evaluating Learning Materials" (March 2011), has been developed to walk practitioners through an example of a resource to demonstrate how the checklist would be used to evaluate a resource.
Resources for Follow Up
LBS service providers contact learners at exit and at 3, 6 and 12 months after they leave the LBS Program in order to document their outcomes. This service demonstrates the value and effectiveness of the four other services in meeting the literacy needs of learners.
The coordination of financial, academic, employment, social service and health supports can contribute significantly to positive learner outcomes. Supporting Learners through Service Coordination and Referral (October 2011) provides practitioners with an overview of the kinds of non-instructional supports that contribute to positive learning outcomes.
Foundation Papers
Foundation papers provide background information on key concepts that informed the development of the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF). The papers provide brief descriptions of the theoretical underpinnings of key concepts, how the OALCF products were developed and how these concepts will contribute to stronger learner outcomes.
- Foundations of Transitions-Oriented Programming (March 2011) provides an overview of transition-oriented programming, its relationship to goal-directed and contextualized learning, and the role of non-academic support and service coordination in successful learner transitions.
- Curriculum Framework Conceptual Foundation (March 2011) provides an overview of the background and purpose of the curriculum framework as well as its key features, levels of performance and potential applications.
- Foundations of Learning Materials (October 2011) provides a description of learning materials, how the OALCF can be used to level materials, and cultural considerations to keep in mind when developing learning materials.
- Foundations of Assessment (March 2011) provides background information about assessment practices, tools, and principles. The document looks at the reasons for assessing learning, how assessment results are used, and the OALCF’s research activities in assessment.
