A Comprehensive Review and Development of Measurement Options for Essential Skills Initiatives: Phase 1 – Inventory Of Measures

Authors:Boris PalametaTaylor Shek-Wai HuiCam NguyenWendy LeePaul Lalonde

The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) currently supports a wide range of Literacy and Essential Skills (LES) projects that include pilots of various training delivery models in both workplace settings and for jobseekers, through the Adult Learning, Literacy, and Essential Skills Program (ALLESP).

This program aims to develop, test and evaluate innovative training models that support Canadians in improving their LES, with the aim to help them obtain and keep a job, as well as to adapt and succeed at work. Performance measurement is critical to the achievement of these broader objectives of ALLESP and to the success of the projects it supports.

One of the many challenges is that the measurement options for evaluating success of LES initiatives are vast and complex in nature. The preferred measurement instruments will vary by, among other factors, program objectives, scope of the models, delivery context, and the target population.

Measurement options are also quite dynamic with new indicators and evidence on their validity and reliability emerging on a frequent basis not to mention evolution in the delivery models that require new approaches to measurement. The wider LES community would benefit greatly from

i) a consolidation of current knowledge on existing measurement options for LES initiatives, as well as

ii) the development of a framework for the application of measurement options in different program contexts, with different targeted populations.

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Project Details

Capability: Program Evaluation/ Performance Measurement
Policy Area: Adult Learning - Adult Training - Workplace Training - Literacy and Essential Skills
Population: General Population - Low-skilled Workers - Students
Type: Report
Start Date: March 2018
Completion Date: March 2019
Sponsors: Employment and Social Development Canada | Applied Research Branch

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