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I believe that the online adult literacy assessment being launched by CCL today will be viewed as a lasting contribution to Canadian learning.
Low literacy among adults is a problem that will not disappear on its own. Currently, almost half of Canadian adults (48%) have low literacy skills; and projections estimate that by 2031, there will be little to no progress in our population’s level of literacy.
This is why measurement of learning outcomes in a knowledge society cannot be limited only to school-age students.
By assisting adults to appraise their level of literacy, CCL’s new interactive assessment helps society to recognize that not all learning—and related social issues—can be laid at the door of schools and school systems. What happens in the workplace, in the home and in the community is equally important and must be accounted for in efforts to improve overall learning conditions.
The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) likens literacy skills to muscles: they can only be maintained and strengthened through regular use. Just as daily physical exercise and good nutrition are critical to good health, daily reading and writing, even if only for 10 to 20 minutes, are equally important to literacy.
Assessments of learning progress that are most helpful to individuals have specific characteristics. They:
I celebrate the assessment tool developed by CCL because I believe that it carries these characteristics. It does not displace or reduce the need for tests that are successfully deployed in classrooms across the developed world. But it does add an individualised instrument for broad use; and it does honour in a real and practical sense our affirmation that learning is lifelong.
If learning is the cognitive equivalent to breathing, then CCL’s online literacy assessment should bring all of us a breath of fresh air.
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