What is this all about?
This is the second of four bulletins being sent to community-based literacy agencies across Ontario. It is written for volunteer tutors, so please make as many copies as you need and pass them on. The bulletins are designed to help tutors better understand the assessment process and their role in that process.

What is the volunteer tutor’s role?
Bulletin #1 (April 2001) introduced assessment and noted that it can occur at any point during a learner’s program (initial, ongoing and exit). In most literacy programs, staff members are responsible for initial and exit assessment activities. As a volunteer, you will most likely be involved in ongoing assessment. As the person with the most day-to-day contact with the learner, the staff will be depending on you to let them know how that learner is doing.

Volunteer responsibilities vary from program to program so you will need to discuss your specific role in the assessment process with the appropriate staff person.

What about the learners – where do they fit in?
Learners should be active participants in the assessment process. Being able to clearly identify the skills they have learned and the skills they will need to reach their goal means that they can be full partners in determining their individual learning outcomes.

Taking an active role in setting goals and assessing learning will be a new step for many learners. The Ontario Literacy Coalition has just released a series of bulletins called Way to Go. These bulletins are about assessment and are written for learners. Reading and talking about the Way to Go series is an excellent way for tutors and learners to start talking about assessment and planning next steps!

This project is interesting … where do I find out more?
Watch for Bulletin #3 in the Fall. It will focus on helping learners learn to self-assess. If you would like to know more about the Volunteers and Assessment Project, contact Vicki Trottier, Project Coordinator at 705-672-4232 or by e-mail at 628091@ican.net. If you think that other people in your program (both staff and volunteers) would like to discuss the role of volunteers in the assessment process, perhaps we could arrange a focus group in your area! Contact Vicki for details.