What is this all about?
This is the last of four bulletins 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.

Bulletin #1 (April 2001) introduced assessment, Bulletin #2 (June 2001) focused on ongoing assessment, and Bulletin #3 (October 2001) discussed learner self-assessment.

This Bulletin will give some suggestions to help staff, volunteers and learners work together in assessment.

Volunteers really need to know!
Do you remember when you met your learner for the first time? You probably knew a bit about him before the meeting – someone from the literacy program staff may have told you that the learner could write his name and address but couldn’t complete the rest of an application form. Or perhaps he wanted to be able to make up his own grocery list and shop within a budget. Or he could be brushing up on spelling skills before enrolling in a course at the local community college.

Along with telling you about the learner’s goal, the program staff might also have talked about hobbies, personal interests and specific abilities. You may have had a chance to review the learner’s personal training plan. Sometimes staff will suggest the type of books or other learning materials you could use with the learner.

Now imagine meeting this learner without any of this initial assessment information! Your job as a volunteer tutor would be very difficult – you wouldn’t know where to start. It is important for the program staff to share initial assessment information with you so you can use the appropriate learning material and techniques during lessons.

If you’d like to know more about initial assessment or more about the five levels or any other aspect of the program, ask a staff member. There are a variety of resources available that they would be glad to share with you. For example, The Level Descriptions Manual provides a good overview of the learning outcomes approach.