Transcript The SCALES Project

THE SCALES PROJECT
Project Partners:
Office of Literacy and Essential Skills/
Bureau de l'alphabétisation et des
compétences essentielles
Our Project Team
Debi Saul
Project Manager
Michelle Forrest
Essential Skills Expert
416-351-0330 ext 3500
[email protected]
www.collegeconnect.on.ca
905-424-0738
[email protected]
www.collegeconnect.on.ca
Pamela Jadischke
Essential Skills Specialist
Conestoga College
Darlene O’Neill
Essential Skills Coordinator
Career Development Specialist
NSCC
519-885-0300 ext 5542
[email protected]
www.conestogac.on.ca
902-491-5120
darlene.o’[email protected]
www.nscc.ca
Our Project Team
Stewart Kallio
Subject Matter Expert, Literacy
and Essential Skills
Kallio Consulting
Clayton Rhodes
Essential Skills Expert
Durham College
807-285-4050
[email protected]
905-665-6939
[email protected]
www.durhamcollege.ca
Pam Tetarenko
Program Manager
The Training Group,
Douglas College
Janice Huber
Coordinator
The Training Group,
Douglas College
604-777-6055
[email protected]
www.douglas.bc.ca
604-587-6636
[email protected]
www.douglas.bc.ca
Presentation Goals
 Increase awareness of the Essentials Skills
 Increase awareness of the benefits of Essentials
Skills
 Provide scenarios to demonstrate how Essential
Skills can fit using the Career Development Model
 Increase awareness of the SCALES project
Test Your Essential Skills
Knowledge!!!
What Are Essential Skills?
 “enabling” skills that help people perform
tasks required by their jobs.
 skills that provide workers with a
foundation for learning other skills.
 skills that enhance the ability to adapt to
change.
Essential Skills Background
• Work done in Canada,
United States and Great
Britain had identified a
set of skills that were
used in virtually all
occupations
• The Business World
was demanding a
common
measurement of skills
rather than trying to
attach an educational
requirement to all
occupations
• The Essential Skills
Research Project
(ESRP) tried to provide
answers to what these
skills look like in
different jobs and how
does one know if they
have the skills needed
to do the job they
want to do
• Work done through
the International
Adult Literacy Survey
(IALS) and Adult
Literacy and Life Skills
Survey (ALLS) showed
a skills deficit
Essential Skills Deficit
The research of the 90’s and early 2000’s found little
improvement in 10 years. Key findings revealed:
Skills had not improved significantly
Literacy is firmly linked to economic success and
productivity
Changing workplace requires higher levels of literacy
Respondents scoring <3 out of 5 lack the skills needed to
transfer existing knowledge to new environments
Many Canadians adults have limited literacy skills
The Nine Essential Skills
Reading Text
Working with Others
Document Use
Continuous Learning
Numeracy
Thinking Skills
Writing
Computer Use
Oral Communication
Where Essential Skills Fits
With Other Skills
ABC Plumbing Company
Plumbers - In-School
Apprenticeship
Training
Generic
Employer
Specific
Skills
Occupation Specific Skills
Essential Skills
Essential Skills Measuring Table
For Reading, Document Use and Numeracy
Measuring Complexity Using IALS 500
Point Scale & HRSDC Five-Point Scale
0 - 500
Canada’s Skills Deficit
Performance of
Canadians
A significant portion
of Canadians are
at the two lowest
levels in three
important essential
skills areas:
reading text,
document use, and
numeracy.
Canada’s Skills Deficit
Workplace Demands for Essential Skills
Jobs for which no post
secondary education is
necessary increasingly require
a minimum of Level 3 in
reading text, document use,
and numeracy (e.g. cashier,
security guard or labourer).
Lowest
Highest
Source: Matching Canadians’ Literacy Attainment to Actual Occupational
Requirements, May 2001.
Essential Skills Profiles
Essential Skills Profiles include:
•
A brief description of the occupation
•
A list of the most important Essential Skills
•
Example tasks that illustrate how each Essential Skill is applied
•
Complexity ratings that indicate the level of difficulty, from level
1(least complex) to levels 4/5 (most complex), of the example
tasks
•
Standardized summaries of skill content
•
The physical aspects of performing the job and the attitudes that
workers feel are needed to do the job well
•
Future trends affecting Essential Skills
Group Work
Essential Skills Profiles:
• In groups, you will be asked to
answer a series of questions using
the provided Essential Skills
profiles
Group Work
HRSDC Tools and Resources
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In groups, you will be asked to play the role of either
Job Developer
Career Practitioner
Literacy Practitioner
HR Manager
Facilitator
•
In this role, you will be asked to select one (or more) of the
HRSDC Tools and Resources that will benefit your client
Benefits of Essential Skills
The Benefits of Essential Skills
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Job Search
Identify skills for resume development
Build confidence in abilities to perform job tasks
Create a skills portfolio to supplement resume for
job interviews
Focus on strengths (awareness of challenges helps to
narrow job search)
Skills Enhancement
Confirm readiness for training
Enhance Essential Skills to address skill gaps
Develop a long term continuous learning plan to
prevent future skill loss
Identify possible challenges to set up strategies and
support and success
Identify strategies to address skill challenges and
ensure future success
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Career Decision Making
Confirm skill strengths for chosen occupations
Identify skill gaps
Identify and articulate transferable skills
Research occupational skills requirements
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Employment Maintenance
Build awareness of skills levels
Increase confidence through portfolio
development
Improve skills for long term stable employment
Develop and implement a continuous learning
plan to prevent future skill loss and ensure
career success
The Benefits of Essential Skills
The cost of moving 48% of Canada`s adult population to level 3
reading offers remarkable benefits
Level 1 to 3
Level 2 to 3
Return in Public Savings
8,062,000,000
8,021,000,000
16,083,000,000
Income Tax Revenue
4,677,000,000
6,513,000,000
11,190,000,000
115,000,000
427,000,000
542,000,000
Social Assistance
Total Cost of Raising Skill to Level 3
Estimated Rate of Return
Combined
6,401,000,000
251%
Source: Murray, McCracken, Willms, Jones, Shillington & Strucker (2009), Addressing Canada’s Literacy Challenge: A
Cost/Benefit Analysis
The Benefits of Essential Skills
 Over 40% of Canadians have skill deficits and
are not aware they do not meet the recognized
minimum level for the workplace
 Over 80% of individuals at a Level 2 believe their
skills are excellent
 Unemployed Canadians are 3 times more likely
than employed Canadians to have skill deficits
 Unemployed persons at a Level 1 & 2 take up to
38 weeks to re-enter employment compared to 9
weeks for those with higher skills levels
 Growth industries require high levels of
Essentials Skills; jobs that require lower levels
are declining
LES
Is
MORE
The SCALES Project
Supporting the Canadian Advancement of Literacy and Essential Skills
Our Mission
Integrate a LES approach (a method that considers both the
Literacy and Essential Skill levels of their clients when assisting
them in making life/work decisions) into existing active
employment measures, retraining options or active job searches
Increase the capacity of service providers and employment
counsellors to provide assessment and referral services
Build the confidence of adults in transition in relation to LES in
order to assess their skill levels to develop action plans for reentry into the workforce or re-training options
 What LES tools and models are currently being
used by Career Practitioners or other
professionals who assist unemployed and lowskilled workers in achieving their career goals?
 What LES tools, resources and models are
needed and desired in order to assist
practitioners to incorporate a LES approach into
their work?
PHASE 1: RESEARCH
The research sought to answer the following, as
they pertain to the provinces of Ontario, Nova
Scotia, and British Columbia:
Phase 1: Research – Key Findings
Phase 1: Research – Key Findings
Next Steps
 Focus groups will be held in Ontario, Nova
Scotia, and British Columbia in February and
March 2011
 Tools and/or programs will be developed
between March and August 2011
 Pilot sites and an evaluation strategy for the
pilots will be identified by the end of September
2011
Brainstorming Session
How can we help you?
Presentation Goals
 Increase awareness of the Essentials Skills
 Increase awareness of the benefits of Essentials
Skills
 Provide scenarios to demonstrate how Essential
Skills can fit using the Career Development Model
 Increase awareness of the SCALES project
Debi Saul
Project Manager
[email protected]
www.collegeconnect.on.ca