Accountability in adult literacy, language and numeracy in England; with reference to the other UK countries Dr Janine Eldred Associate Director NIACE

The UK policy context The Skills for Life Strategy, England The National Basic Skills Strategy, Wales The Scottish Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy Northern Ireland – Essential Skills Strategy

The Skills for Life Strategy Launched key areas: boosting demand… and capacity, improving the quality of teaching and learning… and learner achievement Priority groups: unemployed people, offenders, low-skilled employees, those at risk of exclusion including speakers of other languages and those in disadvantaged communities.

Skills for Life Strategy £1.5bn investment over 3 years Targets – learners to have moved up one level 750k learners achieving by 2004 Further investment to £3.5bn 1.5m learners achieving by m by 2010

What’s been done? Teacher standards and qualifications Core curricula including pre-entry Pathfinders, materials, resources, guidance and websites Research and development Assessment – initial, formative and summative Continuing professional development (CPD)

Development and diversity Literacy – reading, writing, speaking and listening English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Maths4Life – or numeracy? Learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities Family learning, literacy and numeracy

Development and Diversity Financial learning/literacy Embedded approaches Voluntary and community sector Workplace Unionlearn; Sector Skills Councils ICT as the 4 th Skill for Life

Achievements By m learners had gained first qualifications in literacy, language or numeracy 1.7 million learners achieved a first level 2 qualification 25,000 teachers had been involved in CPD and qualifications updates

Accountability to key stakeholders Government including treasury Planning and funding body, Learning and Skills Council Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) Providers, practitioners Learners Employers Tax payers

Accountability – government agencies Government – achieve national test at EL3, L1 or L2 LSC – agency of government – to plan and fund in order to achieve Ofsted – effectiveness, achievements, quality, leadership and management

Levels of learning Pre-entry Entry level 1 Entry level 2 Entry level 3 – similar to pupils at 11 years Level 1 – similar to pupils at 14 years; 1 st national vocational qualifications for young people and adults (NVQs) Level 2 – similar to pupils at 16 years (NVQ 2)

Accountability – providers and practitioners Shaped by planners, funders, inspectors Engaged in leading and managing Driven by teaching and learning Committed to learners Issues of historic perception, partiality, protection?

Accountability – learners Overcoming barriers to learning - participation Linked to reasons for learning – family, work, personal, educational Assessed by - before…and after Judged by application - living and working Confidence

Accountability - employers Interested in performance of employees Willing to harness tacit learning Less interested in qualifications Literacy and numeracy skills linked to customer service and problem solving Impact on the ‘bottom line’?

Accountability – tax payers How does the tax payer assess? How discriminate between different sources of information? Quantitative data – size, dimension, Qualitative data - personal, complex, illustrative, informative Economic modelling – possible 8% return on investment

Measuring Success Do qualifications mean improvement? Planning Learning, Recording progress and Achievement (PLRA) Recognising and Recording Progress and Achievement (RARPA)

Measuring Success Initial, diagnostic, formative and summative assessment Individual learning plans Portfolios Where do multi-choice, on-line marked tests fit in?

Accountability problematised Reconciliation of multi-purposes for learning and a common assessment Reconciliation of teaching and learning approaches to a final test Teaching to the test? Hierarchy of achievement?

Accountability problematised Is there a common conceptualisation of what we mean by literacy, language and numeracy? Can any system capture all aspects of achievement? Not all learners count Do we count what we can count and not that which really counts?

… And other UK countries? Scotland – “Success should be measured on learners’ goals..their improvement, building on the core skills framework and progress file.” Literacy policy Scotland Wales – “ …measures are intended to encourage adults to join programmes; some are about increasing the number of adults improving basic skills as part of their involvement in a local community group; and some are about self-help.” Development of tests with expectation of learners, “… working towards them.” The National Basic Skills Strategy for Wales (all age)

… And other UK countries? Northern Ireland – ‘Success through Skills’ Essential Skills, based upon standards and curricula from England Bank of tasks eg on all 4 literacy skills, externally set, internally assessed and externally moderated.

Does one size fit all? Differentiated forms of accountability for different purposes and audiences – unitised, credit –based qualifications Holistic approach to evidence gathering – assessments, witness statements, performance Inform and educate stakeholders about nature of literacy, language and numeracy Harness technological solutions Self regulation

Ultimate accountability Does it do what it says on the tin? What difference to learners? Must be trust and integrity ‘The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured…The second step is to disregard that which can’t easily be measured or to give it arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading. The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily isn’t important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.’ Charles Handy, The Empty Raincoat 1994