More Work Needed to Improve Literacy in B.C.

By 250 News

B.C. ’s Auditor General  says there is much  work to be done if the Priovince is to reach it’s literacy goals by 2015.

In his report " Literacy: Creating the Conditions for Reading and Writing Success"  Auditor General John Doyle  says  there needs to be more action"While government has demonstrated some leadership in promoting literacy over the last few years, plans have been slow in  coming together."

40 per cent of working age British Columbians lack sufficient literacy skills to fully participate in today’s workforce. "More could be done to reach out to potential literacy learners to encourage them to take advantage of the services available to them," Doyle noted.

Doyle reported that the actual cost of implementing government’s literacy strategy is still unknown, noting the government requires better information on the funding required to improve literacy as well as on the needs of literacy learners. "No one really knows what is already being spent on literacy or how much funding will be needed to reach government’s goal," he said.

Key Findings and Recommendations

Co-ordination has been challenging, but progress is being made

Recommendation 1: The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Advanced Education, boards of education and the post-secondary institutions should work together to develop ways of encouraging greater use of literacy services, such as through awareness campaigns on literacy and "one-window" approaches to delivering information on literacy at both the provincial and local levels. Strategic planning for literacy services lacks the support of adequate data and information

Recommendation 2: The Ministry of Education should develop implementation plans that are supported by more comprehensive data and information on the needs of the populations it is targeting and costing information for each of its strategies to improve literacy.

Recommendation 3: The Ministry of Education should:

• provide appropriate support (such as guidance and resources) to the boards of education in the development of their literacy plans and reports; and
• monitor implementation of the revised accountability framework and assess the effectiveness of the framework with respect to the focus on literacy.
  
  The boards of education should develop their literacy plans:
• in the context of the provincial strategic framework; and
• in consultation with key organizations within their local communities to determine needs and preferred strategies for addressing those needs.

Monitoring and performance reporting are currently insufficient to enable meaningful tracking and accounting of progress

* Recommendation 4: The Ministry of Education should ensure that monitoring and reporting at all levels - provincial, ministry and community - are aligned with evidence-based, qualitative and quantitative performance measures.

* Recommendation 5: The boards of education should work with the key stakeholders within their communities to: 1) measure progress and adjust strategies as necessary to meet local needs; and 2) report annually on the progress they make within their communities in achieving the literacy objectives identified in the community literacy plans.

* Recommendation 6: The government should issue a provincewide annual public report on its progress in achieving its literacy goals and objectives.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us