1A: How to achieve success in learner achievement

Success in delivering Skills for Life in the voluntary and community sector depends on the extent to which the sector attracts new learners, and the extent to which these learners achieve their learning targets and aims. The diversity of the sector means that learning could take place in small community venues, for example on housing estates, in churches or mosques, in village halls, in learners’ homes or in classes managed by national charities. In some cases, courses may be managed in partnership with colleges, local authorities or similar organisations or services.

The challenge is to ensure that each learner receives teaching and support that are tailored to their needs and lead to good results wherever they are learning, and whatever their motivation. So, the homeless person attending a shelter, the young ex-offender starting a programme in the voluntary sector, and the single parent attending a drug rehabilitation centre are all entitled to receive teaching that meets their needs and that is of the same standard as that delivered in the best colleges and local authority classes.

Reaching out to new learners

The voluntary and community sector works with some of the people who are at the greatest risk of social exclusion, and who are among the least likely to attend colleges or other formal and traditional learning institutions. The sector needs to find ways of supporting and teaching learners while ensuring that they have the same entitlement as other Skills for Life learners to:

• undertake an initial assessment
• negotiate literacy, numeracy and language targets expressed within an individual learning plan (ILP)
• review their progress
• record and celebrate their achievements
• work towards and achieve literacy, numeracy and language qualifications.

It is self-evident that people never stop learning. Formal learning situations offer the chance to use others’ skills and knowledge to move a little further and a little more quickly along the learning path. Adults may pluck up the courage to tackle their literacy, numeracy or language needs at pivotal points in their lives, for instance as they move into and out of employment, leave prison or lose or regain their health. Teachers are in the privileged position of being able to assist someone in being able to ascertain exactly what they want to achieve, and how they are most likely to achieve it.

The building blocks: preparing for Skills for Life programmes

Vulnerable adults and those who either distrust or feel intimidated by more traditional learning settings may take some time to acclimatise themselves to structured learning situations. The voluntary and community sector can often provide environments in which learners feel secure and relaxed. It may take a considerable amount of time before learners are ready to take the first step of joining a literacy, numeracy or language programme. In the meantime, there are several routes into learning that they may wish to explore.

There are various kinds of programmes whose purpose may be to engage Skills for Life learners within the voluntary and community sector. These include courses or programmes that do not explicitly address learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs. Instead, their main purpose is to encourage people back into learning. These are often short courses with learning goals unrelated to Skills for Life, for example aromatherapy, archaeology, women’s health or community history. Literacy, numeracy and language learning on such courses is incidental, and learners’ levels and needs in these areas are not assessed or addressed using individual learning plans. However, they can provide a ‘way in’ to Skills for Life programmes, and if this one of the purposes of the course, it is important to:

• advise learners about appropriate literacy, numeracy and language programmes
• encourage learners to undertake screening or initial assessment, depending on the kind of courses they are likely to progress to.

Adult learner supporters who have been trained to identify, advise and support learners with literacy, numeracy and language needs can also work with people who are not yet ready to join Skills for Life programmes. In one example, a learner supporter working for a mental health group worked with two people who were reluctant to discuss their literacy, numeracy and language needs. After two months of support, both learners joined the literacy drop-in centre run by the group.

The next stage: the first Skills for Life programmes

These are courses or programmes that explicitly address learners’ literacy, numeracy and language needs. Often these will be short programmes, that is fewer than 30 guided learning hours. The literacy, numeracy and language content is embedded within a host subject, such as preparation for the driving theory test or writing minutes for residents’ committees. Learners on such courses should be made aware that they are working towards literacy, numeracy and language targets.

The key components of such courses are:

• initial assessment
• the individual learning plan
• feedback
• advice.

Each of these is discussed below.

Initial assessment

All learners attending such courses should complete an initial assessment to assess their levels of literacy, numeracy and language. For some courses, it may be sufficient to screen learners to gauge whether they have Skills for Life needs beforehand. In these circumstances, for courses consisting of more than twelve guided learning hours, there should be a further assessment carried out within the first three or four learning sessions, possibly integrated with the subject material of the course. All assessments should be carried out sensitively and in as comfortable an environment as possible.

The individual learning plan

Learners need to negotiate the literacy, numeracy and language targets in their individual learning plans (ILPs). The ILP may also record group targets where a group of learners is working towards a common goal, for example producing a newsletter or planning an event. If a course is very short, consider developing a group learning plan that is supplemented by an indication of individual targets and goals. Remember to make learners aware of the relevance of literacy, numeracy and language skills to the goals they are working towards in other areas, for example as learners on vocational or leisure courses, as members of residents’ or community groups, or as workers for charities.

 

Feedback

Learners should receive regular feedback on their progress. They should participate actively in any progress reviews. On a short course of between ten and fifteen guided learning hours, there should be at least one opportunity to review progress with the teacher, usually halfway through the course.

Advice

Such reviews might also present opportunities to offer learners advice about how they can develop their literacy, numeracy and language skills. Learners will find it helpful if you include guidance on available courses in the area and opportunities for progressing to learning on vocational, leisure, higher education or training courses, depending on the individual learner’s needs and ambitions. It is important to include advice on where they may obtain additional learning support, and to offer ideas for working towards qualifications in literacy, numeracy and language or key skills.

Preparing for success: developmental programmes

When learners are ready to make a serious commitment to improving their standards of literacy, numeracy or language, offer programmes that provide opportunities for them to make substantial progress. These may be longer courses, or perhaps intensive programmes run over a shorter period of time. Some national charities and community centres run a range of these programmes, sometimes in dedicated learning centres. There are also organisations and services that provide one-to-one teaching in learners’ homes. Learners on such developmental programmes here are entitled to the components described above. In addition, they will need:

• a diagnostic assessment of their literacy, numeracy and language needs, using for example the Skills for Life diagnostic materials
• opportunities to achieve literacy, numeracy and language qualifications, such as the national tests.

Recording achievement

Learners’ achievements against their targets should be recorded in their ILPs. If possible, enrich this with evidence from learning journals, videos, photographs or audio-tapes. Consider using checklists to capture learners’ development of oral skills. Ask learners to provide oral feedback at the end of each session about what they have done and achieved. In certain situations, it may be better to do this on a one-to-one basis.

Most people want to improve their literacy, numeracy or language skills to enable them to achieve something in their lives that they would not be able to otherwise. With this in mind, ask your learners to describe the contribution that their literacy, numeracy and language learning has made to their lives – as citizens, parents, consumers, workers or volunteers, for example. Are there things that they can now do that they could not do before? Record their responses in a variety of formats.

The DfES Read Write Plus site has further information on recording achievement.

Attainment

It is important to be aware of what it is reasonable to expect a learner to attain, given their starting point and any factors affecting their learning, such as specific learning difficulties. Experienced teachers appreciate the delicacy of challenging learners a little beyond their comfort zone, but no further.

Take care not to make assumptions about what a learner might or might not be able to do. A learner with learning difficulties might have numeracy skills at Level 2, for example, whereas someone with a degree in humanities might have Entry Level skills in numeracy. Constantly review your interpretation of a learner’s knowledge and skills in the light of the progress they make towards achieving their targets. Examine folders of work critically – have they learned what you would expect them to in response to what you consider you have taught them? The better your understanding of what it is reasonable to expect a learner to do, the better will be your ability to assist them in being able to do it.

Targets

Targets in ILPs should be influenced by the initial assessment and by the learner’s own needs and preferences. They should be SMART, that is, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound. In the voluntary and community sector, this means:

• identifying, through negotiation with the learner, the goal(s) he or she is aiming for
• breaking this down into small, achievable steps, expressed as targets
• selecting appropriate resources and learning activities in order to achieve these goals
• demonstrating to learners as they achieve their short- and medium-term targets how these match their long-term goals
• cross-referencing medium-term targets to the literacy, numeracy and ESOL core curricula. Short-term targets may be referenced to the core curricula where they are expressed as skills or knowledge to be learned, rather than as specific activities
• expressing speaking and listening targets for literacy and ESOL students in sufficient detail. These targets should reflect what a learner needs to develop, rather than the skills they already possess. Short engagement courses in particular offer good opportunities to listen, discuss, and interact
• reviewing these goals regularly: adjustments may have to be made in the light of new learning or new goals
• reviewing the learner’s literacy, numeracy and language targets in the light of how they are progressing with other learning goals, for example in their learning in vocational or leisure areas.

Feedback

It is important to know how the learning plan is progressing. Regular reviews will allow the teacher to:

• modify the plan if required, as it proceeds
• produce better learning ILPs for subsequent learners
• provide positive feedback and build on this in the next stage of planning
• reflect the learner’s needs within your course and lesson planning
• reassure learners that they are making progress in improving their literacy, numeracy and language skills, both for their own sake and for meeting any other learning goals or ambitions
• ensure that achievements are clearly recorded in sufficient detail.

Monitoring data

Keeping track of individual and group trends over time enables an organisation to identify whether a learner or group of learners is achieving as well as their peers in other parts of the organisation or in other areas. It also enables comparisons to be made between current and previous sets of data. For example, an organisation should investigate if the number of learners passing the national literacy test at Level 2 suddenly plunges. Alarm bells might ring if learners at one community centre consistently drop out before completing their course, or if learners from a particular ethnic group underachieve in comparison with their peers.

Exercise caution in analysing data: improving pass rates could be the product of effective teaching, of better advice and guidance resulting in more appropriate placement within classes, or of recruitment of more advanced learners, for example. National data for the voluntary and community sector is in short supply, so consider looking at that provided for other organisations such as training providers, colleges or local authorities. Consider approaching your local LSC for information on other voluntary and community organisations or groups in your area, or approach such groups directly. However, when interpreting data from organisations from other sectors, be aware when you are not comparing like with like.

Collate and analyse annual data on the number of learners starting, leaving and completing their learning programmes. Examine their success in relation to their achievement of their learning goals or of external accreditation. Record the results of initial and ongoing assessment. The activity sheet for teachers and managers shows how you might begin work on this.

ACTIVITY SHEET FOR TEACHERS AND MANAGERS ON DATA ANALYSIS

View activity sheet for teachers and managers on data analysis

Accreditation

Ensure that learners are offered qualifications that are relevant and challenging. This may be demanding for teacher and learners within the voluntary and community sector, as so many courses are linked to other learning goals and activities, and many are short and designed to attract hard-to-reach learners. It is clearly important to ensure that the curriculum, and an individual’s learning, are driven by their own literacy, numeracy and language needs and not by those of the national qualifications framework.

Skills for Life qualifications offered through the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in partnership with the awarding bodies can act as stepping stones towards other qualifications. On the other hand, it may be possible to use other qualifications, for example those offered by the National Open College Network (NOCN), as a preparation for Skills for Life qualifications, perhaps offered at or by the local college, local authorities or learndirect centre. In any event, learners at Levels 1 or 2 should be able to take the national literacy or numeracy tests at convenient times and locations. A community or housing centre could register as a test centre, for example. Alternatively, it may be possible to enter into partnership arrangements to provide access to the national tests either with other voluntary and community sector groups, or with colleges or local authorities.