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Research
ABC CANADA engages in research that supports and strengthens the literacy field and that promotes public awareness of literacy. Our research work is enriched by well-informed advisory groups, which include researchers, literacy practitioners, academics, and literacy learners. All of our databases are available without charge to non-profit literacy groups or literacy researchers. If you have any questions or comments about ABC CANADA's research projects, please contact us at info@abc-canada.org.
Linking Adult Literacy and eLearning
Kathryn Chang Barker, 2005, 227 pages - Released in September, this report is a summary of findings from an ABC CANADA research study on the use of eLearning tools in adult literacy programs.
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Nonparticipation in Literacy and Upgrading Programs
A National Study
Ellen Long, 2002, 265 pages - This report is the first Canada-wide study of nonparticipation of potential adult learners. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this two-stage study builds on earlier work in the area of nonparticipation. The findings are presented in two self-contained reports bound together. The report for Stage One (the qualitative phase) is rich in interview quotes, bringing to life people's experience of nonparticipation. The report for Stage Two (the quantitative phase) is full of facts and figures. When read together, these two reports provide a tremendous amount of insight into the depth and scope of the complex issue of nonparticipation.
Stage One of this study engaged interviewers in 12 provinces and territories to conduct in-person interviews with 44 people across Canada who had never participated in a literacy or upgrading program. Although the number of adults interviewed was small, the results revealed a number of patterns, thus laying the foundation for Stage Two: a large-scale phone survey conducted by EKOS Research, with a representative sample of 866 people who had not taken a literacy or upgrading program since leaving school without a diploma.
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View Why Aren't They Calling? Executive Summary -- Summary of results from Nonparticipation in Literacy and Upgrading Programs
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Patterns of Participation in Canadian Literacy and Upgrading Programs
Results of a National Follow-up Study
Ellen Long and Sandy Middleton, 2001, 121 pages - Recruitment and retention of literacy learners are among the most serious challenges facing the literacy field. In January and February 1999, 55 literacy groups from across Canada collected the names and phone numbers of more than 500 individuals who were seeking literacy or upgrading programs for themselves or for family members/friends. Literacy groups asked permission from all eligible callers to contact them for a follow-up phone survey six months later. The central purpose of this study is to explore what happens once people make initial contact with a literacy group: What percent of people enrol in a program? What are the barriers for those who do not enrol? What percentage of callers are on waiting lists? What are the factors associated with dropping out of programs? Nationally- representative statistics related to these questions will address serious gaps in our knowledge about recruitment and retention, which will have implications for both policy and practice.
View Who Wants to Learn? Executive Summary -- Summary of results from Patterns of Participation
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Attitudes of Canadians Toward Literacy
A Decade in Review
ABC CANADA, 1999 - In 1990 and again in 1993, ABC CANADA commissioned Decima to conduct a nationally representative study of Canadian's attitudes about literacy. In May 1999, Decima replicated a series of questions from these earlier studies, which will allow us to compare attitudes about literacy over the last decade. Preliminary results indicate that there have been significant increases in the level of public awareness about literacy issues. View the full results
ABC CANADA's 1998 Survey of LEARN Partners
Results of a National Study on the LEARN Referral System
Ellen Long, 1998, 26 pages - In 1994 ABC CANADA launched the LEARN campaign, a national, multi-million dollar, multi-media campaign designed to link poor or reluctant readers with literacy programs. As part of this campaign, ABC CANADA organized 314 existing literacy groups into a national referral system, arranging for each of these group to be listed under the word "LEARN" in their local Yellow Pages directories. In May 1998, ABC CANADA faxed a survey to each LEARN partner. This report provides organizational profiles of the groups that returned the survey (85%). Key findings include: close to half of LEARN partners serve small rural communities of less than 15,000 people; more than a third of LEARN partners have no full-time staff; the vast majority (82%) of LEARN partners close for some portion of the year; well over half of LEARN partners must use voice-mail at different times during their usual working hours; callers to 31% of LEARN partners will get a busy signal if someone is already on the line; half of LEARN partners do not provide special training for staff or volunteers who do referrals; volunteers do 32% of the total work of the LEARN partners.
The Impact of Basic Skills Programs on Canadian Workplaces
Results of a Study for ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation
Ellen Long, 1997, 40 pages - Canadian promoters of workplace basic skills programs are commonly asked for evidence about the impact of programs on the workplace. Companies are increasingly focused on bottom-line considerations: "What," they ask, "is the payback for us?" Though there is a substantial body of literature about workplace literacy, virtually none is Canadian, and very little is in a form that would be useful for promoting programs to skeptical workplaces. This report is based on the results of telephone interviews with business and labour representatives from 53 workplaces across Canada. Ninety-three percent of the eligible workplaces contacted were able to participate. Based on this study, it can be stated without reservation that basic skills programs are having a dramatically positive impact on Canadian workplaces. Regardless of their position - whether company owners, human resources people, labour representatives, or participants themselves - the word is the same: workplace basic skills programs work. Representatives from all levels, and from all types of workplaces concur that basic skills education influences not only soft, "warm fuzzy" factors such as confidence levels, but also hard, bottom-line factors as well. This study provides solid information for effective, peer-based promotional strategies that are useful in a broad range of contexts.
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The Impact of ABC CANADA's LEARN Campaign
Results of a National Research
Study
Ellen Long, 1996, 96 pages - From its founding in 1990, ABC CANADA recognized that although there were thousands of literacy groups in Canada, a large percentage of people with low literacy skills were not aware of the existence of these groups. In 1994 ABC CANADA launched the LEARN campaign, a national, multi-million dollar, multi-media campaign designed to link poor or reluctant readers with literacy programs. Soon after the campaign started, many groups reported large increases in calls. In 1996, ABC CANADA commissioned a national study to measure the impact of the LEARN campaign. This study asked 104 literacy groups across Canada to administer a survey to all callers over a three month period. Ninety percent of the groups approached agreed to participate, collectively returning a total of 3,557 surveys. A central finding was that more than 50% of calls nationally are associated with the LEARN campaign. This report contains extensive demographic information about people who call for literacy services as well as information on the capacity of literacy groups to meet the need.
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Case in Point
Workplace Literacy Solutions
1994, 47 pages - A compilation of 10 case studies from workplace education programs across the country, originally published in ABC CANADA's newsletter, Literacy at Work.
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