Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF)

The Curriculum Framework is the foundation of the OALCF and outlines what is commonly available at an LBS program. It describes six, broad, competencies – generic categories of learner abilities—that organize the content of the LBS program. These competencies are embedded in authentic and purposeful tasks that show how literacy learning transfers to goal-related activities.

The Curriculum Framework uses three levels to describe the increasing complexity of these tasks, and learner’s developing proficiency in performing these tasks.

The Curriculum Framework also provides examples of what a task at the end of the level looks like; end-of-level tasks are categorized by OALCF goal path, providing practitioners with additional support in designing and implementing literacy programming.

The OALCF tools and resources provide practitioners with practical guidance on how to develop goal-directed programming that will help LBS learners to transition to their goals.

The goal path descriptions provide practitioners with valuable support in developing goal-directed programming by providing important information that will both inform the goal-setting process and contribute to the development of the learner plan. They help practitioners and learners make good decisions about the selection of a goal, learning activities, and assessment methods and about other supports that might be necessary for learners’ successful transitions to their goal.

Milestone tasks are goal-related assessment activities that learners complete to demonstrate their abilities to carry out goal-related tasks. Learners and practitioners work together to choose milestones that are meaningful and appropriate, given both the learner’s literacy skills and the learner’s goals.

Goal-related culminating tasks are more complex than milestone tasks and aligned with the curriculum framework. Culminating tasks draw together multiple competencies which may be at different levels of complexity. The successful completion of a culminating task is an important demonstration of the learner’s ability to manage the kinds of tasks they will encounter once they transition beyond the LBS program.

Selection and user guides for milestones and culminating tasks are all available on the “Milestone Portal” hosted by Contact North. These guides provide practitioners with descriptions of the tasks along with instructions on how to administer them. Service providers can contact their employment and training consultant to arrange access to the portal, if they have not already done so.

The Information and Referral Service ensures that information about the LBS service provider’s literacy training opportunities, approaches and targeted clients is available to learners, potential learners, clients, volunteers, referring organizations and other interested individuals. It is often at this stage that a service provider conducts a general literacy screening of a client to determine if the LBS program would be appropriate.

Assessment is any process or procedure that gathers information for making decisions about a learner’s knowledge, skills, behaviours and abilities. It includes a wide range of approaches from informal procedures to formal standardized assessments or tests. LBS service providers conduct assessments at intake, during programming, and at exit.

Foundation papers provide background information on key concepts that informed the development of the OALCF. The papers provide brief descriptions of the theoretical underpinnings of key concepts, how the OALCF products were developed and how these concepts will contribute to stronger learner outcomes.