July 4, 2002
Young homeless people in Scotland may be losing out on the chance of a better future, because the system of assessing their basic literacy skills isn't working. Scottish care charity Quarriers, is hoping to do something about it.
Aim, Quarriers' adult education project for homeless young people, is to take part in a pan-European investigation into finding new ways of assessing the educational needs of those with learning difficulties, whose social background might make traditional assessment methods less effective.
Aim has been working closely with teams from Romania, France, Portugal and Austria to lay out plans to investigate and improve education assessment methods, and a joint proposal was submitted to EU education body, Socrates Grundtvig, in each of their home countries.
This week the project received a substantial funding boost from Socrates, in collaboration with The British Council. At the time of going to press, three of the other four countries had also received news that their proposals had been approved.
The proposal outlined the need to develop new methods of assessment for adult learners with literacy and numeracy difficulties heightened by their social situation. The social backgrounds of the service users in each of the participating countries vary. For example, Aim works with young, urban, homeless individuals while the Austrian project works mainly with long-term unemployed people in rural areas. But each group recognises that informal assessment is key to establishing the true needs of clients, and working towards increased literacy.
Colleen Willoughby, Adult Literacy Co-ordinator at Aim who attended the Romanian conference and submitted the Aim proposal to the Scottish arm of Socrates, said: "Formal assessments and interviews can serve as barriers for those with non-conventional learning needs. They can remind people of school, a system they might not have done well in, and this can make them back off."
The proposal states that each project will pilot new methods of assessment in their own countries, constructed around the specific needs of their clients, and taking into consideration their social background. The funding will then enable the project team to travel to each other's learning base, share and compare their findings, and devise new methods of evaluation which can then be shared with other education boards. It is thought the collaborative findings will indicate the extent to which methods have to be tailored to individuals with differing social and educational backgrounds, or can be formulated into a central assessment programme.
In June 2000 the then Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, Henry McLeish, launched the Adult Literacy Team - a governmental group who would work towards improving adult education resources and improve the lack of research on adult literacy available in Scotland. Their findings, when published, showed that 25% of the Scottish population had literacy and numeracy skills they themselves considered 'low'. The report found that a high proportion of those with 'low' literacy and numeracy ratings fell into one of four social categories: people living in disadvantaged areas, people with low-skill jobs, people with low incomes, and people with disabilities and health problems.1
Colleen and her European colleagues are working to very specific objectives to improve education practices for their user groups. In the broader picture, she hopes their findings would eventually inform bodies like the Adult Literacy Team, for the wider good of adult education groups across the country.
Colleen said: "We don't know how literacy and numeracy issues relate to people's reasons for becoming homeless but we know that if they have support to improve their skills they are in a much better, and definitely more confident position to access further education and employment."
Quarriers' Adult Education Project was launched in December 1999, funded by the New Futures Fund and operating out of two of Quarriers' local projects for young homeless people, The James Shields Project and Stopover, in response to the correlation project staff found between homelessness and issues surrounding literacy and numeracy. Relaunched as 'Aim' this year, the project is still funded by the New Futures Fund (Scottish Enterprise).
Quarriers has been providing residential and other support services for Glasgow's young homeless people for a number of years and has recently secured funding to develop similar projects in North and South Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire and Drumchapel.
END
Notes to Editor:
Quarriers is Scotland's third largest care charity, number SC001960. Established in 1871, it provides a wide range of care services for children, families, young people and adults with a disability from around 70 projects at around 100 sites in west-central, south-west and north-east Scotland.
Quarriers' Aim Project delivers a wide range of educational services, including: learning-style assessments; strengthening core literacy skills; improving reading and listening comprehension; vocabulary building; advanced college preparation; note-taking strategies; basic and advanced spelling and reading programmes; CV guidance, instruction and preparation; and critical writing and thinking development.
Programme co-ordinator Colleen Willoughby forms an educational partnership with the students. They are encouraged to help design their path of study and their lessons are customised to meet their individual needs. Colleen is certified in Lindamood-Bell techniques and worked as a literacy instructor for Monterey Peninsula College in California for around five years before moving to Glasgow.
Quarriers' Stopover Project (189 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow) provides crisis accommodation for up to ten weeks for 14 young people (aged 16-25 years). During this time their housing and support needs are assessed and by the end of the ten weeks they should move on to appropriate longer-term accommodation. Stopover was established in recognition that many young people fall through the safety net provided by existing local government and voluntary sector initiatives.
Quarriers' James Shields Project at (100 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow) provides longer term accommodation for young people aged 18-25 years and is managed by Quarriers on behalf of Glasgow City Council. The project provides bed-sit accommodation for 37 young people for up to two years. It is anticipated that young people will move from this project into their own tenancy.
This information from Shona O'Donnell of The Business, public relations support to Quarriers. For more information please contact: Tel: 0131 718 6022 Fax: 0131 718 6145 Mobile: 07879 842527
'Adult Literacy and Numeracy in Scotland', Scottish Executive 2000
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