A guide to assessing adults who are operating below the steps described in the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy. 

The primary aim of Starting Points: Assessment Guide is to give tertiary teachers a framework for assessing adults who are beginning to read and write. A must-read and useful starting point for anyone interested in supporting adults who operate below the steps described in the Learning Progressions.

• The guide has been developed to support Starting Points: Supporting the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy 
• It provides suggestions for assessing adults who are operating below the steps described in the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy
• Educators of ESoL learners can also refer to the English Language Partners New Zealand website.
• An assessment of an adult literacy learner aims to achieve three key goals.
• They include:
  • identify the learner’s strengths and areas that need to be worked on in order to set appropriate goals and plan instruction;
  • continuously inform instruction, with relevant feedback provided to both the learner and the educator;
  • and study the outcomes of instruction for reporting purposes (to identify the learner’s gains over time and provide information for evaluating adult literacy programmes).
• When an adult has very low reading and writing skills, any assessments must be fine-grained and specific to determine exactly what the learner’s skills and needs are in order to maximise the effectiveness of future instruction.
• The Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool also has online Starting Points assessment options.