In 2009, the Department of Labour commissioned Heathrose Research Limited to carry out a formative evaluation of embedded literacy and numeracy projects run by industry training organisations (ITOs). These Tertiary Education Commissionfunded projects are integral to the Government’s Literacy, Language and Numeracy Action Plan 2008–2012, developed in support of the Tertiary Education Strategy.
This report outlines the findings from the evaluation, starting with:
- New Zealand’s performance in adult literacy and numeracy
- the policy responses for improving literacy and numeracy skills across the tertiary sector
- how these responses were implemented in an industry training context.
The key components of the ITOs’ approaches to embedding and their development over time is outlined, drawing on interviews and case studies. The report concludes by identifying lessons learned through the evaluation. Its overall conclusion is that the ITOs have largely completed the projects they received funding for, but there is still a considerable amount of work to be done before it could be claimed that development of literacy and numeracy skills has been embedded into industry training arrangements more broadly.