February 15, 2016 dataangel2013

The Business Case for Investment in Essential Skills in Numbers

Maintaining Canada’s competitive position on global markets, ‎keeping employment, income and health inequalities from growing and getting more out of our tax expenditures relies on reducing the size ‎of occupational literacy skill shortages. The associated economic rationale for investment in literacy skill upgrading is compelling – investment would yield impressive returns. Firms investing in literacy skill upgrading will be more productive, more profitable and more competitive. Governments should adopt measures to ensure that firms invest more in literacy skill upgrading. Governments investing in literacy skill upgrading would also realize impressive returns on investment flowing from increased tax revenue and reductions in income support and health expenditures.

The Business Case for Investment in Essential Skills in Numbers (c) DataAngel Policy Inc 2015

The underlying policy analysis was undertaken by DataAngel Policy Research.

You can download pdfs of all our documents here: DataAngel | Resources

February 15, 2016 dataangel2013

12 Questions to Highlight the Importance of Government Action on Essential Skills

Canadians have a collective interest in understanding the determinants of productivity growth and the social and economic processes that generate inequality in the things that we value most: employment, income and health. The available data suggests an urgent need for investment that serves to raise both the economic demand for, and the supply of, language, literacy and numeracy skills.

12 Questions to Highlight the Importance of Government Action on Essential Skills summarizes the logic that supports the case for investment in Essential Skills: the language, literacy and numeracy skills that adults need to apply their technical skills and knowledge to world-class level.

The underlying policy analysis was undertaken by DataAngel Policy Research.

You can download pdfs of all our documents here: DataAngel | Resources

February 15, 2016 dataangel2013

The Case for Government Investment in Essential Skills

Canadians want more jobs, to earn more without working more, to be healthier and to have access to the Canada’s rate of productivity growth is below the level needed to drive improvement in our standard of living and to maintain our competitiveness on global markets.

Achieving higher rates of productivity depends on increasing both our level of technical skill and knowledge and our levels of key cognitive skills – language, literacy and numeracy – needed to apply technical skills and knowledge to globally competitive levels. It also requires that employers create jobs that require workers to use their knowledge and skills rich.

Read more in our paper The Case for Government Investment in Essential Skills.

The underlying policy analysis was undertaken by DataAngel Policy Research.

You can download pdfs of all our documents here: DataAngel | Resources

February 8, 2016 dataangel2013

Level 3 as a Minimum National Literacy Standard

The initial publication of literacy results from the 2011 OECD PIAAC international adult skills assessment abandoned the Level 3 proficiency standard that had been applied in reporting the results of 1987 LSUDA study, the 1994, 1996 and 1998 IALS studies and the 2003 IALSS study. The reason cited by a senior OECD official for the change was quite astounding “Level 3 is too demanding for the Italians, as 70% of their adult population fall below this threshold and that makes them feel bad.” Based on a careful analysis of the impact of skill level on individual, institutional and national success, I believe that there a strong reasons for Canada to maintain Level 3 literacy as a national standard, one that is needed to assure that we can continue to meet our collective social and economic goals.

Key elements of the evidence that supports Level 3 are presented in our paper Level 3 as a Minimum National Literacy Standard.

The underlying policy analysis was undertaken by DataAngel Policy Research.

You can download pdfs of all our documents here: DataAngel | Resources

DataAngel

Passion informed by reason.

downloads

The Business Case for Investment in Essential Skills in Numbers

12 Questions to Highlight the Importance of Government Action on Essential Skills

The Case for Government Investment in Essential Skills

Level 3 as a Minimum National Literacy Standard