Naming the magic : non-academic outcomes in basic literacy

Summary: Forty basic literacy instructors, at a conference in May 1999, drafted six techniques for the documentation of non-academic changes that may occur in the lives of learners as a result of participation in literacy instruction. Several conference participants in consultation with the project coordinator, Evelyn Battell from Malaspina University-College, further developed the documentation techniques. The techniques were then field-tested by literacy practitioners including instructors, tutors, and tutor coordinators. The final report presents a description of the following techniques for documenting non-academic outcomes (NAOs) for literacy students: A Multi-Media approach, Using Journals, Goal Setting by Learners, Anecdotal Reporting and End-of-Term Reports (combination of two techniques) and Questions for Developing Awareness. The final report also documents the difficulties encountered during the field-testing process and identifies six recommendations, based on the project, that call for more extensive and focused study on non-academic outcomes.