The Saskatchewan Action Research Network is a network of practice-based researchers who provide action research training and mentoring, and also provide a repository and clearing house for practice-based research and resources.

1. “HOW DO YOU RAISE THE LITERACY
LEVELS OF AN ENTIRE PROVINCE?”
THE SARN STORY: 2008-2013”
Saskatchewan Action Research Network
WWW.SARN.CA
Dr. Allan Quigley, Ed.D

2. A Statistical Picture of
Literacy in Canada 43% of
Canadians
Limited
Literacy
53% Limited
Literacy
(levels 1 & 2)
Sask. = 40%
Limited
Literacy
(levels 1 & 2)

3. International Adult Literacy Surveys
1994 &2003
• OECD & Statistics Canada
• Some 40 nations now involved
• Five levels of prose, document, numeracy
• Those below Level 3 are the main target
group for purposes of Work Force Skills

4. International Adult Literacy Surveys
(1994  2003)
• No significant change in 10 years . . .
• Some improvement at Level One (lowest
level) in Sask and Yukon
• In Sask approx. 40% adults below level 3
• Aboriginal Adult Literacy Assessment
Tool challenges some of the findings

5. ADULT LITERACY & BASIC
EDUCATION
CHALLENGES
IN
CANADA & SASKATCHEWAN

6. SOME OF THE DELIVERY CHALLENGES
Only approx. 10% eligible for sponsored programs
come to basic education in Canada (& U.S.A.)
 Over 65% drop out/stop out in some Cdn regions.
Approx. 40% average attrition rates in Sask ABE
between 2005 -> 2008 (AEEI) ...
Saskatchewan Silo Syndrome ....

7. URBAN
SIAST
RURAL AND “RURBAN”
COLLEGES, GDI, SIIT, SALN
CBO’S AND NON-PROFITs:
RPL, READ SASKATOON, UofR Life Learning,
Food Banks, Corrections,
Regina School Board, Radius Saskatoon...

8. DELIVERY CHALLENGES
• Basements state of the art classrooms
• Multiple grant structures and reporting systems
• Literacy/BE more complex than k-12 or most P-S

9. SOME OF THE SASK
INSTRUCTIONAL CHALLENGES
• Huge diversity in instructors’ training &
experience (PhD -> HS)
• Huge job security, salary, & work condition
disparities across the wide range of systems
• Staff turn over issues ......

10. How do you raise the skills, the
professionalism, and effectively
combine the efforts of so many across
the “adult basic education world”
to address pervasive low literacy
in Saskatchewan?
Especially in a time of scarce
resources?

11. THREE NECESSARY THRUSTS
LITERACY &
BASIC
EDUCATION
ENABLING POLICIES
“PROFESSIONAL WISDOM” CATALYST FOR CHANGE

12. #1. ENABLING POLICIES AND
RESOURCES
TOP DOWN
• Leadership & vision
• Policies that signal commitment
• Enabling Resources
• Ministry of the Economy
• Adult Educational Institutions
• OLES
• Academic Community

13. #2 BOTTOM UP
“Professional Wisdom”
Practitioners’ willingness to innovate and
share
Practitioners’ willing to “adapt-adopt”
promising practices ... Take risks
Educational institutions willing to
encourage application of new ideas.

14. 3) “Building Across” (Catalyst)
Creating & sharing evidence-based Research
• Sharing questions in workshops and sharing findings on
our SARN & linked Websites
• Engaging mentors with individuals/groups in face-to-face
and/or distance learning
•Building dialogue on SARN Blog/discussion circles within &
across institutions and systems
SARN

15. Saskatchewan Action Research Network (SARN)
is the name of our province’s
growing literacy & basic education
prof’ development movement.
Thanks to funding from the
Ministry of the
Economy, SARN is now
SARN is in its 5th year
sarn

16. International movement is Research-in-Practice
“Action Research”
is the actual research method most
used by practitioners in literacy/BE
in Canada, U.S., U.K. Australia . . .
The “Alphabet Soup”

17. PRACTITIONERS ARE
IDENTIFYING, RESEARCHING AND
SHARING
“I am doing what I have always done, just
not . . .
• with others,
• I never collected data before,
• I usually didn’t try to share what I
learned before.”

18. HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF
LITERACY/BASIC EDUCATION
ISSUES IDENTIFIED AND
ADDRESSED THROUGH THE
SASKATCHEWAN ACTION
RESEARCH NETWORK

19. SEE FULL REPORTS ON
THE SASKATCHEWAN ACTION
RESEARCH NETWORK WEBSITE
(WWW.SARN.CA)

20. • Investigating the Effects of Issuing Late
Slips, Andrew Quackenbush, 2011
“How will encouraging students to reflect on
their reasons for being late affect the
frequency of arriving late for class?”
• Northlands College, Eastern Region Study
Group, 2003
“Would including food preparation and/or
sharing food within the class keep students in
class longer?”

21. • Improving Retention Rates in an Basic Education
Evening Math Prep Course. Jennifer Bain, 2009
“Would using e-mail to build a sense of
community among BE students improve
retention rates by 10%?”
• Improving Retention Rates During the First
Three Weeks of an Adult Basic Education
Program at Onion Lake. Jacqueline Bruce, 2009
“If I improve the social environment of the
classroom, will the number of students who
complete the first three weeks increase?”

22. • Negotiating Relationship and the Spaces
Between:Building Attendance in an Adult
Education Program. Kristi Yarshenko, 2010
“How might increased personal communication
between instructor and students affect
attendance in an Adult Basic Education
program?”
• Reduction of Class Time Lost Due to Morning
Lateness. Shannon King, & Anna Fish, 2011
“Would the use of a morning sign-in sheet
change student lateness patterns?”

23. Categories of Practitioner Reports
(Approx. 35 reports)
A. Addressing Issues of Dropout, “Lates,” and
Low Attendance
B. Exploring Innovative Teaching Strategies
C. Increasing Learner Community Involvement
D. Focus on Aboriginal Literacy Issues
E. Focus on Adult Learners of English as an
Additional Language Issues
F. Practitioner Professional Development

24. OUR STORY ...
Very briefly

25. Our story
– One workshop in 2003
It could have died then . .

27. The Funding Years:
Practitioners Trained Since 2008
• Year one: 2008 – 2009: “Getting Started
• 12 participants at Saskatoon Workshop
• Including 2 working with Aboriginal learners
(Onion Lake & SIIT)
• Training materials developed
• Presentations at conferences (SLN & SABEA)

28. Saskatchewan Action Research
Network (WWW.SARN.CA)
• As of today = 164 TRAINED
• About 50 working with Aboriginal learners
• 10 Mentors trained for outreach support
• Discussion Circle technology for on-going
group work

29. AND TODAY

30. • Three college campuses (Great Plains + SERC +
Cumberland College)
• Two SIAST campuses (Wascana + Woodland)
• Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT)
• SARN Website with active blog in place
(WWW.SARN)
• Articles in SIAST newsletter, AESA newsletter, and
Essential Skills ON.

31. • OUR WEBSITE LOOKS LIKE THIS .......
READ ON 

33. SARN HAS CONDUCTED ANNUAL
presentations at
SLN/SABEA/COLLEGES conferences
2013 SABEA CONFERENCE POSTER
PRESENTATION SESSION

34. SABEA 2013

37. BULA GHOSH – GREAT PLAINS

38. CUMBERLAND COLLEGE ....
MELFORT
APRIL 8, 2013

39. “THINKING IN A RESEARCH WAY”
DEALING WITH DROPOUT
Allan Quigley, Ed.D.
Cumberland College
April 8, 2013

40. Cumberland College Melfort

41. Cumberland College Melfort

42. Why
the SASKATCHEWAN
ACTION RESEARCH
NETWORK?

43. WE ARE RAISING THE LEVELS OF
PRACTITIONER
PROFESSIONALISM,
AT A COMPARATIVELY
LOW TRAINING COST
AND, BY DOING SO, WE ARE
HELPING RAISE LITERACY LEVELS
FOR A BETTER SASKATCHEWAN

44. THE FUTURE?
• Engage other literacy/BE groups—ESL
SASK, NON-PROFIT OUTREACH CBO’s
• Build more distance-connected support
• Build multiple-campus model & increased
cross-system workshops
• Move beyond Basic Ed to
trades, technology, health training with adult
learners ... ??

45. • Co-sponsor guest speaker(s) with
SABEA, SLN or Colleges (?)
• Publish in professional journals
• Build Webinars & Blog dialogue
across Sask and with other
provinces/states/countries

46. IN CLOSING
THE FUTURE?
• CONTINUE TO BUILD A STRONGER
“CULTURE OF INQUIRY” FOR ADULT
LITERACY AND BASIC EDUCATION
AND BEYOND ??

47. LOOKING AHEAD....
Hoping to receive a SARN grant next year .
Interested in a one-day PD workshop?
Host cost-shares (50%-50%) with SARN
1. Identifying actual teaching issues
2. Developing systematic action plans
3. Getting follow-up help from Mentors and/or
use the Discussion Circles
4. Posting findings on the SARN Website. .

48. Interested in a Saskatchewan
training workshop?
Always glad to hear from you