CALGARY - On Thursday, March 6, 2014, Conrad Murphy, Director TOWES (Test of Workplace Essential Skills); Anna Kae Todd, Vice President Learning, Bow Valley College; Silvano Tocchi, Director General, Office of Literacy and Essential Skills; and other dignitaries gathered to launch the online version of TOWES Prime.

An innovative suite of web-based assessment products, TOWES Prime assesses literacy skills in prose literacy, document literacy and numeracy. TOWES Prime helps to identify students at risk of completing training programs, and diagnoses areas of reading difficulty. In the workplace, TOWES Prime helps to determine training needs, conducts a workforce analysis, and aids in succession planning.

"We should all be concerned about Canada's literacy rate because there is a strong correlation between literacy and essential skills, and a safe and productive workplace. And Canada needs to improve those literacy levels in order to remain competitive in a global economy," said Murphy.

Employment and Social Development Canada, the Alberta Association of Colleges & Technical Institutes, Nexen, and Bow Valley College provided funding to produce the TOWES Prime assessment tool for an online audience.

Web-based, adaptive, user friendly and competitively priced, the TOWES Prime products are:

1)      Focus: the tool of choice for sorting learners into groups with common learning needs, for formative assessment, summative assessment, and for system accountability measures of skill gain.

2)      Foundation: a reading components diagnostic tool for learners at literacy levels 1 and 2.

3)      Sharp: assessment for certification for graduation or employment. The ideal solution for high-stakes recruitment, selection and promotion.

4)      Scaffold: web-based training modules for Prime assessment administration and score interpretation activities. Also includes a bibliography of learning materials appropriate for a cross section of learners.

The first customers for TOWES Prime include the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, Literacy Alberta, Data Angel Policy Research, Oil sands producers, Employment training programs in the Metis Nation of Ontario, Restigouche New Brunswick, Alberta Workforce Essential Skills, and the Association of Canadian Community Colleges.

For more information on TOWES Prime please go to: http://towesprime.com/Home.aspx

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Editor's note:

TOWES offers valid, reliable and effective assessments, curriculum and training support for organizations and individuals looking to assess and improve Essential Skills.  Essential Skills are the skills needed to carry out everyday tasks for work, learning and life. They are not the technical skills required by a particular job; they are the skills applied in all occupations.