Interim Evaluation of the National Literacy Program. Final Report

The evaluation examined issues related to: (1) Rationale and Relevance; (2) Implementation; and (3) Success. In addition, the interim evaluation was intended to: (1) Determine whether sufficient data was being collected to inform the summative evaluation and identify opportunities for improvement to fill any potential gaps; (2) Assess whether the changes brought to the logic model following the 2002 evaluation, including the clarification of the program definitions, objectives, and targets, made achievement of NLP objectives more measurable; and (3) Assess whether new data collection requirements and methodologies have been put into place since the 2002 evaluation to ensure that both short and long-term outcomes, including changes made since the 2002 summative evaluation, can be measured. Finally, the interim evaluation assessed NLP performance in relation to commitments made in the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS) Management Response to the 2002 summative evaluation, including: (1) Increasing the transparency of funding decisions; (2) Increasing the accessibility of projects and project results; (3) Simplifying the funding application process; (4) Increasing the reliability and credibility of local research projects; (5) Increasing the usage of contributions; and (6) Developing a framework for a Pan-Canadian Literacy Strategy. Appendices include: (1) Evaluation Matrix; (2) Project Case Studies; (3) Organisation Case Studies; (4) Expert Panel Products; and (5) NLP Logic Model. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 25 footnotes.)