Clarifications for Literacy and Numeracy unit standards 26622 to 26627

Find the clarifications for assessing against Literacy and Numeracy unit standards 26622 to 26627

How the Literacy and Numeracy unit standards relate to the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions

The Literacy unit standards align to koru (step) 4 of the Adult Literacy Learning Progressions, and the Numeracy unit standards align to koru 5 of the Adult Numeracy Learning Progressions.

This means that when assessing a learner’s portfolio against the requirements of a Literacy or Numeracy unit standard, the teacher or assessor must ensure the portfolio as a whole reflects (or exceeds) the required koru of the relevant learning progression. 

The Adult Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions can be accessed from Ako Aotearoa:

Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (external link)

Explanatory note 2: Naturally occurring evidence versus evidence from specifically designed assessment events

These unit standards must be assessed on the basis of evidence that has occurred naturally in real contexts.

Evidence from one-off assessment events designed specifically for assessing these unit standards is not acceptable.

The activity or event the evidence is gathered from must be part of a larger learning programme or other context. This programme or context must be detailed in the Assessed Work cover sheet before submission for national external moderation.

Assessed work cover sheets

A distinction can be drawn between the activity that is naturally occurring, and the tool used to gather evidence from that activity for the purpose of assessment against the Literacy or Numeracy unit standard.

For example, to complete a science class activity, learners need to read a text.  To collect evidence of that reading to contribute to assessment for standard 26624 (Read texts with understanding), it's acceptable for the teacher to give learners a brief work sheet that asks them to jot down how useful they found the text for completing the class activity.

In educational settings, controlled assessment events (tests or exams that occur in other courses or as part of a larger literacy or numeracy learning programme) that learners undertake for reasons other than producing evidence for these standards are also acceptable as evidence.

Explanatory note 3: Requirement to demonstrate competency over time

Learners must demonstrate competence against the unit standards over a period of time.

This ensures that learners who receive credit for these unit standards can demonstrate an ongoing literacy and numeracy capability, as opposed to short-term cramming.

Learner evidence used to demonstrate competence against each Literacy or Numeracy unit standard should be gathered over a period of at least 1 month.  

There may be a difference between when evidence was generated by the learner and when it was gathered and assessed for the Literacy or Numeracy unit standard.

Dates when learner activities happen should be recorded on the Assessed Work cover sheet or on the learner's work.

Find more assessment resources for these unit standards