Dimensions
Each of the core skills is described in terms of three dimensions:
1. Levels of performance
There are five levels of performance, ranging from 1 (lowest level of performance) to 5. These levels are described in more details in the tables on the following pages.
Each level has indicators that describe the person's achievement at that level. Learning, reading, writing and oral communication each have two indicators. Numeracy has three indicators. You can see the 11 different indicators on page 9 of the Australian Core Skills Framework by following the link on the previous page.
2. Variables of performance
The four performance variables that may influence a person's performance in the core skills are:
- the nature and amount of support provided
- how familiar the context is
- how complex the text is
- how complex the task is.
3. Domains of communication
The domains of communication are the broad contexts in which core skill may be used. The three domains are:
- personal and community
- workplace and employment
- education and training.
The link below will take you to an excerpt from the Australian Core Skills Framework (A Summary) (Appendix 1), showing how the five levels of performance take into account the amount of support given, as well as how familiar and complex the text or task is to the person being assessed.
Levels of performance and factors affecting performance
Examples of skills at each performance level
Below are some examples of what a person is able to do in each core skill at the five different ACSF levels for that skill. These examples are taken from Appendix 2 in the Australian Core Skills Framework (A Summary).
Once you've had a close look at the excerpts above (taken from the ACSF summary document), you should go to the full ACSF to see how it is structured.
In particular, look at the 'sample activities' under the domains of communication. You'll find them at the end of each level in each of the core skills. These sample activities help to illustrate the different performance levels by using concrete examples.
Work through the descriptors to identify your own performance levels in the five core skills.
Write down your performance level for each core skill. We will look at these differing levels under the next topic heading: 'Spiky profiles'.