Waterloo Region District School Board is the first school board to address every student’s “Right to Read”

BY PAUL JUNOR

The Ontario Human Rights Commission’s report, which resulted from the Right to Read Inquiry, continues to have ripple effects across the education system. The report, which was released in 2021, highlights how learning to read is not a privilege but a basic and essential human right.

The public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with disabilities in Ontario’s public schools calls for critical changes to Ontario’s approach to early reading. It resulted in 157 recommendations that were directed to the Ministry of Education, school boards and faculties of education in order to address deep and long-lasting issues that impact how they teach reading.

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is the first board in the province to get the ball rolling with respect to addressing these systemic issues. Details about WRDSB’s multi-year structured literacy plan were reported in an article by Barbara Latkowski in the October 25^th issue of the Kitchener City News.

The article notes that the WRDSB’s: Indigenous students, African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) students, racialized, multilingual learners, non-neurotypical students, those with disabilities and students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) households are the most impacted by challenges related to reading skill development.

Jeewan Chanicka, WRDSB’s Director of Education reported that students would be rewarded from this program, not just the most marginalized students. He states, “Our approach is aligned with what the ministry is asking of us, our goal is to close gaps for all of our students and recognize that all districts across the province have been directed to do better for the most marginalized students.”

The WRDSB is in the early stages of implementing this structured literacy plan. According to Bobbie Chatha, system administrator for elementary education at WRDSB, “This work began in the summer of 2021 with our WRDSB Learning Support Services consultant and staff. We unpacked the ways in which WRDSB students learn and dove into learning about essential and foundational skills needed to read.” The program was implemented in the fall of the 2021/2022 focusing on structured literacy and ensuring the resources were distributed to school administrators and educators.

Ines Bijl, a consultant at Learning and Support Services at WRDSB stated, “We will continue to focus on ensuring that every student is reading by the end of grade two.

Looking at our last EQAO data from 2018 to 2019, 70% of WRDSB students are meeting the provincial standards for reading proficiency. That in turn, however, means that 30% are not.”

With respect to grade three students, nearly 60% are below the minimum standards that are considered proficient. Bijl states further, “Other groups of students have also been identified as disproportionately affected by our current instructional practices. These groups include: racialized and Indigenous populations, lower SES populations, as well as students with language deficits. When we hold all students to high expectations, reading failure is not an option. We as educators and as a system, need to ensure that social location and identity no longer predict outcomes.”

Bijl concurs with the findings of the OHRC’s Right to Read that reading is a human right. He acknowledges, “Aligning with the recommendations from the OHRC, will help to create the equitable conditions for learning and optimal outcomes for each and every student at the WRDSB.”

WRDSB has structured specific changes for students in years one to two, two to three and three to four. Bijl concludes, “We are responsible for each and every student to read. Together we will nurture supportive relationships in an: inclusive, safe and caring environment and practice culturally responsive and research-based pedagogy and assessments for our reading programs.”