The Literacy team of the Evergreen School Division, serving eight schools in Winnipeg Beach, Gimli, Arborg, and Riverton communities, has been honoured with one of the 2024 Dyslexia Canada Educational Excellence Awards. Recognized as a model for other school divisions and educators across Manitoba and Canada, the team's dedication to raising awareness through professional development, supporting teachers in implementing evidence-based practices, and providing impactful interventions has set a commendable standard.
Despite not being mandated by Manitoba, the Evergreen School Division has proactively implemented evidence-based reading instruction and universal screening for dyslexia and reading challenges. Superintendent Scott Hill highlights the invaluable support from teachers who embraced these initiatives early on, demonstrating to their colleagues that change is possible and beneficial.
"As we trained more teachers and learned more about research evidence on reading instruction and the Ontario human rights reading inquiry, it became increasingly clear that it was important for us to act and not wait for the outcome of a similar inquiry here in Manitoba," said Hill. "Teaching reading is the most important thing, and when we know better how to do that, we must act."
Learning Coordinator Jessica Worden praises teachers' adaptability and patience amidst significant changes in assessment, instruction, and intervention, as undertaking major change can be challenging, particularly when people have been teaching in a certain way for a long time. The collaboration between literacy consultants and classroom teachers, characterized by open communication and feedback, has been pivotal in the Division's success. "I think a big part of our success has been through the residency model and having our literacy consultant go to support classroom teachers - and bringing those teachers in as much as possible so that anytime we start something new or have a new program to try," said Worden.
The introduction of a screening process in the 2022-23 school year has proven instrumental in early identification in the Evergreen School Division. Worden emphasizes the effectiveness of these tools in identifying skill deficits as early as kindergarten and first grade, enabling timely interventions to ensure students' academic success. "The screening tools have caught students earlier than we would have originally caught them. Sometimes it would take until students were in grade 2 or 3 before we started noticing the gaps; now we can determine in kindergarten and grade 1 what the skill deficits are," Worden notes.
The decision to transition from part-time to full-time kindergarten reflects the Division's commitment to early education and evidence-based practices, according to Hill. Positive outcomes, such as increased student engagement and decreased problem behaviours, underscore the efficacy of these approaches. Worden notes that parents have been reaching out to schools, reporting that their children are voluntarily picking up books at home, even without any prompting. These are students who, prior to receiving classroom and tier 3 interventions, typically wouldn't have engaged in independent reading at home. Parents are delighted to observe their children reading at home without needing to be reminded, and they're noticing increased confidence in various aspects of their lives, not just academically. Additionally, some teachers have observed a decrease in problem behaviours among individual students as their reading skills improve.
"Every success story that we hear from a teacher, parent, or principal is fuel that drives us to go even further and continue to do our best by the kids that come to us," said Hill.
To learn more, listen to Evergreen School Divisions’ interview with Scott Hill and Jessica Worden on the Dyslexia Canada podcast. It is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you typically access your podcasts.
In this series, we profile the recipients of the 2024 Dyslexia Canada Educational Excellence Awards. This prestigious award recognizes individuals across the nation who have made exceptional contributions to ensure that all Canadian children have access to essential literacy support.