School Psychologist Lauren Clare Duggan was nominated for this award by Dr. Jamie Metsala, a registered clinical psychologist and advocate for evidence-based reading instruction and intervention, not only in Nova Scotia but across Canada. Dr. Metsala has helped Duggan implement these practices in her school board. "Her support to me in this journey has been invaluable," remarked Duggan.
Duggan currently works at the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education and has been the head psychologist for her region since 2015. Over the last eight years, she has shown a strong interest in advocating for evidence-based reading instruction and intervention for students with reading difficulties. Her steadfast dedication to inclusive education has earned her the 2024 Dyslexia Canada Educational Excellence Award.
Duggan leads a team of 12 psychologists who work together to provide professional learning for teachers. The team has been seeking ways to support teachers in integrating evidence-based practices into their classrooms, even though it is not yet mandated by the province of Nova Scotia. Sometimes, there can be pushback when introducing a new way of doing things, but she says educators have been supportive. "We've been very fortunate here that we had some strong collaboration and working together with student services and programs - and sort of a broader team - and really all focused on the end goal - that we all want our students to be strong readers, strong writers, and when we really keep that focus in mind, we can problem-solve around that," explained Duggan.
Much of the work psychologists do involves collecting data, administering assessments, and assisting in data analysis. Depending on the challenges faced in classrooms — such as a significant number of students struggling in a particular area — interventionists or resource teachers may provide whole-class interventions, particularly in the early elementary grades. This collaboration has facilitated professional development opportunities for classroom teachers as they work alongside interventionists to deliver whole-class instruction in phonemic awareness and phonics. This joint effort has proven effective in enhancing foundational reading skills among students.
Duggan’s team started screening students in 2019, and it has grown from there. "It really allowed and lent itself to being able to screen our students and really look at what students may require additional intervention and support to be able to close the gaps and read at benchmark levels," noted Duggan.
"Being able to have our psychologists administer screening and then also being able to analyze that data with our school teams and review which students might need additional support, and how that might look, has been very beneficial," added Duggan.
Duggan hopes to see more screening across Nova Scotia. "I think that open collaboration across the province has really allowed for growth in this area and the sharing of information and learning from each other - so I think that continued collaboration and support can help all of our regions in Nova Scotia move to some early screening and identification," she stated.
“Even though it’s been a long process to get to this point, changes are now happening, and I work with such a great team of professionals that I know we will continue to move forward with positive changes to both our reading instruction and intervention in order to benefit the students.”
The team is also getting good feedback from parents. "It's always nice when you get to see these parents years later and can hear the positive stories about where the diagnosis that you made early on - and interventions that were put into place - have really helped their child to improve in many areas, which then affects their self-esteem, their confidence, and their ability to go on and be successful," reflected Duggan.
To learn more, listen to Lauren Clare Duggan’s interview 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.