Parent group urges funds to help spot reading disabilities sooner

It may be too late for their children, but parents are appealing to school boards to fund teacher training to spot struggling readers sooner.

Caregiver Advocates for Literacy Equity is launching a new campaign this week, against the backdrop of I Love to Read Month.

The coalition represents dozens of families, many of whom have children with dyslexia. It is planning a series of presentations for trustees across Manitoba.

“The damage has been done to my son, sadly — we’re trying to propel things forward for him — but I just want to make a change for other kids,” said Allison Guercio, a mother of two in Winnipeg.

Guercio’s family has paid $30,000 for private tutoring in recent years to help her now 12-year-old learn to read.

She wants to create a sense of urgency around preparing teachers for new universal screening requirements this fall.

The group is calling on schools to start using evidence-based tools in kindergarten and fund training for all teachers to both administer them and analyze findings.

The families also want to see divisions closely track and collect data to inform long-term planning.

Guercio prepared a presentation for the St. James-Assiniboia School Division on Tuesday. Other parents are reaching out to boards, from Sunrise to Brandon, to deliver the same message.

Starting next fall, Manitoba elementary schools will be required by law to systematically screen students for reading difficulties.

The changes mandate that every child is tested twice in at least three years, between kindergarten to Grade 4. Families will be alerted of results via report cards.

In cases where a student is found to be struggling, the school is expected to intervene and keep close tabs on them.

The Public Schools Amendment Act (Early Reading Screening) officially comes into force this summer.

The education minister has provided school divisions with criteria for selecting and piloting evidence-based tools.

Natalie Riediger has been vocal about her support for the changes on paper, but she said compliance will be key.

“Change is hard. It’s going to be really hard and we have to continue to apply pressure,” said Riediger, who has two children, a fifth grader and eighth grader, with dyslexia.

“The pressure has to come from us parents and boards for change — for our kids’ human rights to be realized, for their right to read to be realized.”

Riediger said parents want to make sure teachers are getting the support they need, as that hasn’t always been the case.

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission “Right to Read” project revealed many teachers have not been equipped with science-backed methods to teach reading or scan for signs of struggle.

Its authors endorsed the use of direct, explicit and systematic instruction in phonics for all students. They also called for changes to improve early detection, along with professional development to support teachers.

Guercio’s son, who was in Grade 1 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, spent his initial school years pivoting to and from remote learning.

Concerns about his challenges with reading aloud and writing were brushed off as a result, his mother said.

“I kept being told, ‘you need to read more with him,’” she said.

Concerned about the boy’s well-being, self-esteem and frequent tears, the family paid for a private clinical psychologist assessment at the end of his Grade 3 year. He was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD.

The St. James-Assiniboia School Division started using Acadience Reading to check on Grade 1 and 2 students’ progress this fall.

The River East Transcona School Division has chosen the same tool, which is available in English and French.

“We’re not just putting the tool in the hand of the teachers. We’re supporting them with understanding the why, the how and the what next,” chief superintendent Sandra Herbst said.

Nine of her division’s 28 elementary schools are piloting Acadience Reading — which takes about 10 minutes to administer per student — this year.

Teachers in all of these sites spent a full day learning how to use it in October. Another half-day of professional development focused on how to score and analyze results.

Herbst met with a delegate from the parent literacy coalition on Monday.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca