Funded Projects

Structured Literacy Interventions Through Community Partnerships

Project Year

2022

City & State

Windsor, Ontario

Program Name

CATCH Implementation

Topic

Literacy

Program Description

Problem: The problem is that of poor literacy levels in elementary school children in Ontario, Canada, and specifically in my community of Windsor-Essex County. Furthermore, pediatricians are increasingly on the front lines of dealing with the mental health impact of poor literacy —especially anxiety, depression and suicidal behaviour. Reading is the most common learning disability, accounting for 80% of all learning disabilities. Literacy is a social driver of health (mental and physical), economic and justice outcomes. The COVID- 19 pandemic has laid bare health, education and economic disparities and led to widespread loss in education gains due to virtual learning and prolonged school closures. Studies show that 95% of students are able to learn to read when evidenced-based structured instruction is offered early and systematically. Primary Setting This project encompasses a multidimensional approach, designed to wrap around families and leverage the expertise of community pediatricians, a local learning disabilities association, and a local pediatrician-led parent engagement initiative. The primary setting is in the community of Windsor-Essex County. Number of children affected According to the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), approximately 30% of children in Grade 3 in the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) were below the provincial standard in reading. 30% of students who took the test in 2018 would represent greater than 1000 children annually at a single school board, and there are three other smaller boards in the county. Project goal/ Proposed Intervention 1. Develop a positive, evidenced-based structured literacy intervention program for children in the Windsor-Essex region with a learning disability or Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder and reading below their grade level. This intervention will focus on developing literacy skills using the Wilson Reading System. 2. A parent engagement session in an in-person and /or virtual format to allow parents or guardians of at-risk children with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder to gain information about reading difficulties in children with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder. The engagement session will aim to provide parents/ guardians with knowledge of how to recognize these problems, how they affect children’s development, and tools, strategies, and community supports available to help their children succeed despite the barriers to literacy they currently face. 3. The formation of an advisory working group of community pediatricians across Ontario, who will plan how literacy supports to parents and children can be further promoted at the local (in their communities) and provincial level. The Ontario Human Rights Commission's landmark Right to Read Inquiry will be releasing its 400 page report in the next few months (personal communications with OHRC counsel). The anticipated transformative change that its recommendations are likely to initiate, including concrete recommendations for evidenced- based structured literacy interventions, need to be widely distributed. Anticipated Outcomes 1. Literacy pilot program: Quantitatively measure positive growth in reading ability by tracking the students' degree of change in reading levels over the program's course. The parents/ guardians' survey will measure the Structured Literacy Intervention program's perceived impact on their children's education. 2. Develop a Structured Literacy program that will be available for children in Windsor Essex County after the pilot program is complete. 3. Parent Engagement Session: Survey of parents' perceptions about access to literacy interventions and supports at school, in the community and whether the engagement session improved their knowledge about resources within their community 4. Form of a literacy advisory planning group of community pediatricians across Ontario.

Project Goal

Structured Literacy Interventions Through Community Partnerships. This is a multi- dimensional approach that will leverage community connections with the Learning Disabilities Association of Windsor-Essex County, ADHD Awareness Windsor, and provincial pediatrician networks through the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario (PAO) which is the Ontario Chapter of AAP. The goals are: a) to complete a pilot program to increase access to evidenced -based structured literacy programs in Windsor-Essex County. b) provide parent engagement sessions that will increase parental knowledge about reading difficulties in school-age children, and how to access tools and resources within the community. c) form a Literacy Pediatrics Advisory Group consisting of pediatricians from across Ontario.

Project Objective 1

The impact will be measured by pre and post reading level assessments in a 10 week evidenced-based reading pilot program. The program is realistic as it will be carried out by the Learning Disabilities Association of Windsor- Essex. This organization has been providing tutoring services in reading for over 30 years. This evidenced-based pilot program is new however. This is a time-based pilot program of 10 weeks that will have the data and analysis completed 2 weeks after program completion. The report will be completed by March 2023

Project Objective 2

The parent engagement sessions will reach 100 parents/caregivers, in order to improve parent knowledge about reading disabilities, and how to access tools, resources and supports in the community. This objective will be measured in the number of parents who attend the parent engagement session, and the number of survey evaluations completed. This is a realistic goal as ADHD Awareness Windsor, has a long track record of reaching this group of parents. It is a time-based intervention that will be completed by December 2022

Project Objective 3

This objective is to engage 6-10 community pediatricians across Ontario through the formation of a Literacy Pediatrics Advisory Group by June 2022. It will be measured by the number of pediatricians who are members of the Literacy Advisory Group, and the number of meetings held. The goal is to have at least 6 meetings. This objective is achievable and realistic because there is a high degree of engagement by pediatricians with improving child literacy. Literacy was voted a top 5 priority when the members of the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario (PAO) were surveyed. This is a time-limited advisory group.

AAP District

District V

Institutional Name

Learning Disabilities Association Windsor Essex ; Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario (PAO), Pediatrician Advisory Focus Group- Virtual

Contact 1

Sharon Burey