Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The OHRC launched the Right to Read Inquiry in October 2019 (Inquiry or Inquiry Report), building on previous work on accessible education. Notably, in 2012, the OHRC intervened in a case called Moore v British Columbia (Education) and in 2018 established a Policy on Accessible Education for Students with Disabilities.

The Inquiry investigated the human rights issues facing students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system.

The focus was on the roles of the Ministry of Education, the Ontario College of Teachers, school boards, and faculties of education in ensuring every student’s right to read. The OHRC engaged with more than 1,400 students, parents, and guardians, and collected over 1,700 surveys from educators. The primary focus was on English-language boards and faculties. However, the OHRC also recognized challenges within French-language education. The OHRC worked with two experts in reading development and disabilities, Dr. Linda Siegel and Dr. Jamie Metsala, to analyze substantial data from eight English-language public school boards, all 13 Ontario English-language public faculties of education, and the Ministry of Education.

The OHRC found that the Province was systematically failing to meet its obligation to ensure that all students have access to the instruction and support they need to learn to read. Equity-deserving students, including those with dyslexia and other disabilities, students from lower-income backgrounds, Black and other racialized students, First Nations, Métis and Inuit students and multilingual students are disproportionately affected.

On February 28, 2022, the OHRC released the Right to Read Inquiry Report. The inquiry called for critical changes to the Province’s approach to teaching early reading. It set out 157 interconnected recommendations on how education sector partners can respond to meet the right to read. This  Inquiry Report has inspired other jurisdictions across Canada to re-examine their approaches to teaching reading, and human rights commissions in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to launch similar initiatives.

“The Right to Read has given us much-needed guidance and clarity.”
M. Griese, Moosonee District School Area Board

 

Recommendations

A total of 157 recommendations across six themes provide a blueprint to make sure the one million children in Ontario who annually require systematic and explicit instruction get what they need to learn to read. These recommendations include:

  1. Curriculum: Adopting a new Kindergarten program and Grades 1 to 8 language curriculum that features direct and systematic instruction in foundational reading skills. Training current and future teachers on evidence-based approaches to teaching students to read.
      
  2. Screening: Screening every student, at least twice a year from Kindergarten to Grade 2, to identify students at risk for reading difficulties using standardized, evidence-based screening tools.
      
  3. Reading Interventions: Standardizing and providing stable funding for evidence-based reading interventions and making access to interventions equitable for all students.
      
  4. Accommodations: Providing and supporting timely, effective and appropriate accommodation.
      
  5. Professional Assessments: Improving access to professional assessments and ensuring greater consistency and transparency in the assessment process.
     
  6. Systemic Issues: Setting clear and consistent standards for school boards and mandating better data collection, analysis and reporting; improving communication with students and parents; working with experts in the science of reading to implement the OHRC’s recommendations.
     

The Province responded enthusiastically and quickly to the Right to Read, pledging to work with the OHRC and education partners to implement the recommendations. Many school boards embraced the Inquiry Report and began updating practices, yielding a range of notable progress. 

Educators have been creative and are working tirelessly to further their learning and in supporting their colleagues to facilitate the transition. They have displayed courage and commitment to upholding human rights. Their dedication and enthusiasm have been osmotic. In the scheme of implementing the recommendations their work is vital. The Commission commends them for their work and for being powerful, positive role models embodying the spirit of personal growth, lifelong learning, and collective responsibility – values we aspire to instill in our children.

“The Right to Read report served not only as our guiding document but also as a catalyst for positive change within our educational landscape.”

– A. Humber, Greater Essex County District School Board

Two years into this landmark initiative, some essential changes have been made and many more are underway. We should celebrate this progress. Yet, we are mindful that we are just at the beginning of a marathon, one that spans a lifetime and potentially impacts our children for generations. The Province, school boards and educators, along with teachers’ unions, the Ontario College of Teachers and faculties of education share responsibility and play a vital role in ensuring our children realize the right to read.

We recognize that we still have much work to do.

Only with a foundational, cultural change within education will Ontarians fully achieve the goals of the Right to Read. As we mark the anniversary of the Inquiry Report, we call on all players in the education system to come together and break down the silos that remain, put students first, and create a comprehensive plan for lasting, systemic change.

“We have seen firsthand the effects of not learning to read and how that can impact a community. We acknowledge and honour the seven generations that came before us, and we do the work for the seven generations to come.”

– C. Shawana, Lloyd S. King Elementary School on the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation