What is the Right to Read Inquiry Report? 

The Right to Read Inquiry Report is a detailed write-up of a public inquiry by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. It details the findings of a 2019 investigation into literacy as a human rights issue. It also explores how literacy problems impact Ontario’s school-age population and the ways in which current literacy education practice struggles to serve all learners in the public education system. The full report is 558 pages, but a simplified executive summary is also available to download at the Ontario Commission of Human Rights.  

The inquiry involved gathering information from a sample of eight English-language school boards and the 13 English-language public faculties of education, as well as statements from students and their parents, as well as educators and other professionals working in schools. 

The findings especially focus on those who have reading disabilities like dyslexia and emphasise the idea that learning to read isn’t a privilege enjoyed by young learners but an essential provision that learners should receive as part of their basic human rights. The findings also provide 157 recommendations to the Ministry of Education for improvements to how Ontario’s reading education is administered in schools and how diagnostic and support procedures might be made better, reaching better outcomes for all.  

How did the Right to Read Inquiry Report come about? 

The inquiry happened because of a landmark disability rights ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2012. The conclusion of Moore vs. British Columbia (Education) recognized learning to read as a human right, and that Jeffery Moore, a student who had dyslexia, had the right to receive the support and accommodations that he needed in order to succeed academically from the school board:  

“Adequate special education, therefore, is not a dispensable luxury. For those with severe learning disabilities, it is the ramp that provides access to the statutory commitment to education made to all children in British Columbia.” 

Supreme Court Judgment 3 SCR 360, (2012). 

Why is the Right to Read Inquiry Report so important? 

The Right to Read Inquiry Report is one of our largest and most in-depth deep dives on literacy education in Canada. That’s why it’s such a useful resource.  

It’s a vitally important piece of research because it maps and interrogates the landscape of early reading skills in the province. It also identifies many of the reasons behind low literacy in Ontario, and analyzes where shortfalls in provision are impacting literacy acquisition on a macro-level— so even though it only looks at data from schools in Ontario, it provides us with a transportable model for looking at literacy on a larger scale across the country.  

 It also makes a series of recommendations about how to improve literacy levels across the province, based on research, human rights expertise, and the lived experiences of the students, teachers and parents who make up the education community.  

It's a vital document for educators and policymakers as it explores the problems that can arise when implementing support systems in large divisions of students, and it provides a series of models for improvement that can empower readers in hard-to-reach demographics. 

It’s also an in-depth exploration of the importance of early intervention.  

↪️ What do we mean when we talk about early intervention? 

The Right to Read Inquiry Report places a large importance on the idea of early intervention. In the context of this report, they mean an early-years intervention that addresses a child’s (usually in Grades 1 to 3) reading and writing needs caused by a specific learning difficulty.  

Early literacy intervention usually begins with a screening procedure to identify the nature of the literacy needs that the students are experiencing. The report describes a screening measure as a ‘quick and informal evidence-based assessment that provides information about possible word-reading difficulties’, but definitions will vary across educators and institutions in terms of what these procedures entail.  

↪️ The Right to Read Inquiry Report makes a push for universal screening  

Ontario doesn’t currently have what the report describes as a ‘universal, systemic evidence-based early screening’ that could identify at-risk students who need additional support. Usually, a screening procedure is only available to learners who demonstrate a history of ongoing reading deficits or symptoms of dyslexia, but the report makes extensive links between this approach and many at-risk students not being identified, or reading intervention implemented too late to be properly effective. 

↪️ Taking advantage of a critical window at ages four to seven  

Ontario usually requires learners to be in Grade 3 before they can be referred by their school for a dyslexia assessment. The Right to Read Inquiry Report suggests that this is problematic and a different route should be taken: for many learners, their reading difficulties aren’t being caught early enough for them to take full advantage of any support that’s applied. If the student is referred for an assessment, there’s no guarantee that the intervention will be particularly swift, either, and that they may be on a waitlist for several years, particularly if they are not deemed to have high needs or be a high priority for assessment. 

The report details that reading intervention is most effective when delivered between the ages of four and seven—so in Kindergarten and Grade 1; no later than Grade 2. The data backs it up: a 2017 study by dyslexia researcher and advocate Professor Maureen Lovett found that outcomes for learners who received interventions in the first grade were almost twice as good as when those interventions were administered in the second. 

Children who received the program later, in the third grade, made far smaller gains in basic reading skills than those who received the intervention twelve to twenty-four months earlier, marking a strong correlation between intervening early and getting better results. But the data goes deeper, too:  

The group of learners who received early literacy intervention in the first grade continued to develop reading skills at a faster rate even when the program ended. It indicates that not only are outcomes better the earlier we intervene, but that early intervention can help kickstart an ongoing mastery of reading, instead of simply ‘levelling the playing field’.  

 
“Ontario must address its inadequate approach to early screening, which creates unnecessary conflict between school boards and teachers, and neglects the best interests of at-risk children. The research on screening for early reading skills is advanced, the financial cost is minimal and the impact of current practices on current students is harmful.” 
 
 
Ontario Human Rights Commission, Executive Summary: The Right to Read Inquiry Report, (2022). 

Early intervention, intergenerational literacy, and the two-tiered system  

The inquiry heard from many parents and educators that although a professional assessment isn’t necessarily required for a learner to secure accommodations or interventions, they do make the process easier. And as board professional assessments are limited, this can create a problem: faced with long waiting lists and availability problems, parents and guardians who are able to afford private assessments do procure those all-important assessments for their children. Those parents and guardians who can’t afford private assessments don’t… which means that we’re creating a two-tiered system of access to support, based on socioeconomic status.  

The report goes on to say that from a human rights perspective, it’s critical that all students who need them have equal access to accommodations and interventions, regardless of their parents’ means to pay for private assessments. Failing to do so risks entrenching pre-existing disadvantages and the continuation of intergenerational cycles of low literacy. 

↪️ Other factors that impact intervention rates  

The Right to Read Inquiry Report also outlines three other notable points about administering a functional early intervention system for all. 

#1: Interventions administered after the critical window has closed are often more time-consuming, costly and labour-intensive, which is an important point to consider when educator bandwidth and available budget are at two historic lows under the increased expectations of pandemic recovery. 

#2: School boards in Ontario (and other provinces across Canada) lack monitoring capabilities to ensure that every learner who is falling behind or showing signs of something like dyslexia ends up progressing through the relevant systems and receiving that identification and intervention. The report also notes that there’s also a lack of standardization across boards when it comes to assessment and accommodation procedures, meaning that experiences can vary based on where the learner attends school.  

#3: Ontario’s current approach to teaching reading and responding to the difficulties that some learners have in acquiring grade-level literacy contributes to the increased demand for expensive professional assessments. The report goes on to say that many students will not need professional assessments (either school-based or private) for dyslexia if they’re taught in a classroom that adheres to science-based reading instruction, screening that begins in kindergarten, and evidence-based tiered interventions in the earliest grades.  

Responses to the Right to Read Inquiry Report  

Not long after the Right to Read Inquiry Report was released, the Ontario Ministry for Education responded by releasing an open letter detailing the improvements set to be made to the way that intervention and reading instruction are administered across the province.  

“Informed by our dialogue with the OHRC, in 2020-21, the ministry provided $11.76M to support evidence-based reading intervention programs and $20M for re-engaging students and providing early reading assessment supports. As part of its Learning Recovery Action Plan, the ministry announced $25M to support evidence-based reading intervention programs and professional assessments – beginning immediately and into the 2022-23 school year.” 

Ontario Ministry of Education, Response to the Right to Read Inquiry Report, (2022). 

So where do we go from here? 

The Right to Read Inquiry Report is a valuable document to educators, assistive tech professionals and policymakers as it goes into depth about where the support and intervention gaps lie in the student population. Although it only gathers data from the one province, it provides us with a microcosm view of provision across Canada, and permits us to take a closer look at the difficulties facing both educators and students as we get back on track after the pandemic. 

The report’s ‘recommendations framework’ is also useful as it provides us with a best course for implementing change, and the level of parent-informed analysis contained in the findings adds to our real-world, situational understandings of what is usually a data-led educational conversation.  

The Right to Read Inquiry Report also highlights that in terms of the emergent support gap, we need to be proactive in seeking out reading support solutions that prioritise preserving school board budgets and ensuring that we get as much support into as many students’ hands as possible. As the acknowledgement of reading difficulties become more widespread in the wake of pandemic learning loss and greater awareness of dyslexia and other neurodivergent conditions that might impact reading flourishes in schools and learners, many boards might find themselves looking at support demands and wondering how to effectively resource reading on such a scale.  

A reading pen that supports their Right to Read!

Introducing the C-Pen Reader 2: a rechargeable reading tutor in their pocket!

At Scanning Pens we want to see every reader who needs support and encouragement receive it, in a form that puts independence first, takes the pressure off teachers and creates a reading strategy for life. That’s where reading pens come in: and although they’re a great way to support learners who might be struggling with reading due to dyslexia, they can also hugely benefit all learners, especially throughout the early stages of literacy acquisition and developing fluency.  It’s early intervention on easy mode, and in a way that puts user independence and confidence first!

We’d love to share more information on how user-friendly assistive technology can change the narrative in your school: check out the C-Pen Reader 2 at Scanning Pens, or get in touch with one of our education experts directly at cainfo@scanningpens.com!