From Research to Practice

I am extremely interested in building capacity among classroom teachers and communicating the findings of literacy research to foster evidence-based practice. One effort in this direction was my participation as co-Chair of a recent (2005) Expert Panel, convened by the Ontario Ministry of Education, to produce a report on literacy and numeracy instruction for students with special education needs. This report, which takes a noncategorical approach to special education, presents effective pedagogical strategies based on sound scientific research for reading and math for students in grades K-6. The Report, Education For All, is available from the Ontario Ministry of Education. A presentation that I made to the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada Forum giving an overview of Education For All is available on podcast at TVOntario.

In 2002, I served on the first Expert Panel convened by the Ministry of Education. This panel produced the Early Reading Strategy Report, which guided a wave of professional development for primary teachers throughout the province.

I also served on the steering committee of the Promoting Early Identification initiative of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, a three-year project aiming to develop and promote best practices in screening, assessment and programming for children aged 4 – 8 at risk for school failure.