Willard Reaves visits the Evergreen School Division
- Feb 11
- 2 min read
By the late 1990s and early 2000s there were large reviews done in the United States, in the United Kingdom and in Ontario which clearly showed that an approach called structured literacy which included phonics was most effective way for children to learn to read. In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a case dealing with a boy with dyslexia, Jeffery Moore, led to a ruling that the public school system had to be able to teach all children to read, including children with dyslexia. Jeffery and his parents had been told that the school division in British Columbia where they lived could not help Jeremy because of his dyslexia and he would have to go to a private school. Today, many families in Manitoba still have to send their children with dyslexia to a private school! Worse even that this, in 2024, less than half of children in grade 3 were reading at grade level, an appalling result, and one which has not improved in the last ten years. Thankfully, this may be changing. The change coming is due to efforts by the Manitoba Liberal Party (MLP) by the Manitoba Human Rights Commission and its report in late 2025, and to the leadership of people in the Evergreen School Division. In 2024, the MLP held a Forum and produced a report which provided details of the situation in Manitoba and the need for change.
In early 2025, Cindy Lamoureux introduced a bill (Bill 225) which mandated early screening of children for their reading ability, ensured that parents must be informed of results, and mandated schools to ensure that children found behind in reading received the extra help they needed to learn to read. Cindy Lamoureux, supported by many families, managed to get this bill passed unanimously in November 2025. It will come into effect for September 2026.
Fortunately, the Evergreen School Division, over the last few years has led the way in transforming Manitoba’s education system. Using a made-in-Manitoba approach to structured literacy, they now have about 80% of children in grade 3 reading at grade level. The advance they have made in education has resulted in children learning to read and then reading to learn. Children in their classes are all engaged, are paying attention and doing well. There are remarkably few behavioural issues in their classrooms and almost no bullying. They are finding that 25 to 30% of the children need an intervention to improve their reading. These children get either half an hour or an hour of structured intervention each day depending on their reading level. And it is working.
Willard Reaves, together with Jasbir Singh and Jon Gerrard spent February 11 visiting classrooms in three schools in Gimli, an early years school (Kindergarten to Grade 3), a middle years school (Grade 4 to 6) and a high school (Grades 7 to 12). It was obvious that children were engaged and were happy and smiling. Improving children’s reading in our province will have many long-lasting positive impacts. Congratulations to the Evergreen School Division for leading the way in the transformation of education in Manitoba.
