Early Reading is Important

Schools Must Teach Children to Read Early and Well

Although schooling in Canada is publicly funded and universally available, educational results continue to diverge along socio-economic lines. All Canadian children have equal access to education, yet they do not derive equal results from the educational experience. In comparison with advantaged peers, children living in poverty are more likely to enter school with deficits in language and school readiness skills, or with other limitations that impede school learning. Inequity between advantaged and disadvantaged children is apparent at school entry, remains unchanged throughout the school career, and is evident as each cohort exits the school system.

Literacy achievement is one result of education that has a compelling impact on both academic and life-course outcomes. The attainment of strong literacy skills is fundamental to educational equity and is an essential first tier in the defense against social class segregation. Although weak literacy skills occur across all economic strata, children from minority groups and those living in conditions of poverty are disproportionately represented in the 40 percent of grade 4 students who struggle with reading.

Schools can most effectively ensure that students achieve more equitable results by front-loading resources to teach children to read early and well. Research shows that children must learn to read during the first few years of school because by grade 3 they are expected to read in order to learn. Most reading difficulties can be prevented when they are identified early, and when identification is followed by timely and appropriate intervention. When children at risk receive the support necessary to develop literacy skills early in their school career, they close the gap with more advantaged peers.

Reference: Summary taken from Beswick, J.F. & Sloat, E.A. (2006). Early Literacy Success: A Matter of Social Justice. Education Canada 46, 2, 23-26.


See Also: LaParo, K. & Pianta, R. (2000). Predicting Children’s Competence in the Early School Years: A Meta-analytic Review. Review of Educational Research 70, 4, 443-484; Fujiura, G. & Yamaki, K. Trends in Demography of Childhood Poverty and Disability. Exceptional Children 66, 3, 187-199; Alexander, K. & Entwistle, D. (1999). Early Schooling and Social Stratification, in R. Pianta & M. Cox (eds.) The Transition to Kindergarten. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.

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