Literacy Justice Nova Scotia

08/20/2026

While this is a US statistic, it is unlikely to be far off here in Canada. We know that thousands of Nova Scotia students received ineffective literacy instruction in their early years — and without dedicated, sustained support, many of them will continue to struggle long after they leave school.

Getting them back on track will take time — which is exactly why we are advocating for a dedicated, protected fund, trained teachers, and a commitment to prioritize these children now. Their futures depend on it.

74% is a number we need to pay attention to.

Research found that 74% of children who were poor readers in Grade 3 remained poor readers in Grade 9.

This does NOT mean Grade 3 is a point of no return. It does remind us why waiting for a child to “catch up” on their own is not a plan.

Earlier is better, but later is not hopeless. It is never too late to learn how to read. ❤️

When a child is struggling to learn to read, we need to identify the difficulties and provide effective instruction and intervention as early as possible.

We don't need to wait for children to fail before we support them.

📚 Francis, D. J., Shaywitz, S. E., Stuebing, K. K., Shaywitz, B. A., & Fletcher, J. M. (1996). Developmental lag versus deficit models of reading disability: A longitudinal, individual growth curves analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 3–17.

06/18/2026

06/10/2026

Read about our joint press conference with NDP Education Critic Paul Wozniak and Nova Scotia Teachers Union President Peter Day — and why thousands of Nova Scotia children cannot wait any longer.

A huge thank you to our incredible co-founders Ann Doyle Huntley and Louise Hanavan for standing up and speaking out for these kids. 💙

The latest provincial testing results for 2025-26 shows about half of Grade 6 students in Nova Scotia schools aren't meeting writing expectations.

05/06/2026

CBC's Michael Gorman reported yesterday on growing concerns about the direction of education in our province. We share those concerns — and want to add an urgent piece to this conversation.

Nova Scotia has reformed literacy instruction for Primary to Grade 6 — but there is no plan to support older students who received ineffective reading instruction in their early years and continue to stuggel with reading.

Human Rights Commissions in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have all found that barriers to evidence-based reading instruction constitute discrimination against students with reading disabilities. Nova Scotia needs to act.

We are calling on Minister Maguire to meet with us. 📩

The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says a recent letter to his members from Education Minister Brendan Maguire has caused concern and confusion, but Maguire says he’s just trying to be transparent about the government’s priorities.

05/06/2026

CBC's Michael Gorman reported yesterday on growing concerns about the direction of education in our province. We share those concerns — and want to add an urgent piece to this conversation.

Nova Scotia has reformed literacy instruction for Primary to Grade 6 — but there is no plan to support older students who received ineffective reading instruction in their early years and continue to struggle with reading.

Human Rights Commissions in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have all found that barriers to evidence-based reading instruction constitute discrimination against students with reading differences. Nova Scotia needs to act.

We are calling on Minister Maguire to meet with us.

The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says a recent letter to his members from Education Minister Brendan Maguire has caused concern and confusion, but Maguire says he’s just trying to be transparent about the government’s priorities.

04/21/2026

Here it is in a nutshell:
Many students received ineffective reading instruction or intervention when they were younger and are now continuing to struggle with reading. These approaches have failed many students-particularly those with learning differences and students from equity-deserving groups. Provincial assessments continue to show significant and ongoing literacy gaps, especially for older students.

Human rights inquiries in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have affirmed that learning to read is a basic human right, and that students deserve access to evidence-based instruction.
The EECD has begun to acknowledge this issue by removing outdated literacy approaches and replacing them with instruction aligned with the Science of Reading for current students (Primary–6). This is great, but this raises an important question:

What about the students who didn’t receive evidence-based instruction in the first place? Doesn’t the EECD have a responsibility to provide effective, evidence-based literacy support for those students now?

Here are two simple actions you can take:
• Write to your MLA
• Sign our petition
You can find both of these in the Guides section.