Insights 2023

NEWS

Thank you for attending Insights!

We want to thank all those people who attended Insights 2023. We were pleased to see so many education leaders sharing their data stories and their impact on student outcomes. We hope this event gave you the opportunity to learn from, network, and hear strategies that you can apply to your own school environment.

A special thank you goes out to our gracious hosts in each location, the Frontier School Division in Manitoba, the Calgary Board of Education in Alberta, and Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board in Ontario.

Use the links below to see great presentations from our customers in

We hope you enjoyed the event as much as we did and we hope to see many more people over the next few years. Watch this space to find out when the next event is taking place!

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United Way 2022

A new partnership with United Way Regina

Unlocking a world of possibilities for more children across Canada

United Way 2022

The Learning Bar is proud to announce a new partnership with United Way Regina. On July 11, the first summer literacy camps developed between the two organizations launched at the Standing Buffalo Dakota School, Fort Qu’Appelle, SK. Fifteen students participated in the camps, designed to help children develop foundational reading skills. 

“We have witnessed such great success over the last two weeks. Children are truly engaged in learning how to read and more confident in their abilities. The reality is that 45% of children in Regina enter kindergarten not knowing letters and 26% are unable to read proficiently by the end of Grade 3,” said Robyn Edwards-Bentz, CEO, United Way Regina. “Our mission is to move the needle on early childhood literacy rates.”  

This figure is not unique to Regina, across Canada many provinces and territories are struggling to achieve better results. “For over 20 years our literacy rates have remained stagnant,” said Dr. Willms, Founder, The Learning Bar. “We have the power to change this by properly supporting educators. Unlike other camps, educators have the opportunity to build on their existing skills, increase their understanding of The Science of Reading, and are actually shown how to apply this in the classroom. The motivation, engagement, and achievement of these students speak for themselves.” 

The success of the summer literacy camps means the partnership between United Way Regina and The Learning Bar will continue to grow in 2023. ”Expanding and offering these camps to more divisions and schools throughout Saskatchewan is another step in our vision to reach more children.  We will continue to support school leaders and educators who are working so hard to improve early childhood literacy,” said Colette Wasson, CEO, The Learning Bar.  

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A child learning tor ead

Access our new Learning-to-Read to Reading-to-Learn Research Paper

Discover the optimum scope and sequence of skills children need to learn to get them on track to read by Grade 3

The successful transition from Learning-to-Read to Reading-to-Learn during the first three years at school is critical to students’ long-term success and yet despite living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, at least one-quarter of our children are struggling and vulnerable because they cannot read by Grade 3.

Clearly, we need to look at our approach to how we are teaching kids to read in kindergarten to Grade 3. We need a new plan to help our students recover from the pandemic or they, and we as a country, will continue to fall behind.

Download this paper developed by Dr. Doug Willms and the research team at The Learning Bar to learn the process of how children learn to read, based on recent research on the science of reading. It follows a three-phase model presented by Castles, Rastle, and Nation.[i] It extends their work by delineating the scope of each phase, defined in terms of a core set of skills, and proposes a sequence for teaching these skills. It concludes with a discussion about how the proposed scope and sequence align with common curriculum standards.

We can change results and quickly get children back on track, but we must make the development of children’s reading skill during the primary school period a priority for all schools. It will also require concerted investments to support educational leaders and teachers.

[i] Castles, A., Rastle, K., & Nation, K. (2018). Ending the reading wars: Reading acquisition from novice to expert. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19, 5–51.

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Our Team - Dr Doug WIllms Classroom

Dr. Doug Willms was awarded Professor Emeritus distinction at this morning’s UNB Graduation.

Our founder, Dr. Doug Willms was  awarded Professor Emeritus distinction at this morning’s UNB Graduation. The University of New Brunswick has awarded Professors Emeriti distinctions to four of its retired professors who have served the university with great distinction. Doug is one of four professors to received this prestigious award. Click here for more information:

https://www.unb.ca/graduation/emeriti.html#willms

Congratulations Doug, we are all so proud of you!

Our Team - Dr Doug WIllms Classroom
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The OurSCHOOL survey now meets the legislative requirements of Ontario’s Anti-Racism Act; PPM 144: Bullying Prevention and Intervention; and Anti-Racism Data Standards.

Canada’s largest school climate survey now meets the legislative requirements outlined by the Government of Ontario. To help school divisions achieve their equity and inclusivity goals, The Learning Bar has added 13 new demographics to the OurSCHOOL secondary student survey.

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DEMOGRAPHIC DRILLDOWNS

۰ Grade
۰ Sex
۰ Sex Inclusive
۰ Gender Identity
۰ Language Spoken at Home
۰ Grade Repetition
۰ Immigrant Status
۰ Indigenous Status
۰ Disability
۰ Change School
۰ Race
۰ Religion
۰ LGBTQ2S+

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DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

۰ Socio-Economic Factors
۰ Age
۰ Sexual Orientation
۰ Gender Expression

۰ Ethnic Origin
۰ Canadian Identity
۰ LGBTQ2S+ Ally
۰ LGBTQ2S+

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DEMOGRAPHIC DATA PROJECTS ITEMS

۰ Language First Spoken
۰ Indigenous Identity
۰ Canadian Status
۰ Disability
۰ Sexual Orientation

One survey… multiple solutions

Out of the box, the OurSCHOOL student survey reveals insights into the climate of inclusivity, diversity, and equity within your division. Students’ differing experiences of engagement, sense of belonging, bullying, safety, and well-being tell a rich and compelling story.

Click here to find out more about the suite of powerful reporting on School Climate Measures, Demographic Factors, and Demographic Drilldowns.

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Becoming a reader in 75 days

Learn how to strengthen your childs’ reading skills in 75 days!

We are proud to announce a new course for parents and caregivers of children aged 4 to 6 who want to learn the core strategies for supporting their child in becoming a reader. 

This course ‘Becoming a reader in 75 days’ equips caregivers with the knowledge and sequence of foundational reading skills and provides fun and engaging activities for teaching children at home.

Click here to find out more.

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Understand the impact of COVID-19 within your school community

Stronger together

Are you prepared to support the well-being and learning of staff and students as they return back to the classroom?  As schools reopen, getting a pulse of students’, caregivers’ and educators’ experiences during this time will be essential to re-engage the school community and drive student learning. We know that you are facing a pivotal point in education and we want to ensure that you have the information necessary to start the school year prepared. 

In June we reached out to parents, students, and educators to get a complete picture of what they were experiencing and received valuable feedback. Using this information and the limited research available we have created the new OurSCHOOL ‘Transition Back to School’ module.

Click here to find out more.

Be informed.

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Early Years Evaluation - Direct Assessment - Child with caregiver

Educator Insights videos: Sharing knowledge and expertise


We have recently completed a series of interviews with our wonderful customers to explore their experiences of using The Learning Bar solutions. We are proud to share these Educator Insights videos with you.

Find out how educators are using the Confident Learners Literacy Program to make meaningful gains in student literacy and graduation rates and how the Early Years Evaluation and OurSCHOOL are being used to better meet the needs of children, families and educators.

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Literacy Development

Find out what other educators are doing to improve graduation rates and how they are using data to make meaningful gains in literacy development.

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Early Years Development

Hear educators discuss how they are using their EYE data to inform classroom instruction and put appropriate interventions in place as children prepare for kindergarten.

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School Improvement and Planning

Watch video testimonials from educators discussing how they are achieving positive and practical change in their schools to create an environment where all students can thrive.

Contact us if you would like to find out more.

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OurSCHOOL Parent Survey - Educators reviewing results for school planning

Attending the QESBA / AAESQ Spring Conference May 24 – 25?

Visit us at booth 29!

We’ll be at this annual event alongside administrators from the English school boards across Quebec. We met some of you at our April OurSCHOOL Survey workshop at the Lester B. Pearson board offices and are keen to reconnect with you, as well as touch base with those who weren’t able to make it. We had some great conversations about how to dig into and share survey results with the aim of prompting informed discussions around data analysis and incorporating the resulting ideas into your success plans.

Bring your data along and come and discuss using OurSCHOOL to improve outcomes at your school. If you’d like to set up a specific time to meet during the event, please email me directly. We look forward to seeing you there.

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