First Nation School Board works to turn the page on low literacy rates in Ross River
Teachers and parents had been wanting change for decades, says school board director
When nine-year-old Sterling Atkinson did his reading test this year at his school in Ross River he got 100 per cent — zero errors across all three of the books he was tested on.
"He's one of the best readers in his class," said his teacher, Catalino Macaron.
At the beginning of the last school year, on average primary students in Ross River could read 46 words. By June, that number had jumped to 82 words, according to numbers from the First Nation School Board.
The school board says of all the schools under its stewardship, Ross River had the most improved literacy scores in the 2023-24 school year. It says it is rewriting not only how students are taught to read, but also how they engage teachers, parents and the community in the process.
'They'd been advocating for change for decades'
In 2022, the First Nation School Board took over eight schools, including Ross River. Today, it's in charge of eleven schools in the territory.
Executive director Melissa Flynn says like many of the schools in rural communities at the time, Ross River had struggled for years with low literacy rates.
It's difficult to quantify how much things have changed under the First Nation School Board, because of how little data the Department of Education collected when it was in charge — an issue pointed out in a 2019 report from the Auditor General of Canada, who criticized the department for not collecting enough data to understand why some kids were falling behind.
Flynn says she hopes gathering data will help the First Nation School Board close the gaps.
That 2019 report said the percentage of First Nations students meeting or exceeding reading assessment expectations was 68 per cent, compared to 85 per cent of non-First Nations students. The report accused the Yukon government of not making changes to improve students' literacy scores, especially when it came to First Nations students. According to the report, the Department of Education did little to understand why there were gaps in student reading comprehension, and did not have a plan for improvement.
Flynn says that report demonstrates what she calls the "normalization of low expectations" that she says left families feeling hopeless and ashamed.
"If you're continuing to instruct students on how to read in exactly the same way, decade after decade, and not seeing improved skills, the blame and the shame on families increases," she said.
Flynn says teachers and parents wanted a better system for their children.
"They'd been advocating for change for decades," she said.
Sounding out the future
Under the Department of Education, students were taught to memorize words, and use clues on the page to guess what a story was about. Now, children are taught to sound out the words, the First Nation School Board said.
Angela Gale is a literacy coach with the First Nation School Board. Literacy coaches spend time in the classroom with teachers providing an extra layer of support, helping teachers to transition to the new method.
She says switching to the phonetic approach "took the guessing" out of learning to read.
She says it's also improved kids' self-esteem, pointing to one student with behavioural issues who she says completely changed once he was able to read. Gale says the child's parent also reported changes at home.
"He was happier to go to school. It wasn't a fight anymore," said Gale.
Embedding cultural values empowers students
Ross River primary school teacher Catalino Macaron says part of the success also comes from the First Nation School Board encouraging teachers to embed the communities' traditional cultural knowledge and values into daily learning.
He says in his classroom, he invokes what he calls "the great grandfather's teachings." His students start each day sitting in a circle talking about what it means to be a good person, "so that the kids will not only be intellectually capable, but also morally responsible toward their community."
He says the children do project-based learning with on-the-land activities where students spend time with elders outside. Last year, that included a three-week cultural camp, drum making, traditional arts and sewing, a hide tanning camp, handgames and orienteering.
Gale says children who've had a plethora of experiences have an easier time learning.
"When they're reading stories and they've got experiences, the stories are going to make more sense to them because they've got background knowledge to build on," she said.
Ten out of 11 schools under the First Nation School Board are now also supported by community committees, made up of local citizens, who advocate for the teachers, parents and students and help to ensure curriculum is culturally relevant.
A new chapter for the kids of Ross River
Gwendy Colwell is the afterschool supervisor at the Hope Centre across the street from the school in Ross River. She's known many of the kids in Ross River, including Atkinson, their whole lives, and says she sees first-hand how reading allows the students to dream bigger.
"It's not just academically, but their imaginations." said Colwell. "If they can pick up a book, they can go anywhere."
Results for the 2024-2025 school year are expected in June.
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