Robert Savage, dean of the Faculty of Education at 91ɫ, is leading research that asks a deceptively simple question: What actually helps children learn to read – and how early can schools intervene to make a lasting difference?
Years of experience as a school teacher and psychologist have framed his thinking about research, which since 2023 has focused on how children learn to read, both typically and atypically.
His research has also informed literacy policy and classroom practice in Ontario.
For instance, Savage served as a consultant to the Ontario government on its reading curriculum following a 2022 Ontario Human Rights Commission report on human rights issues affecting children with reading disabilities. Drawing on his research expertise and experience in schools, he contributed to the revised curriculum and helped develop supporting videos and scripts to make the changes easier for teachers to understand and incorporate into the classroom.
“I’m always interested in a mix of theory and practice and in how to use theory to develop better programs for developing reading,” he says. “I also like to collaborate.”
During another project, while working with colleagues at Concordia University, he co-created the web-based literacy program that offers activities for learners and is free to the public.
More recently, with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Max Bell Foundation, Savage and a colleague at the University of Alberta have partnered with school boards in five provinces, including Ontario, to develop new screening tools, assess existing ones and share literacy resources. School boards in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Saskatchewan have used the tools to screen incoming Grade 2 students, assess reading skills, identify areas of concern and implement targeted reading programs to help prevent reading difficulties.
Read the full article in the May 22, 2026 issue of Yfile
