The Empower™ Reading and Learning Group at the Hospital for Children offers comprehensive, evidence-based Tier 2 and 3 literacy intervention programs for students in Grades 2-12 and professional development for teachers. The interventions developed by the team are the product of almost 40 years of ground-breaking research through which the core deficits of reading disorders were reconceptualized, making a vital contribution to the scientific understanding of dyslexia. Empower™ Reading’s multi-strategic, metacognitive programs are designed to transform children and adolescents who have significant difficulties with word reading, decoding, reading comprehension, and spelling into strategic, independent, and flexible learners.
The Empower™ team consists of highly skilled trainers and mentors who possess the expertise to train and support teachers with program implementation and are passionate about advancing the literacy skills of students who struggle with reading.
Recognizing the importance of partnerships to advance knowledge and practice and to build capacity, the Empower™ team collaborates with almost 50 school districts in Ontario and 11 additional school boards across Canada. Through these partnerships, over 6300 teachers have participated in Empower™ Reading’s professional development and have improved the literacy skills and the academic and health outcomes of more than 105,000 students.