The childhood literacy challenge is complex… and urgent. One in five Albertans have faced literacy challenges since childhood. Almost half of working-age Albertans do not have the literacy skills required to perform most jobs in today’s economy. In the past 20 years, the overall literacy rate amongst students in Alberta has dropped and the percentage of children who are functionally illiterate has almost doubled. More than 1 million children in Canada have below grade reading skills, and 25% of Grade 3 children are not reading at grade level. The transition from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn’ occurs between the ages of 6 and 9. If a child lacks proficiency in reading by the end of Grade 3, they will encounter significant obstacles for the rest of their educational journey. Seventy-five percent of children who do not overcome early literacy challenges, struggle throughout their lives.

Although this challenge is complex and will be difficult to address, it is imperative that leaders put more attention towards it and that a mindset of innovation and collaboration allows them to work together to come up with new ideas and work together in new ways. This is the calling of the Literacy Lab.