The annual WWKids Educational Conference returns stronger this year, and according to the organisers, the event scheduled for September 30 – October 2 promises to be inspirational, with practical strategies and powerful collaborations aimed at making a difference.

The conference will be held at the S Hotel in New Kingston.

According to Simone Sobers Fisher, head of the WWKids Educational Conference, “This year’s conference has been designed with input from past attendees and with the support of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub for grades seven through 11. The content reflects the real needs teachers are seeing in Jamaican classrooms. Many students are entering high school without the foundational reading skills they need to succeed, and this challenge is especially concerning among our boys.”

She says the objectives for educators at the conference are for them to understand what is behind the reading struggle and recognise gaps in phonemic awareness. The conference also seeks for educators to understand decoding, fluency and comprehension, even in older students.

In addition, educators will learn practical strategies for older struggling readers that can be used across subjects, including multisyllabic decoding, vocabulary, writing and comprehension support.

“There will be access breakout sessions intentionally designed for grades seven to 11, focused on the literacy, executive functioning, engagement and classroom needs of older students, including boys who may have been struggling for years. High school may not be where the literacy gap begins, but it is not too late to help close it,” Sobers Fisher reasoned.

The keynote speaker at the conference is Dr John J Russell, the former special projects advisor to The Windward Institute, associate director of the Haskins Global Literacy Hub and a lecturer at the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center. His work has focused on language-based learning disabilities, research-based instruction and improving literacy outcomes for children who are most at risk.

At the conference, educators can expect to explore how the brain learns to read, why early identification and intervention matter, what strong reading foundations look like, how research can better guide support for struggling readers and why earlier support can lead to stronger outcomes.

Dr John J Russell