On October 24, 2025, Dr. Jamie Metsala was honoured as the first winner of the researchED Canada Award of Excellence for outstanding contribution to advancing research and practice in literacy education.
Said researchED in their announcement, "Canadian literacy champion Dr. Jamie Metsala was honoured tonight as the first recipient of the researchED Canada Award of Excellence. Moving tributes to Dr. Metsala were delivered by Dr. Leslie Laud, Dr. Amanda VanderHeyden, Andrew Francis, Dr. Nicole Conrad, and Dr. Paul Bennett. She's our most valuable researcher in 2025."
Dr. Metsala holds the Gail and Stephen Jarislowky Chair in Learning Disabilities at MSVU and is a professor in the Faculty of Education. Her research focuses on reading disabilities and reading acquisition, social cognition in children with nonverbal learning disabilities, development of speech perception and phonological awareness, and learning disabilities.
Research and programming led by Dr. Metsala have had a profound impact on public education practices and on the children and families who struggle with learning disabilities.
In a recent column in The Chronicle Herald, education expert and chair of researchED Canada Dr. Paul Bennett wrote about Dr. Metsala's impact on literacy education in Nova Scotia (and beyond).
"The newest wave of teachers, influenced by Metsala and the Nova Scotia Science of Reading network, are gradually embracing a classroom-based strategy the University of Florida Literacy Institute model offering a practical toolkit for explicit, structured reading instruction," he wrote.
"Nova Scotia's own literacy renewal is finally taking hold. In an age of symbolic gestures and fleeting awareness campaigns, Metsala's contribution stands apart: a sustained, research-based effort to ensure that the promise of literacy becomes a lived reality for the vast majority of children."
About researchED: The goal of researchED is to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. During conferences, such as the one held in Halifax this past October at which Dr. Metsala's award was presented, researchers, teachers, and policy makers come together for a day of information-sharing and myth-busting.
Congratulations, Dr. Metsala, on this very well-deserved recognition!
