The “Wait and See” Model in Education

When children first enter the education system, teachers start to notice things.

Maybe it’s a behaviour that stands out, maybe a screener result, maybe just a gut feeling that something isn’t clicking. Teachers bring forward concerns, but in the early years, those concerns are often brushed off, missed, or ignored.

Between Kindergarten and Grade 3, developmental variability is still close together, so differences can blend in. The students who stand out are usually those with behaviour challenges because those are visible. But what we miss is that behaviour can be a signal of a learning challenge. Instead of asking why, we zero in on what, targeting the behaviour while ignoring the underlying cause.

Then around Grade 4, everything shifts.
Expectations rise, independence grows, and the gap between those who can access learning and those who cannot suddenly widens.

One child has spent those early years steadily building foundational skills, gaining confidence, and expanding their understanding. Another child has spent that same time working twice as hard just to stay afloat, doing the bare minimum because every task feels exhausting. While one child has been absorbing what was presented to them, the other has only been able to take in fragments, tiny pieces of information filtered through constant effort and fatigue. The struggle compounds year after year until avoidance becomes a natural response to something that has always felt unattainable.

The students who have been “pushed along” start to stick out.

If a student is identified early, the common advice is still:
“Let’s wait and see.”
Maybe they’ll catch up. Maybe it’ll get better with time.

But learning disorders don’t magically just get better with time.
I’ve never known that to be true.

And then comes the second falsehood, the idea that “behaviour is getting in the way of learning.” So we focus on controlling the behaviour first. Those students are often referred to a pediatrician, medicated, and praised for being calmer and more regulated. Everyone feels better for a while, but the child still sits in a classroom, compliant and confused, with no understanding of what’s being taught.

Sometimes a wise pediatrician will write a letter recommending further assessment, but it’s often dismissed. The school team insists there’s no learning concern, just behaviour. And so the cycle continues, another child left behind while adults congratulate themselves for solving the “problem.”

We are losing kids in this “wait and see” approach.
They are quietly slipping through the cracks.

The government has recognized this issue and has tried to address it through funding for early literacy screeners. But there’s still no plan for what happens after a student is identified. Teachers know this. It becomes just one more task to complete without additional time, training, or support.

The arguments are all valid:
No release time to administer screeners.
Limited training to interpret results.
Not enough support for the students already struggling.

The result is that the funding accomplishes one thing. It increases the number of students placed on the “wait and see” list. They are pushed along the system until they are pushed out of it.

Imagine sitting in a classroom surrounded by peers who seem to understand what’s being taught while you have no idea what’s going on. Imagine being told to “try harder,” to “pay attention,” to “make better choices.” I would want to leave too.

And years later, when those same students finally receive a diagnosis, we see the ripple effects: anxiety, depression, and school refusal. A mental health crisis born from something that could have been prevented if only someone had acted sooner.

We don’t need to wait and see.
We need to see and respond.