Gina Harrison

• Cognitive and linguistic aspects of reading and writing
• Linguistic Diversity
• Specific Learning Disorders and Co-occurring conditions
• Assessment and intervention
• School Psychology
• Special Education

Dr. Harrison’s research examines the cognitive and linguistic aspects of reading and writing in children and adolescents as well as the effective assessment and identification of literacy-based learning difficulties. She has a particular interest in linguistically diverse learners and relations between executive function (EF) and literacy development. Translating and mobilizing research outcomes into practical approaches for early literacy instruction to prevent or mitigate learning difficulties and associated mental health impacts is also a main focus. Dr. Harrison’s research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Current research projects:

• Reading, writing, and executive function development in children in early French immersion (Principal Investigator on 5-year longitudinal study funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant).
• Effects of responsive early instruction on kindergarten reading skills (with Dr. Shelby Pollitt)
• Impact of pandemic learning disruption to reading development in Grades 1 to 3 (with Lila Boulet)
• Early reading outcomes in native Ewe-speaking children in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana (with Princess Korsah)

• ED-D415 - Level B Assessment and Instructional Programming
• ED-D420 - Learning Support: Context and Key Issues
• ED-D421 - Recognition and Assessment of Learning Needs
• ED-D508 - Theories of Learning in Educational Psychology
• ED-D515 - Advanced Assessment in Special Education
• ED-D516 - Advanced Intervention in Special Education

Most Recent Publications

Harrison, G. L., & Boulet, L. (2024). Assessing executive function’s influence on reading comprehension in French immersion. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, online first
https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735241227511

Hodgins, H. & Harrison, G. L. (2021). Improving phonological awareness with Talking Tables in at-risk kindergarten readers. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 115, 1-11.

Pollitt, S. & Harrison, G. L. (2021). Does CBM-Maze assess reading comprehension in 8- to 9-year olds at risk for dyslexia? Dyslexia, 27, 265-274.

Harrison, G. L. (2021). Error analyses and the cognitive or linguistic influences on children’s spelling: Comparisons between first and second language learners. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 24, 79-97.

Lawrence, B., Harrison, G. L., & Milford, T. (2019). Effects of positive parenting on mental health in adolescents with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 17(2), 223-244.

Harrison, G. L., Goegan, L.D, & Macoun, S. J. (2019). Common examiner errors on academic achievement measures. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 34, 98-112.

Recently Supervised Dissertations and Theses

Dissertations and Theses can be accessed through the UVicSpace database.

Pollitt, S. (2023). Advancing learner-informed practices in early reading: A collaborative response to intervention (RTI) partnership.

Poole, T. (2021). The relation between teacher ratings of attention and executive functioning with reading comprehension in elementary school students.

van Duijnen, T. (2021). The efficacy of an on-line reading fluency intervention with struggling readers.

Stavroupoulo, I. (2020) The effects of PLEASE on the writing performance of high-school students with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Perkins, C. (2019). Contributions of oral language and word-level literacy skills to elementary writing in first and second language learners.

Schmidt, M. (2019). Fluency as a bridge to comprehension: An efficacy study of the RAVE-O literacy program.