What is Early Reading Screening?
Early reading screening is an important tool designed to identify students who may be struggling with reading and need support to meet their potential. The tool helps teachers identify students who are at risk and who need supports to build their reading skills. The purpose of early reading screening is to:
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- monitor your child’s development in foundational reading skills;
- identify children who require extra assistance; and
- inform classroom instruction.
The screener provides valuable insights for educators to understand and communicate a child’s reading progress, allowing us to develop programming to meet their specific needs. The results of this screening do not affect your child’s grades; they help determine a path forward to support reading development.
The Early Reading Screening Process
Beginning in September 2024, the Ministry of Education requires Early Reading Screening for all students in Year 2 of Kindergarten to Grade 2. The Bluewater District School Board has chosen Acadience Reading K-6 as our approved Early Reading Screener.
The initial screener is completed in the fall of Year 2 of Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2. The screener is completed one-on-one with an educator and includes measures of important early literacy skills including phonemic awareness, basic phonics, and passage reading depending on the grade, and time of year.
Some of these subtasks include:
- First Sound Fluency
- Letter Naming Fluency
- Phone Segmentation Fluency
- Nonsense Word Fluency
- Oral Reading Fluency
Students in French Immersion programs will also be screened using Acadience Reading Français. The types of skills measured in the Acadience Reading Français screener are the same essential early literacy skills but is completed in the language of instruction, French.
What Happens After Early Reading Screening?
Early reading screening benchmarks assess students' progress in key reading areas. If a student's score falls below the benchmark, they may need more targeted support or further screening to monitor and support improvement in their literacy skills. This could include extra small group time with the teacher in class, repeated reading with a volunteer, extra reading material to practice at home, the use of computer assisted learning, like Lexia, or small group intervention with a resource teacher.
Parent-teacher interviews are a great time and opportunity to discuss the results of your child’s screener with your child’s teacher/educators. As always, ongoing communication with your child’s school and teacher will help to support the ongoing growth of your child in all academic areas.
Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting your child's learning journey.
Further information about the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Early Screening initiative can be found here: