Reading Screening Information for Parents
Reading is a foundational skill critical to student success, both in the classroom and beyond. Beginning in 2024-2025, annual early reading screenings for all CDSBEO students in Year 2 of Kindergarten through Grade 2 will be administered.
The CDSBEO is using a universal reading screener called Acadience Reading to help school teams examine Year 2 Kindergarten to Grade 2 students’ reading abilities, in order to help them gain the necessary skills to be effective readers. Acadience Reading tests for skills that are necessary for learning to read. These skills are:
- Phonemic Awareness: Hearing and using sounds in spoken words
- Phonics: Knowing the sounds of the letters and sounding out written words
- Accurate and Fluent Reading: Reading stories and other materials easily and quickly with few mistakes
- The newly instituted annual screening is completed one-on-one towards the beginning of the school year with Year 2 Kindergarten to Grade 2 students. Early reading screening is a valuable tool to help us understand and communicate students’ individual reading progress so that teachers can support their unique needs. This new screening is not evaluated as part of the report card grades but will help identify the support students need to develop reading proficiency.
Results of the first screening of all Year 2 Kindergarten to Grade 2 students will be communicated to parents and guardians in letter format in the month of November. The results will also be included in students’ February Kindergarten Communication of Learning/Elementary Provincial Report Card. The results will indicate whether students have met or not yet met the screening benchmark at the time of their screening. Students whose scores fall below the benchmark will be provided with tiered instruction.
Should parents have any questions or concerns concerning the Year 2 Kindergarten to Grade 2 reading screening, please contact your school team. Thank you for your partnership in ensuring that your child has the best possible learning experience.