Reading is an essential skill for your child’s success both in school and in life. In June 2023, the Ministry of Education released a new Grade 1 to 8 Language Curriculum. This curriculum focuses on foundational language and literacy skills taught through evidence-based, explicit instruction, commonly known as structured literacy.
Our educators at Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board have been teaching structured literacy beginning in May 2022. As part of this approach, we are now using an early reading screener to help us better understand and support your child’s reading development.
To keep you informed, we’ve created three short videos:
Below, we’ve answered some frequently asked questions about the early reading screener and its implementation in our schools.
What is an early reading screener and what screener is PVNC Catholic using?
PVNC Catholic is using the Acadience Reading K-6 and Acadience Reading Français screeners. These screeners are ministry-approved and align with the new Language Curriculum, 2023. Acadience Reading and Acadience Reading Français are comprised of six brief measures described in this PDF. Measures differ from grade to grade and assess essential skills that every child must master to become a proficient reader. These screeners assess each skill against a benchmark and indicate whether or not a child may be at risk of reading difficulty in the future. Measures and benchmarks advance as students progress through each grade level. The literacy skills measured in these assessments are also the skills that are explicitly taught in the educational resources UFLI (English) and Son-Au-Graphe (French Immersion) provided to PVNC Catholic Kindergarten to Grade 2 Educators.
Why is my child being screened?
In Ontario, PPM 168 (Policy/Program Memorandum 168) requires that all Year 2 Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students be screened using an early reading screener. The goal of this policy is to ensure that early reading skills are identified early on so that struggling and at-risk young readers can receive the support they need to become strong readers.
When will my child be screened? Where will I find the results?
Starting in the fall of 2024, all Ontario students in Year 2 Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 were screened at the beginning of the year using an Early Reading Screener. Educators will be expected to communicate whether or not each child met benchmark for the composite score (overall reading score) of the Beginning of Year Early Reading Screener on the Term 1 Kindergarten Communication of Learning and the Elementary Provincial Report Card, Grades 1-6 for Grade 1 and 2 students.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) requires Middle of Year screening for those students whose composite scores did not meet the benchmark on the Beginning of the Year screener. The Middle of Year screener will be administered between January and mid-March. The results of the Middle of Year screener will be reported in June on the second Kindergarten Communication of Learning and the Term 2 Elementary Provincial Report Card, Grades 1-6 for Grade 1 and 2 students. Relevant data gathered through the Early Reading Screener and/or other assessments are used to inform the language comments.
Educators are not required by the MOE to administer the Middle of the Year screener for students who met the Beginning of Year composite score benchmark. The skills assessed by the screener become more challenging from Beginning to Middle or Middle to End of Year, and the benchmarks students are expected to achieve increase between screening periods. Therefore, although it is optional, using an Early Reading Screener at least twice a year, along with progress monitoring in between screening periods should be considered for all students, whether or not they achieved the Beginning of Year benchmark.
What does it mean if my child’s composite score did not meet the benchmark?
The reading composite score is calculated using your child’s scores on each Acadience Reading measure for that time period and provides the best overall estimate of students’ early literacy skills and/or reading proficiency and risk. The composite score and the skills measured are compared to valid and reliable benchmarks for each grade level. Students who did not meet benchmark are at risk of not reaching future reading goals. The results of the screener allow Educators to identify students who may need additional instructional support with specific skills in order to reach future reading goals.
Is my child screened with the Acadience Reading K-6 or Acadience Reading Français?
If your child is registered in the English stream, they are screened using the Acadience Reading K-6 and if they are registered in a Kindergarten to Grade 2 classroom in the French Immersion program, they are screened using the Acadience Reading Français screener. The Acadience Reading K-6 and the Acadience Reading Français screeners are designed to assess skills that are transferable across languages, such as phonemic awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words). Skills screened in French are foundational skills essential for reading in both languages.
What are Educators using to support structured literacy in the classroom?
The Ontario Language Curriculum requires uninterrupted explicit and systematic instruction in foundational reading for a minimum of 150 minutes in a five-day cycle. This should be realized through daily blocks of at least 30 minutes. (PPM 168)
Resources to support Educators with the instruction of Foundations of Language include UFLI Foundations, Son-Au-Graphe, and Lexia.
- UFLI and Son-Au-Graphe are phonics programs that have been provided to Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 classrooms and are the preferred programs for the Foundations of Language instruction in PVNC Catholic. By using a common evidence-based program with the same scope and sequence, we can effectively minimize gaps in instruction within each school and throughout our system.
- Lexia is an online, evidence-based program that provides literacy instruction adapted to meet each individual student’s specific needs and is responsive to their ongoing progress. A license has been provided to every PVNC Catholic Grade 2 student. Students who engage in the program for 60 minutes or more per week demonstrate significantly more growth than those who do not.