Reading is a key skill for student success. To support students, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) uses evidence-based tools to screen the reading skills of students in:

  • Senior Kindergarten
  • Grade 1
  • Grade 2

This screening was mandated by the Ministry of Education following the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s 2022 ‘Right to Read’ report. In the WRDSB, we use the Acadience Reading tool.

The results of early reading screening are not used to determine a student’s grades.

The Purpose of Early Reader Screening Assessment

Early reading screening helps to:

  • Track students development in early reading skills
  • Identify children who need more support
  • Guide classroom instruction

What Skills Does the Screener Assess?

The early reading screener focused on the following skills:

  • Phonemic awareness
    • The ability to hear and identify individual speech sounds in words
  • Alphabet principle
    • The ability to identify letter and sound correspondences
  • Phonics
    • The ability to use letter and sound knowledge to read words
  • Reading fluency
    • The ability to read a story with accuracy and automaticity
  • Reading comprehension
    • The ability to understand what they read

One Part of Language and Literacy Skill Development

Screening provides one piece of information about a student’s language and literacy skills. Screeners are one tool, amongst many, to help teachers identify the support a student needs to remain on track for their reading skills.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact your child’s teacher or principal.