K-12 Literacy Supports Initiative:
In April 2024, the Ministry of Education announced an initiative designed to improve the literacy skills of students in British Columbia, particularly those in Kindergarten to Grade 3.
A major focus of this initiative was to mandate the early literacy screening of Kindergarten to Grade 3 students using evidence-based, standardized screeners. It was announced that the screening start with Kindergarten (as a minimum) in the 2025-26 year. Although the mandate for screening focuses on Kindergarten to Grade 3, teachers can effectively use screening tools to understand a student’s literacy skills and be used as information to help identify ways to best support their literacy development.
- Link to learn more about the Ministry Recommended K-3 Early Literacy Screening Tools.
In Mission School District, we are currently exploring the Acadience Reading K-6, starting with Kindergarten in 2025-26. We will start implementing Acadience Reading for grades 1-3 in 2026-27. The Ministry recently announced that a B.C. based screener will also be created soon.
We have also been exploring diagnostic assessments for literacy. For example, we started using the ELPATS (Early Phonemic Awareness Tool Surrey) for Kindergarten to assess students’ phonemic awareness skills in May of 2025.
More Information:
- Standardized Literacy Screeners
- Diagnostic Assessments
- ELPATS Assessment (password protected for MPSD educator use only)
- Comparing Assessment Tools
- What’s Next after Screening
Curriculum Connections 