Education bill would make early years screening tests law for Alberta schools
CBC
A new education bill would make provincially mandated screening tests in literacy and numeracy codified in law — a first for Alberta government assessments.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the early years screening tests, which were first introduced in 2022, help teachers identify students with deficits early on.
“Teachers can then give targeted support before the problem becomes bigger,” Nicolaides said at a news conference at the legislature on Monday afternoon. “This means small issues don't turn into big ones, and students can get the help when they need it most in those early formative years.”
However, critics of the government’s blanket testing approach say the screening tests are a waste of teachers’ time, and tell them little they don’t already know about children struggling with literacy and numeracy.
“This to me is ... almost a slap in the face to teachers, saying, ‘We don't trust you to make good decisions for your students,'" said University of Lethbridge education professor Richelle Marynowski, who has studied teacher perceptions of the screening tests. “And my comeback might be, ‘Well, if I only had a class of 17 instead of 32, I would be able to do this very well.’”
Bill 6, the Education (Prioritizing Literacy and Numeracy) Amendment Act 2025, No. 2, would legally obligate public, Catholic, francophone, charter and independent schools to administer screening tests annually to all students in kindergarten to Grade 3. The government plans to expand testing to Grade 4 and Grade 5 students next school year, but that wouldn’t be part of the Education Act yet.
Government officials said other long-running standardized tests in the province, such as diploma exams and provincial achievement tests, are required by provincial policy, but not written into law.
If passed, Bill 6 would also require schools and school divisions to report screening test results to parents, and to the education minister. The screening takes place at the beginning of the school year, or midyear, or at both times, depending on the grade and the student.
The College of Alberta School Superintendents and Dyslexia Canada have voiced support for the bill.
“Legislating this practice is an important step toward making sure that early screening becomes a lasting part of how we support every child’s right to learn to read,” read a statement from Dyslexia Canada executive director Alicia Smith in the government news release.
The text of Bill 6 says the minister may request personal information about the students being screened from school boards.
Nicolaides said that measure is to ensure students identified as struggling are receiving targeted help from school staff.
Results from provincial exams are reported to the government in aggregate.
The legislation comes on the heels of a contract dispute between 51,000 public, Catholic and francophone teachers and their employers. Teachers went on strike Oct. 6 over pay that they said did not keep pace with inflation, and because of inadequate support for students in sometimes overflowing classrooms.
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