This year marks an important stride forward for the KCDSB, as we embrace Acadience Reading, a reading assessment tool, in alignment with the recommendations of the 2022 Ontario Human Rights Commission's "Right to Read" inquiry report. This report emphasized several strategies to support students who face reading challenges by underscoring the importance of early and universal screening.
This proactive approach is key to identifying students who are having difficulty with reading skills or are at risk of not meeting their grade-level targets. As highlighted by the Ontario Ministry of Education, early identification of risk and the use of early, evidence-based, fully implemented, and closely monitored intervention is highly effective in improving reading success.
Acadience Reading is a suite of six targeted assessments, each a steppingstone towards mastering the vital skills needed for reading excellence. These assessments provide a dynamic and ongoing insight into early literacy skills development, paving the way for timely and effective educational support to foster strong reading abilities for the future. This innovative tool will capture data on the reading capabilities of every student from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 2, serving as the foundation of our strategy to design and implement structured, evidence-based reading instruction and interventions. These interventions will be tailored to students who may need additional or special education support.
This academic year, we conducted initial year screening assessments for all students from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 2. For French Immersion students, we utilized IDAPEL, a counterpart to Acadience, specifically tailored for the French language. IDAPEL comprises a set of formative measures focused on evaluating early literacy skills in French. Our objective is to carry out screenings at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. This approach not only aids in guiding instruction and monitoring progress throughout the year but also plays a crucial role in informing our planning for the 2024/2025 academic year.
As we surge ahead with the rollout of our early reading screening initiative and the implementation of the Ontario Language curriculum, our team at KCDSB is fueled by a commitment to ensure that every student is equipped with equal opportunities and the essential tools to blossom into proficient readers. We're not just teaching reading; we're unlocking a world of possibilities for our students, one word at a time.