Alberta school screening program for math and reading issues is expanding
Posted Sep 9, 2026 10:08 am.
The Alberta Government says a school screening program for math and reading issues among students is expanding to grades 4 and 5 to offer “targeted support”, and the province is announcing changes concerning the sharing of data.
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says in a news release, “the screeners are short, simple activities that can have a huge impact on identifying and stopping issues with math and reading before they grow into even larger issues down the road for a student.”
The province says fall 2025 screening data was received for reading and math, and early trends show improvement across grades 1 to 3 compared with fall 2024.
From kindergarten to Grade 1, 38 per cent of students screened were no longer identified as requiring additional support in reading and 41 per cent in math. About 30 percent or more of students in grades 2 and 3 also saw improvements with no longer needing additional support says the province.
They add the math and reading screeners program will continue for earlier grades after “impressive results” were seen from last year.
Chair of the Buffalo Trail Public School board Tanya Ford provided a statement in support.
“The information gained by screening gives our educators another tool to help answer an important question: What does this student need, and what can we do to help them move forward?”
As well, the province says it’s making further changes to the Education Act.
They require school authorities and early childhood services operators to share screening results with parents, and provide screening data to the province and education minister.
The education ministry will publish an annual report on provincial reading and math screening results with the first report available in the 2027-28 school year.
In January, the province released a report that found more than 70 per cent of K-3 teachers don’t believe mandatory screenings are helping them understand their students’ literacy and numeracy or providing the information needed to get them additional support.
At the time, the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) said the survey summary reflects points it has made to the minister of education about the program.
In the coming school year, the province says it’s investing $20 million in screening and supports, an increase of more than 60 per cent from the previous school year.
