Education (Prioritizing Literacy and Numeracy) Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2)
Chamber
alberta
Stage
Introduced
This Alberta bill requires schools to conduct literacy and numeracy screening assessments for students in kindergarten through Grade 3.
Key Changes
- Creates a new Division in the Education Act specifically for literacy and numeracy screening assessments (Kindergarten to Grade 3)
- Gives the Minister of Education the authority to establish and regulate these screening assessments
- Requires all school boards and early childhood services programs to conduct the assessments
- Requires boards to report individual student results to both parents and the Minister of Education
- Requires the Minister to publish an annual public report of assessment results
- Allows boards to exempt individual children from assessments and to collect personal information to determine eligibility for exemption
Gotchas
- Individual student results — including personally identifiable data — must be reported to the Minister of Education, raising potential privacy considerations for families
- The Minister can request additional personal information from boards beyond just test results, with boards legally required to comply
- The specific details of the assessments (timing, frequency, format, exemption criteria) are left entirely to ministerial regulations, meaning significant program details are not defined in the law itself
- Accredited independent schools and early childhood services programs are included, meaning private and faith-based schools are also subject to these requirements
- The exemption process requires boards to collect personal information about children to determine eligibility, which may affect families who wish to opt out
Who's Affected
- Children and students in Kindergarten through Grade 3 in Alberta
- Parents and guardians of young children in Alberta schools
- Public, separate, francophone, and accredited independent school boards
- Early childhood services program providers
- Teachers and school administrators responsible for conducting assessments
- Alberta Minister of Education and provincial government
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- Individual student results — including personally identifiable data — must be reported to the Minister of Education, raising potential privacy considerations for families
- The Minister can request additional personal information from boards beyond just test results, with boards legally required to comply
- The specific details of the assessments (timing, frequency, format, exemption criteria) are left entirely to ministerial regulations, meaning significant program details are not defined in the law itself
- Accredited independent schools and early childhood services programs are included, meaning private and faith-based schools are also subject to these requirements
- The exemption process requires boards to collect personal information about children to determine eligibility, which may affect families who wish to opt out
Summary
This bill changes Alberta's Education Act to create a new system of literacy and numeracy screening assessments for children from kindergarten to Grade 3. The Minister of Education gets the power to set up these assessments, and all school boards — including public, separate, francophone, and accredited independent schools, as well as early childhood services programs — must make sure the assessments are carried out. After a child is assessed, the school board must report the results to the child's parents. Boards must also report individual student results to the Minister of Education, who will then publish an annual summary report online. The Minister can also request additional information from boards to oversee how the program is running. The bill was introduced to help identify children who may be struggling with reading and math early, so that support can be provided sooner. Boards do have the ability to exempt individual children from the assessments, and the Minister can make regulations spelling out the details of how everything works.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses
Recorded Votes
| Date | Description | Yeas | Nays | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 3, 2025 | On the motion that the following Bill be now read a Third time: Bill 6 EducatiPrioritizing Literacy and Numeracy\ent Act, 2025 No. 2\Hon. Mr. Nicolaides A debate followed. | 15 | 42 | Negatived |