BC’s New Literacy Screeners: Optics Over Action

 

There is a familiar, painful pattern in classrooms across British Columbia.

Children who struggle to read are quietly pushed along without the support they need. Many of these students show clear signs of a learning disability, yet because of long waitlists, a shortage of school psychologists, and chronic underfunding, they go years, sometimes their entire school careers, without a proper diagnosis.

What we see instead are the symptoms: frustration, avoidance, shutdown, acting out. These are not simply “behaviours to manage.” They are the visible signs of deeper, unmet needs. And too often, those needs are ignored until they become crises.

Now, the BC government has announced funding for early literacy screeners in schools. At first glance, it sounds like progress, a long-overdue step to catch struggling readers sooner. But let’s be clear: a screener is not an assessment. It will not diagnose your child. And by itself, it will not bring support.

The funding will cover the implementation of literacy screeners for students in Kindergarten through Grade 3. But what about the thousands of older students who are already struggling to read? What about the children who made it through those early years without proper identification or intervention? Where is the plan for them?

Even for younger students, a screener is only a quick tool meant to flag potential difficulties. In a truly supportive system, it would be the first step toward timely assessment and evidence-based intervention. But in BC, there is no requirement for schools to act on screener results.

So what will really happen? Many children will be flagged as “at risk,” and then nothing. No follow-up. No formal diagnosis. No support. No legal obligation to accommodate.

And what about the students who already have a diagnosis? Those who have been formally identified with a learning disorder in reading are still waiting in overcrowded classrooms without timely, evidence-based support. Screening new students does nothing to address the systemic failure to meet the needs of those already known.

This is not about helping students. It is about optics.

By funding screeners for K–3 without investing in more school psychologists or mandated follow-up assessments, the government gets to look like it is “taking action” while avoiding the real issue. A diagnosis creates accountability.

When a child is officially identified with a learning disability, the school district is legally obligated to provide accommodations. That means more resources, more staffing, and systemic change. And that is exactly what the system is resisting.

Instead, the burden will once again fall on classroom teachers, already stretched beyond their limits, to “fix” what the screeners reveal, even when a student’s needs go far beyond what a teacher alone can provide. 

Many teachers will push back, saying they lack the time, training, and autonomy to provide the support students need, and they’re not wrong. Classrooms are more complex than ever, but resources have not kept pace. Most teachers were never trained in evidence-based reading interventions, and even the most dedicated are stretched beyond their limits. Expecting individual educators to fill systemic gaps is both unrealistic and unfair.

The appearance of action is being prioritized over real, structural change.

This is a distraction. It does not solve the problem.

So what can you do as a parent? Ask which screener is being used. Request the results in writing. Push for next steps. If your child is flagged, do not stop there. Request a full psychoeducational assessment. Put it in writing. Document every response.

Because here is the bottom line: being screened is not the same as being supported.

Our children deserve more than surface-level solutions. They deserve systems that respond to their needs, not just measure them.

We cannot let this be another missed opportunity. We cannot accept “good enough” when the future of our kids is at stake.

Screeners without follow-up are a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. BC needs real change: more psychologists, timely assessments, meaningful interventions, a reading specialist at every school, and the courage to finally meet every child’s right to learn.