State and District Testing
2024-2025 Testing Schedules
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Testing Policies
Minnesota READ Act Literacy Screening
FastBridge – MDE Approved Literacy Screening Tool
The Minnesota Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act (2023 Minnesota Statutes 2023, section 120B.12, subdivision 2), was passed and signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on May 24, 2023. The goal of this legislation is to have every Minnesota child reading at or above grade level every school year, beginning in kindergarten, and to support multilingual learners and students receiving special education services in achieving their individualized reading goals. The READ Act replaces Read Well by Third Grade and is in effect as of July 1, 2023.
The READ Act requires school districts to adopt and implement a K-3 literacy screener from the list of Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) Approved Literacy Screening Tools. Screening tools approved by MDE include subtests to measure foundational reading skills as well as characteristics of dyslexia. Literacy screening tools were reviewed to ensure adequate classification accuracy, reliability, validity, sample representativeness (norms), bias analysis, and ease of administration and scoring.
Bemidji Area Schools will be using MDE approved literacy screening tool, FastBridge (a Renaissance product). Students must be universally screened in the subject area of reading in grades K-3 at least twice per school year, once within the first six weeks of the school year and again within the last six weeks of the school year, as required by Minnesota Statutes 2023, section 120B.12, The READ Act. MDE’s guidance around screening for students in grades 4-12 will be forthcoming.
FastBridge K-8 Screening & Progress Monitoring Schedule 2024-25
MDE’s Universal Literacy and Dyslexia Screening Guidance webpage includes information on the READ Act screening requirements, approved screening tools and required subtests.