Literacy for All Pilot

Alberta Education has initiated a one year literacy pilot project beginning June 2011 to build teacher capacity to better meet the literacy and communication needs of grades 1 to 6 students with significant disabilities. This project is the result of a conditional grant from Alberta Education, to the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia with the Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium (ERLC) coordinating this pilot opportunity.

For a list of schools who are participating in the pilot, please click here. 

This Literacy for All pilot project is designed for teachers of students with significant disabilities and will be based on the literacy resource Meville to WEville from Bridges Publishing, Canada. The project has 30 teachers participating from across the province from public, separate, private, rural and urban school jurisdictions. Throughout this pilot, participants will interact and collaborate using an online community of practice model, face-to-face learning events and ongoing mentoring. Regional Educational Consulting Services Teams (RECS) from across the province, who are supporting pilot schools, are also participating in professional learning events and the online community for this project.

The goals of this project are to:

  • enhance the capacity of participating teachers to better meet the diverse learning needs of students with significant disabilities.
  • create a provincial community of practice to analyze the effectiveness and appropriateness of the MEville to WEville literacy and communication teacher resource in the Alberta context
  • support and build teacher understanding of literacy and communication strategies for students with significant disabilities


This Literacy for All pilot project aligns with the following policy direction described for inclusive education and literacy.

  • “…teachers have resources and tools to support them in using the programs of study in more robust ways to address the diverse learning needs of all students.” (Inspiring Action in Education: A Discussion Paper June 2012, page 12)
  • “It is a matter of fairness that all students have access to the programs, supports, and instructional excellence needed to achieve.”(Alberta Education Action Agenda, 2011-2014)
  • Supporting professional learning opportunities that focus on literacy in all subject areas and grade levels. (Strategy 3, Alberta Education Literacy First: A Plan for Action, 2010)

For further information, please contact Val Olekshy at www.erlc.ca or 780-444-2497 ext 227 or Shelley Wells at Shelley.Wells@gov.ab.ca or 780-427-3776.

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