Addressing the Gaps
How BC’s K-4 Learning Progressions Improve the 2016 Curriculum
I have expressed reservations about British Columbia’s 2016 curriculum revision. My concerns include the way competencies are framed, the absence of a clear scope and sequence, the demands placed on teachers, the confusion surrounding implementation, the lack of provincially curated learning resources, and insufficient support for educators.
The Ministry of Education, aware of these challenges, has taken steps to address some of the issues. It recently introduced K-4 Foundational Learning Progressions for the English Language Arts and Mathematics curriculum. These progressions, developed by BC educators, outline key foundational skills in reading, writing, oral language, and math. They provide a structured learning sequence and clear definitions of key concepts, offering valuable guidance for teachers.
One of the primary issues with the 2016 curriculum was the lack of a clear scope and sequence, leaving teachers to figure out progression independently. The new progressions define what proficiency looks like at each grade level, with descriptors outlining key foundational skills from Kindergarten through Grade 4. This approach fills gaps in developmental sequencing, bringing much-needed clarity.
Another concern was that competencies were often vague and disconnected from actual instruction. The progressions resolve this by directly linking competencies to learning standards. The overview aligns curricular competencies with specific content and proficiency descriptors, making expectations clearer for teacher.
For example, the Auditory Discrimination progression outlines how students advance from recognizing 25-30 of the 44 letter sounds (phonemes) in Kindergarten to mastering all 44 phonemes and letter teams by Grade 2. Similarly, in Phoneme Isolation, kindergarten students begin by identifying initial and terminal sounds in simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words (e.g., "cat" → /k/ and /t/), while Grade 1 students progress to isolating medial vowel sounds and segmenting monosyllabic words. By Grades 3 and 4, students manipulate phonemes in multisyllabic words and consonant clusters.
This structured approach directly addresses the lack of scope and sequence in the 2016 curriculum by mapping out explicit learning objectives for phonemic awareness. It also clarifies competency expectations by ensuring that phonological skills essential for early reading success are systematically developed rather than left to individual teacher interpretation. If implemented effectively, the Progressions provide an explicit, systematic approach to early literacy that can help combat declining literacy rates in BC.
By clearly outlining grade-specific proficiency descriptors, such as the progression from recognizing letter sounds in kindergarten to manipulating phonemes in multisyllabic words by Grade 4, the progressions help ensure students do not miss critical early literacy milestones. This structured sequence reduces instructional variability and ensures that systematic and explicit instruction in decoding, word recognition, and fluency is prioritized.
The inclusion of definitions, clear examples, and instructional scaffolding also supports teacher capacity, particularly helping educators who may have previously lacked explicit guidance. These measures help prevent foundational literacy gaps that contribute to long-term reading struggles and declining literacy rates in BC.
In a similar manner, the K-4 Mathematics Foundational Learning Progressions aim to address declining numeracy in BC by providing explicit and developmentally appropriate learning sequences. The progressions establish clear grade-specific expectations, ensuring students build essential skills in number sense, operations, and problem-solving systematically.
For example, the Number Sense progression develops fluency with whole numbers by guiding students from stable order counting and subitizing in kindergarten to understanding place value and estimating with benchmarks by Grade 4. Similarly, the Operations Sense progression gradually builds arithmetic fluency, beginning with visual and concrete models (e.g., ten frames, manipulatives) before advancing to mental math strategies and flexible problem-solving in later grades.
By offering clear developmental pathways, these progressions reduce instructional gaps and ensure students master essential numeracy skills before tackling more complex concepts. The inclusion of multiple representations (concrete, pictorial, symbolic) is crucial for preventing early math difficulties. These progressions may help counteract declining numeracy rates by promoting consistent, evidence-based math instruction.
While the K-4 Foundational Learning Progressions do not resolve all concerns about the 2016 curriculum revision, they are a meaningful step forward in addressing some of its most pressing challenges. By providing a clearer scope and sequence, explicitly linking competencies to learning expectations, and offering structured guidance on foundational literacy and numeracy skills, these progressions help reduce confusion and ease the instructional burden on teachers. They also support greater consistency in classroom instruction, minimizing reliance on individual interpretation.
However, gaps remain—particularly in the absence of provincially curated learning resources and the need for systematic professional development. To ensure students receive a coherent, well-sequenced learning experience, similar progressions should be developed across all subject areas and grade levels. If fully integrated and accompanied by resources, the Foundational Learning Progressions could strengthen early learning and enhance the overall effectiveness of BC’s curriculum.