Reading Assessment Results: Evidence of Growth in Literacy
At Palmer Secondary, literacy continues to be a key focus of our school improvement efforts. Throughout the 2025–2026 school year, staff have intentionally implemented reading and comprehension strategies to strengthen students' literacy skills across subject areas. We are pleased to share the results from our Spring 2026 Grade 8 Reading Assessment, which show encouraging growth in several key areas when compared to our Fall 2025 assessment.
Palmer Secondary Evidence and Analysis | |
What targeted actions did we take to address our school's learning focus? | Throughout the year, teachers implemented targeted literacy strategies across classrooms. Staff focused on teaching word-analysis skills, modeling effective note-making strategies, supporting students in identifying main ideas and details in texts, and helping students make meaningful connections to deepen comprehension. Teachers used highlighting, annotation, note-taking frameworks, and structured discussions to build reading confidence and comprehension skills. These strategies were embedded within content-area learning and reinforced across departments. |
What gap or problem were these actions intended to address? Why was this particular strategy/action chosen? | Fall 2025 assessment data indicated a significant number of students were performing in the Emerging and Emerging/Developing ranges, particularly in reading comprehension, note-making, and making connections. Students also reported finding reading tasks challenging. These strategies were selected because literacy research demonstrates that explicit instruction in comprehension, note-making, vocabulary development, and connections improves students' ability to understand, analyze, and respond to complex texts across disciplines. |
What does the evidence tell us so far? | Spring 2026 literacy assessment results show positive growth across several areas. Student confidence improved significantly, with students finding reading tasks "Difficult" dropping from 10% to 3%, while those rating tasks as "Easy" increased to 26%. Overall achievement improved, with fewer students in the Emerging and Emerging/Developing categories and a notable increase in Proficient readers, which doubled compared to Fall 2025. Strong gains were seen in Connections, where Emerging students decreased by 12% and Proficient responses doubled. Note-Making also improved, with fewer Emerging and No Response results and increases in Proficient and Proficient/Extending performance. Word Skills showed movement out of the lowest-performing categories, while Main Ideas and Details demonstrated modest proficiency gains but remains an area for continued focus due to an increase in Emerging responses. |
To what extent are the actions making a difference? | Overall, the evidence suggests that the school's literacy interventions are having a positive impact. The doubling of students achieving Proficient levels in overall reading performance is particularly encouraging. Significant reductions in the number of students reporting difficulty with reading tasks and in "No Response" categories suggest greater student engagement, perseverance, and confidence when approaching literacy tasks. While growth is evident, the results also indicate that continued support is needed in areas such as identifying main ideas and details and strengthening foundational word-analysis skills for some learners. |
How will we move forward accordingly? | Palmer staff will continue to prioritize literacy instruction through teaching of comprehension strategies, note-making techniques, vocabulary and word-analysis skills, and opportunities for students to make deeper connections with texts. The Spring results demonstrate that our collective efforts are supporting student growth, and we remain committed to ensuring every Palmer student develops the literacy skills needed for success both in school and beyond. |
Updated:
Monday, June 29, 2026