Whiteside Elementary School

Action Plan for Improving Reading Comprehension

Goal: To improve reading comprehension skills for all students, with a particular focus on areas identified for growth in the 2024-2025 and fall 2025 school-wide reading assessment data.

Key Areas for Action:

1. Professional Development:

• Continued Pro-D Sessions: Provide ongoing (local, district, and provincial) professional development opportunities for teachers focused on effective reading comprehension strategies.
  • Topics may include:
    • Explicit instruction in comprehension strategies (e.g., predicting, inferencing, visualizing, questioning)
    • Differentiated instruction for diverse learners
    • Using assessment data to inform instruction
    • Engaging students in authentic reading experiences
• Collaboration Days: Dedicate collaboration time for teachers to plan and share best practices for teaching reading comprehension. We thank our support team in the school district for organizing and leading these opportunities.
  • Focus on:
    • Developing common formative assessments
    • Creating engaging learning activities
    • Sharing resources and strategies
  • Day 1 (November 2025)
    • Release time for intermediate teachers
    • Work with our teacher consultant in large grade groups
    • Review RFRA (Richmond Formative Reading Assessment) data
    • Find commonalities and co-plan explicit lessons targeting specific reading comprehension strategies
  • Day 2 (January 2026)
    • Release time for primary teachers
    • Work with our teacher consultant in large grade groups
    • Review updated Acadience data
    • Review Primary Reading Intervention program
    • Re-organize learning groups
    • Adjust planning to meet new needs of our learners

2. Resource Allocation:

• Increased Resource Spending: Allocate additional resources to support reading comprehension development in both English and French Immersion programs.
  • This may include:
    • High-quality reading materials (e.g., diverse texts, leveled readers, digital resources)
    • Assessment tools (e.g., running records, diagnostic assessments)
    • Professional development materials (e.g., books, articles, online resources)

3. Targeted Interventions:

• Primary Reading Intervention Program:
  • Goals of the Early Literacy Intervention Project:
    • To empower every child to reach their full literacy potential through early intervention and individualized support.
    • To foster a love of reading and writing in every child, setting the stage for a lifetime of learning and discovery.
    • To improve reading assessment scores and provide a strong foundation that students can build upon through their years in upper primary and intermediate classrooms.
  • Monitoring and Evaluation:
    • Acadience assessment (ongoing)
    • RFRA (fall/spring)
    • UFLI reading groups (formative assessment)
• Ongoing Monitoring: Regularly monitor student progress in reading comprehension through formative and summative assessments.
• Data Analysis: Analyze assessment data to identify trends, areas of strength, and areas for improvement.
• Action Plan Review: Review and revise this action plan as needed based on ongoing data analysis and feedback.

Timeline:

• September - December 2025:
  • Use funding for resources and plan professional development sessions.
  • Establish routines for Primary Reading Intervention program
  • Provide collaboration time for intermediate teachers
• January - June 2025:
  • Implement professional development, provide targeted interventions, and engage families.
  • Reassess primary reading intervention program and reorganize as needed
  • Provide collaboration time to primary teachers
• Ongoing: Monitor student progress, analyze data, and revise the action plan as needed.

Success Measures:

• Increased percentage of students achieving "Proficient" and "Extending" levels on school-wide reading assessments.
• Improved reading comprehension skills for students in the middle years.
• Increased family engagement in supporting literacy development.

This action plan provides a framework for improving reading comprehension at Whiteside Elementary. By working together and utilizing available resources, we can ensure that all students develop the essential skills they need to succeed.