Reading is fundamental to all aspects of life, serving as the foundation for learning and communication. The ability to read opens doors to endless knowledge and opportunities, enhancing both personal and professional growth. Finding joy in reading transforms it from a mere skill into a lifelong passion, enriching our lives with stories, ideas, and insights. Continuously honing reading strategies ensures we stay adept and engaged, enabling us to comprehend complex texts and adapt to new information. By cultivating strong reading skills, we empower ourselves to navigate the world with confidence and curiosity, making reading an indispensable part of our daily lives.

     Through our DART reading assessment being completed in both early October and May, we have learned that many of our "Emerging" readers have shown growth and are now "Developing" readers.  We have gone from approximately 9%  to 5% of our population moving from the proficiency of emerging to developing in reading.  Throughout the year, staff collaborated  with their resource teams and our district literacy consultant to plan for lessons and strategies to help our learners develop their reading skills. Daily targeted support for our emerging readers from the resource team gave those students an extra boost that helped them build upon their skills and strategies.  We were able to clearly see that with intentional teaching towards a specific goal, it can make a real difference.

     Working on this process for the last two years has shown us that assessing and planning for learning can really support our teaching habits.  Doing the reading assessment regularly each year, is an important part of the formative assessment process allowing us to plan for instruction appropriately.

    We will continue with this annual assessment and planning in the fall as part of our regular yearly teaching practice.