AERR: Literacy

Priority 1: Promote Growth and Success for All Students
Goal 2: Success for Every Student
Outcome 1: Students are engaged with their learning and achieve student-learning outcomes

Alberta Education's Assurance Domain: Student Growth and Achievement
Provincial Outcome: Alberta’s students are successful

Annual Education Results Report 2023-24 ǀ AERR Overview

Performance Measures

76% of students achieved the acceptable standard on the Grade 6 and Grade 9 PATs.
87% of students achieved the acceptable standard on diploma examinations.
79% of students achieved the acceptable standard on the Grade 9 PATs – language arts.
92% of students achieved the acceptable standard on the English 30-1 diploma examinations.
94% of students achieved the acceptable standard on the English 30-2 diploma examinations.
88% of parents agree the literacy skills their child is learning at school are useful.
81% of EIPS teachers, parents and students agree students have access to the appropriate supports and services at school.
80% of EIPS teachers, parents and students agree their child is engaged in their learning.
84% of families agree their child’s demonstrating growth in literacy.
75% of students agree they’re demonstrating growth in literacy.
87% of students agree they’re encouraged to do their best.
81% of students agree their individual needs are being met.
94% of families, staff and Grade 12 students are confident EIPS implements strategies that support students in demonstrating growth in literacy.

Additional Information:
AERR: Literacy (see pg. 21-34)
AERR: 2023-24 EIPS PAT and Diploma Results (see pg. 90)

LITERACY

Literacy is about more than the ability to read or write. It’s about being able to apply critical skills to help navigate the world. Students today face multiple sources of traditional and digital content, transforming how they acquire, create and interpret knowledge. So, having that literacy base early on is essential.

In fact, much of the current research points to how important it is for a child to read at grade level by Grade 3. After that, it’s difficult to remediate, even with intervention and support. For instance, University of Alberta literacy expert George Georgiou, found after Grade 3, 75% of students with difficulties in reading can’t catch up to their grade level later—even affecting high school completion. As such, for EIPS, it’s imperative all students develop a wide-reaching set of literacy skills.

To do that, EIPS is fostering a culture of literacy divisionwide. In all grades and in all schools, literacy is being integrated into every subject to get students reading, thinking, talking and writing about the content taught. When you walk into elementary school classrooms, students are immersed in literacy experiences—from reading and writing activities to interacting with books digitally to exploring content on the internet. Meanwhile, junior high and senior high learners explore books of various genres and in all subject matters.

Year-round, countless initiatives complement literacy instruction, including Read In Week, March Book Madness, Young Authors’ Conference, plus more. The literacy programming also doesn’t end with students—staff professional learning is ongoing. For the most part, the focus is on literacy strategies that can be used in the classroom to improve student achievement, instruction and assessments. Sessions such as the Early Literacy Initiative, Middle Years Initiative, Secondary Literacy Initiative, Thinking Classrooms, the five pillars of reading, and various coaching and modelling programs were all offered throughout EIPS to, ultimately, build on each student’s individual successes.

Overall, the focus on literacy is positively impacting the Division. What’s developing is a reading culture where students are gaining a literacy skillset that includes the ability to read, write, listen, comprehend, evaluate and communicate. You can see this in the 2023-24 results, and what it demonstrates is that EIPS is in a stronger position than ever to support the success of all students.

Results

EIPS’ overall 2023-24 Alberta Education Assurance (AEA) Measure results indicate students in Grade 6 and Grade 9 are outperforming the province at both the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence. In all subject areas of the Grade 6 and Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs), EIPS scored higher in 16 of the 16 PAT measures. It’s a similar story for the diploma examination results. For the majority of measures, EIPS students scored higher than the province, earning an overall provincial evaluation of “high.” The remainder of this chapter delves deeper into EIPS’ achievement results, including detailed data analysis, behind-the-scenes work to build capacity, growth areas and strategies going forward.

elementary

Looking at the historical AEA data for Grade 6 English language arts PATs, the percentage of students meeting the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence is traditionally higher than the province. That said, for 2023- 24, there are no results for students in English language arts and literature or mathematics. The province cancelled PATs in both subjects for the 2023-24 school year. That’s because of the launch of the new elementary curriculum—it was premature to assess students so soon after the roll-out. EIPS looks forward to analyzing next year’s data.

Historically, though, EIPS has excelled in the subject and above the provincial norms. The Division also disaggregated the data, looking at how students have traditionally done on the PATs’ reading and writing sections (see “Table 1”). It, too, shows higher percentages than the province. That’s good news for EIPS

TABLE 1: EIPS Grade 6 English Language Arts PAT results

Percentage of students who achieved the acceptable standard (A) and the standard of excellence (E)		2018-19		2022-23		2023-24
		EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta
Part A: Written	A	96.2	91.6	95.7	89.9	n/a	n/a
Part A: Written	E	13.5	10.8	19	15.3	n/a	n/a
Part B: Reading	A	96.1	90.2	93.6	88.6	n/a	n/a
Part B: Reading	E	52.6	44.6	47.5	40.1	n/a	n/a

NOTE: The Grade 6 English language arts PATs were cancelled in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2023-24. As such, no data is available for these years.

IMPROVING STUDENT OUTCOMES
To complement the AEA data, the Division also uses internal assessments to gauge student progress in literacy—using the Star Reading and Star Early Literacy assessments. Both evaluate student learning and help teachers identify learners needing additional support. In addition to screening students who are struggling, the Star also helps identify students who are reading above grade level to ensure they, too, are provided with the needed support for continued growth.

Three times a year, EIPS students complete the Star Reading assessment. Grade 1 students complete the Star Early Literacy, and students in grades 2 and up complete the Star Reading. The first assessment is done at the start of the year. Another is administered in the middle of the school year. And, a third is completed near year-end.

Overall, the Star works best as a screening tool for teachers, not to assess overall student achievement—particularly at the secondary level. As such, the Star data plays a small assessment role in the Annual Education Results Report 2023-24—mainly focused on the elementary level, where the data is most robust. In fact, starting in the 2024- 25 school year, the Division will no longer use the Star assessment tools and instead use the provincially mandated assessment—again, used as a teacher screening tool.

That being said, EIPS' 2023-24 Star Reading results show elementary learners are at grade level and have achieved roughly one year’s growth in reading. For instance, in fall 2023, Grade 1 students scored an average grade equivalent of 0.4. Then, in spring 2024, those same students scored an average grade equivalent of 1.7—meaning they are at grade level and achieved more than one year of growth. A similar trend is seen at each elementary grade, implying learners are reading at their grade level and experiencing at least one year’s growth. Meanwhile, at the secondary level, Star Reading results are consistent year over year—implying consistent growth.

junior high

At the junior high level, EIPS Grade 9 students outperformed the province on the English language arts PAT measures—at both the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence. In fact, 86% of EIPS students met the acceptable standard, compared to 84% provincewide. For the standard of excellence, 13% of EIPS Grade 9 students reached the measure, and 12% met it provincewide.

TABLE 2: EIPS Grade 9 English Language Arts PAT results

Percentage of students who achieve the acceptable standard (A) and the standard of excellence (E)		2018-19		2022-23		2023-24
		EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta
Part A: Written	A	89.4	89.6	91	88.8	89.1	87.1
Part A: Written	E	23.5	21.2	17.1	20.1	16.4	16.6
Part B: Reading	A	84.9	79.6	85	80.1	81.8	79.5
Part B: Reading	E	20.3	19.6	18.9	19.9	19.3	20.3

NOTE: The Grade 9 English language arts PATs were cancelled in 2019-20 and 2020-21. As such, no data is available for these years..

Upon closer examination of the detailed data, categorized by reading and writing, EIPS’ results for 2023-24 are slightly lower than the previous year. That said, EIPS performed better than the provincial average at the acceptable standard for both reading and writing, and the results were comparable at the standard of excellence (see “Table 2”). Specifically, for writing, 89.1% of students met the acceptable standard, and 16.4% reached the standard of excellence. In comparison, the provincial level for writing saw 87.1% of students meeting the acceptable standard and 16.6% achieving the standard of excellence, reflecting a drop of 1.1% and 3.7%, respectively. What this highlights, is while EIPS experienced a slight decline, it was negligible and similar to the decreases seen across the province.

In contrast, 81.8% of EIPS Grade 9 students met the acceptable standard for reading—a decrease of 3.2% from 2022-23. Provincially, the percentage only dropped by 0.6%. Looking at the data more granularly, EIPS students struggled with questions related to informational text, text organization and associating meaning. Knowing this will help inform strategies for 2024-25—such as establishing junior high writing standards; reviewing emergent text studies; facilitating literary engagements; and providing opportunities for students to engage in informational text, text organization and methods to transfer meaning into writing.

Interestingly, an area of growth was on the reading part of the PAT at the standard of excellence, with 19.3% of Grade 9 students achieving the measure. That’s up from 18.9% in 2022-23. The increase signifies progress in this area. And, overall, EIPS’ Grade 9 results are strong, pointing to the exceptional work being done divisionwide to push students to a high standard.

senior high

With diploma examination scores, trends in the data over the past five years indicate the percentage of EIPS students meeting the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence in English language arts is consistently higher than the province. Also positive, in 2023-24, all the diploma examinations returned to normal, after two years of cancellations, following another two years of lower final mark weighting.

Rewind to 2019-20 and 2020-21. The province cancelled all diploma examinations because of the pandemic and the resulting in-school class cancellations. In 2021-22, diploma examinations returned, but only the June exams and these were weighted at just 10% of a student’s final mark—resulting in a high degree of exam apathy. Then, in 2022-23, exams were reinstated fully but only weighted at 20% of the student’s final mark. So, 2023-24 is the first year EIPS can accurately assess Grade 12 student achievement since the pandemic hit. As such, regardless of the results, EIPS is pleased to have the achievement data available to fully understand how students are doing and if any interventions are still needed.

TABLE 3: EIPS English Language Arts Diploma Examination results – 30-1 and 30-2

Percentage of students who achieve the acceptable standard (A) and the standard of excellence (E)		2018-19		2021-22		2022-23
		EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta	EIPS	Alberta
English 30-1	A	93.8	86.8	88.8	83.7	92.1	84.2
English 30-1	E	15.2	12.3	12.5	10.5	14	10.1
English 30-2	A	91.2	87.1	90.9	86.2	94.1	85.7
English 30-2	E	15.4	12	17.1	12.7	16.1	12.9

NOTE: Diploma examinations were cancelled in 2019-20 and 2020-21—no data is available for these years. In 2021-22, diploma examinations were only written in June, not in January, and were only worth 10% of the overall student mark. In 2022-23, they were worth only 20% of the overall student mark. As such, caution is advised when interpreting the trend data.

Looking at the overall 2023-24 Grade 12 English language arts results, EIPS students outperformed the province at both the acceptable standard and the standard of excellence in both English Language Arts 30-1 and English Language Arts 30-2—which is excellent. In English 30-1, EIPS saw a 3.3% increase in the percentage of students who attained the acceptable standard, climbing to 92.1%. Similarly, at the standard of excellence, the percentage jumped to 14%—an increase of 1.5%. Both percentages are higher than the provincial average and comparable to EIPS' achievement results before the pandemic.

Similarly, for English 30-2, the percentage of students reaching the acceptable standard and standard of excellence rose in 2023-24. In total, 94.1% of students met the acceptable standard—up by 3.2%—and 16.1% of students achieved the standard of excellence—rising by 1%. In fact, both results are even higher than they were before the pandemic. That’s welcome news for the Division.

The results clearly demonstrate EIPS was successful in helping students overcome learning gaps that may have resulted from the pandemic. These efforts included developing a senior high writing standard, implementing consistent assessment practices, standardizing writing practices and offering added writing opportunities for students. Many teachers also participated in the diploma examination marking process, which has helped keep writing standards at the forefront.

building capacity: elementary

Supporting early learning literacy

Throughout 2023-24, significant work went into building capacity in elementary literacy, mainly working alongside teachers through classroom visits, coaching, modelling and professional learning

Co-Teaching: EIPS literacy consultants offered several in-person and virtual co-taught lessons—joining teachers during classroom instruction. Topics included structured word inquiry, poetry, writing, oral storytelling, comprehension, vocabulary and morphology. Result: All schools had access to the lessons, allowing the Division to provide support to a broader base.

Early Literacy Initiative (Level 1 and Level 2): A divisionwide professional learning program for elementary teachers to share research-based pedagogical best practices and strategies to help more students achieve reading growth. Result: Elementary teachers from across the Division developed expertise in language literacy, phonemic awareness, screening tools, orthographic mapping, the five pillars of reading, decoding text, the science of reading and assessing early literacy—specifically reading comprehension, fluency, phonics, vocabulary and writing skills.

New Curriculum: EIPS literacy consultants worked with teachers focusing on instructional and assessment planning with curricular objectives through various resources and learning tools. Topics included morphology, oral traditions, text forms, Read Aloud, storytelling and reading comprehension. Result: The effort reached all teachers at all elementary schools to ensure those teaching the new curriculum had the confidence, knowledge and needed tools and resources for smooth transitions.

Reading Enrichment and Development (READ): EIPS piloted an intervention program to support struggling readers in Grade 2—offered at elementary schools in Fort Saskatchewan, Bruderheim and Lamont. Result: According to the Star Reading assessment, the average student growth equivalent worked out to 1.4 years. Given its success, the Division will expand the program to other schools throughout EIPS.

Summer Literacy Institute: EIPS organized three full days of professional learning in August. The learning session included five individual presenters who each focused on ways to enhance writing skills. Results: In total, 54 elementary teachers, kindergarten to Grade 6, participated—representing 21 elementary schools.

Thinking Classrooms: Division 2 teachers took part in professional learning sessions about building thinking classrooms. The sessions included language arts and social studies teachers who worked with EIPS consultants exploring thinking routines, vertical non-permanent surfaces, activities to help enhance student engagement, visual thinking and embracing ambiguity. Result: Together, the teachers learned new ways for students to make their thinking visible through activities to assess conversations and student learning.

Working Groups: EIPS organized various literacy-related collaborative learning opportunities throughout the Division. Consultants worked closely with the groups, coaching and modelling. Result: Schools and teachers throughout the Division developed new instructional strategies and tools to enhance reading and writing growth and strategies to implement the new elementary curriculum.

building capacity: junior high

Supporting middle-years literacy

Throughout 2023-24, significant work went into building capacity in middle-years literacy, mainly working alongside teachers through classroom visits, coaching, modelling and professional learning

Focused Intervention Learning: Using Board-allocated funding, consultants offered ongoing literacy support to teachers. Result: Students and teachers were given strategies to address individual literacy needs resulting from the learning disruptions between 2020 and 2022.

Middle Years Initiative: A professional learning program for teachers to share research-based pedagogical best practices and strategies to enhance student growth— focusing on instruction related to the five pillars of reading, morphology and assessment. Result: Those who attended gained expertise in reading intervention and literacy assessment.

New Curriculum: Literacy consultants engaged teachers to roll out Phase 2 of the new elementary curriculum—English language arts and literature, grades 4 to 6. Result: Those teaching the new curriculum had the needed tools and resources for a smooth transition.

Working Groups: EIPS organized various literacy-related collaborative learning opportunities for staff. Consultants worked closely with the different groups, coaching and modelling. Result: Schools and teachers throughout the Division developed new instructional strategies and tools to enhance reading growth.

building capacity: senior high

Supporting senior high literacy

Throughout 2023-24, significant work went into building capacity in senior high literacy, mainly working alongside teachers through classroom visits, coaching, modelling and professional learning

Secondary Literacy Initiative: A divisionwide professional learning program for Division 3 and 4 staff to share research-based pedagogical best practices and strategies to enhance student growth, focusing on instruction and assessment. Result: Division 3 and 4 staff from across the Division participated in professional learning and modelling sessions, developing expertise in the science of reading, independent reading and writing, vertical non-permanent surface activities, thinking classrooms, orthographic mapping and assessments.

Common Exams: A working committee—made up of Division 4 teachers and literacy consultants—developed the writing component of the senior high final exams. Result: Once fully implemented, the common exams will help establish assessment consistency, build teacher capacity and better align with the curriculum.

Writing Continuum: EIPS' secondary literacy consultant worked with secondary English language arts teachers to enhance the Division’s new Senior High Writing Continuum—used to assess student writing. Result: Thanks to these collaborative learning sessions, the continuum includes common curricular rubrics and more refined rationales that should lead to a more centralized marking scale. Long term, the Division hopes to expand the continuum in junior high language arts and social studies classes.

Teacher Cohorts: Throughout the year, EIPS organized ongoing opportunities for teachers in grades 9 to 12 to come together to share best practices. Result: Participants explored text selection, morphology, essay structures, reading intervention strategies, student conferencing, small-group instruction, social studies outcomes, addressing misinformation and vertical non-permanent surface activities to ultimately enhance consistency at a micro- and macro-level.

A new curriculum

In 2023-24, schools across Alberta continued with the roll-out of the new elementary curriculum—mathematics and English language arts and literature, grades 4-6, science, grades K-3; and French Immersion language arts and literature. For EIPS, substantial work was undertaken to ensure a smooth transition and successful student learning.

New Curriculum team – Made up of five curriculum teachers, EIPS continued with resource development to prepare for the 2024-25 roll-out. Together, the team developed resources, unit plans, planning tools, how-to videos, bridging documents, assessments, professional learning and aligned report cards aimed at smooth student transitions.
Working sessions – Elementary teachers and consultants participated in several working sessions throughout the year—sharing feedback and insight. Collectively, they developed a holistic understanding of the new curriculum, the scope-and-sequence documents and long-range plans to implement the curriculum across all EIPS elementary schools.
Professional learning – The Instructional Supports and New Curriculum teams offered several professional learning sessions with grade cohorts. All sessions explored the new curriculum, the unit plans and available resources. The team also collected ongoing teacher feedback and developed a vetting process to ensure teachers, peers and consultants reviewed the available resources.
Curriculum micro-site – The New Curriculum team maintained a micro-site to house the unit plans, assessments and Division-created resources—allowing for easy access. To date, the feedback from teachers is positive, who say it helped build their confidence.

EIPS will continue this work to further build capacity and ensure teachers can effectively implement the next phases of the new curriculum roll-out.

English as an additional language

Reporting achievement results for the Division’s English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners is a relatively new addition to EIPS’ Annual Education Results Report—first introduced in the 2019-20 school year. It’s also a challenging area to analyze and report on year-over-year. That’s because of the limited number of English language learners enrolled within the Division.

For instance, in 2023-24, only four EAL students wrote the English 30-1 diploma examination, five wrote the English 30-2 exam, nine wrote the Mathematics 30-1 exam, three wrote the Mathematics 30-2 exam and five wrote the Social Studies 30-1 exam. It’s a similar story for the PATs. In 2023-24, only 39 EAL students wrote the Grade 6 assessments, and 28 students wrote the Grade 9 assessments. With so few students, if one student does or doesn’t reach the acceptable standard or standard of excellence, it significantly sways the overall achievement results, positively or negatively.

With that in mind, what the 2023-24 PAT results reveal, like all other students within EIPS, EAL students outperformed the province in all subjects and measures except for the standard of excellence in Grade 6 social studies and Grade 9 social studies. In Grade 9 English language arts, 65.6% of EAL students earned the acceptable standard, and 6.9% met the standard of excellence—provincially, the results were 56.9% and 5.4%, respectively. And, in mathematics, 58.6% of EAL students attained the acceptable level, while 13.8% earned the excellence level—provincially, the percentages were 46.7% and 11.5%, respectively.

At the senior high level, 66.7% of EAL students graduated with a high school diploma within three years of entering Grade 10, which translates to six out of nine students—down by 6.5% from the previous year. Also, the 2023-24 EAL dropout rate is on par with the dropout rate for all other EIPS students, at 3.1%—earning a provincial achievement rating of “high.” Meanwhile, 57.9% of students transitioned to post-secondary education within six years of entering Grade 10 and 50% of EAL students qualified for the Rutherford Scholarship.

Overall, it’s fair to conclude EIPS is improving its ability to meet the needs of EAL learners. Despite this, there is more to do. And, there are growth opportunities in the area of EAL to ensure these students attain similar levels to other students in EIPS.

Opportunities For Growth

An ongoing growth area for EIPS is supporting and developing school-based instructional approaches and embedding strong pedagogy into curriculum resources. One strategy it will use is vertically aligning content between grade levels to establish collaborative teams—critical given the new elementary curriculum. EIPS will also continue to develop curriculum supports and resources for teachers who need them, such as morphology, and prepare for the roll-out of the new social studies curriculum in 2025-26.

In terms of literacy, the Division will concentrate on structured word inquiry, thinking classrooms, the science of reading, focused writing and developing writing exemplars. It will also develop professional learning community opportunities to enhance collective efficacy, pedagogical practices and student outcomes. EIPS is also committed to ensuring an excellent start to learning. As such, in 2024-25, EIPS will expand its elementary literacy program entitled, Reading Enrichment and Development (READ). Offered in elementary schools divisionwide, the program aims to improve student reading achievement through targeted intervention based on the science of reading.

Finally, ongoing capacity building in literacy continues to be a focus area. Throughout 2024-25, EIPS will review, facilitate and support professional learning sessions, and develop professional learning communities to provide teacher collaboration opportunities focused on sharing best practice and evidence-based pedagogical research. The goal: To improve instruction and assessment practice.

Priority Strategy For Education Plan

EIPS is committed to implementing research-based strategies to promote student growth and success. Strategies for 2025-26 include:

Continue to use multidisciplinary teams to support learners with complex needs—across all feeder-school groupings.
Implement high-leverage instructional and assessment practices to support literacy growth and a culture of thinking across classrooms.
Continue to build capacity and resources around the new elementary curriculum to ensure smooth transitions for students and teachers—particularly for the new elementary social studies roll-out.
Continue the Division’s work to develop and refine common exams for the junior high and senior high grades.
Continue to build capacity around elementary and junior high writing through onboarding, standards development, writing assessments and single-point rubrics.
Continue to build teacher and school-staff capacity in system programs and inclusive settings to ensure all students have access to high-quality programming.
Continue literacy intervention programming, such as Reading Enrichment and Development, to address learning gaps.
Provide professional learning opportunities to principals and assistant principals to develop instructional leadership skills and enhance school education plans.
Offer focused professional learning opportunities to improve the Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Test results in language arts.
Continue to support teachers to develop and implement intervention plans that ensure more students demonstrate growth in literacy.
Establish collaborative teacher-learning opportunities where staff can critically reflect on their practices, share insights and challenge one another to, ultimately, lead to improved teaching practices and student outcomes.