Princess Margaret Secondary 24-25

OUR FOCUS

When looking at the literacy scores from our associate schools and the Grade 10 Literacy exams of previous years (see below 2018-2022),  we noticed that we were below the District and the Provincial averages.  Our students were not on track to demonstrate literacy skills to a proficient level.  This further affirmed our need to continue dedicating our time to focus on literacy.  Within the goal of literacy, we are choosing to focus on a few specific competencies. 

We met with staff in 2022 -23 from several disciplines (through staff meetings, department meetings, classroom visits, first year teacher observations, etc.),  to discuss what students can do well and identify those areas of challenge in relation to literacy skills. Grades 8 and 9 teachers engaged in discussions to select the target group. Senior teachers were surveyed to identify areas of competencies requiring additional support at the junior level. 

Our focus continues to be on the following literary competencies:

-Applying appropriate strategies to comprehend written, oral, and visual texts, guide inquiry, and extend thinking 

-Using writing and design processes to plan, develop, and create engaging and meaningful literary and informational texts for a variety of purposes and audiences 

-Using an increasing repertoire of conventions of spelling, grammar, and punctuation

 In 2022-23 there were a total of 4  HUMASC teacher/admin meetings at the Grade 8 and 9 level to discuss a meaningful assessment of the competencies we were wanting to build. In 2024 - 25 we met with all HUMASC teachers in September as there was a significant shift of teaching staff.  we, therefore, we felt that we needed to re-establish buy in to our goals around literacy and supporting our grade 8's.

- As a department there was unanimous agreement to access assessment tools in reading and writing as well as math  to help teachers better understand their students' strengths and weaknesses in literacy.   We also used the articulation process to gain us much relevant information on student's literacy learning from elementary school so as to flag learning concerns more quickly. In September 2024 our HUM/MASC  teachers agreed to continue to use the agreed upon assessment tools  to gain a snap shot of student level and ability.  Teachers believed this was important for reasons outlined below:

- Using common assessment tools  teachers will gain a snap shot of student's ability and level over the course of September.  This information will:

1.   help teachers meet students where they are at academically

2.  help speed up the process to connect students who are struggling academically with supports.

3.  help with learning profiles of students so the HUM/MASC team can co-create units that will better support their classroom make up.

Part of our plan is for all teachers to use the same assessment tools.  Admin provided time for these teachers to meet as a group to co-assess student work to make sure all teachers are assessing at the same level.  Teachers also co-created and developed a meaningful rubric (i.e. for student writing) using the proficiency scale for the younger grades to assess the ability of our students.

In 2023 as part of the plan to identify student learning needs more quickly, we, as a school, decided to identify students most struggling in their literacy learning and cohort them in a smaller, more supported HUM/MASC adapted cohort.  Our hope was, when identified early and given extra supports, students would be able to be more successful and less chance of becoming frustrated due to their struggles in literacy learning.  Literacy progress for students in the adapted cohort was limited, and on the surface, somewhat disappointing.  But looking more deeply a lot of the attendance and behavioural issues were similar to what had been occurring at elementary school. We therefore decided to change the support model to a more high intensity program for the 2024 -25 school year. Our vision was to create a more low barrier program for students who were already struggling in elementary school and not attending regularly. This adapted humanities had 2 blocks each semester. Our reasoning for this was that it would create a welcoming space that would promote increased attendance.  This was more conducive for  field trips and experiential learning. Some other benefits were:

1. Smaller class size (10 to 15 students)

2. LST support teacher within the classroom

3 CYCW support within the classroom

4. Very experienced and knowledgeable teacher heading the class

5. Focus on Indigenous ways of learning and support.

It was hoped that the adapted HUM classroom structure 2024/25 would help these students improve in their literacy learning due to increased attendance.

Our Evidence

There were approximately 250 students that were part of our focus cohorts for Grade 8's.  Of these two hundred and fifty students, some were excluded from the data set due to the following reasons:

1.  Was not present when the initial assessment took place.

2.  Left our school before the end of the school year.

3. Did not attend the day the final assessment was completed.

4. Switched classes into PEERS.

 We believe, as a school, that supporting grade 8's in literacy has the biggest affect for improvement and success in the later grades.  We, therefore, assessed students in three different ways to demonstrate positive impact for learners in our focus group. 

1. HUM and MASC teachers did their initial literacy assessment in September (Hum - Writing sample as well as reading assessment; MASC - Math assessment focusing on math literacy around concepts and understanding to be successful in grade 8).

2.   In March 2025, teachers met together in their cohorts and did an anecdotal assessment based on observations and assessment completed to that date and teachers perception of student literacy progress or lack there of.

3. Post assessment completed at the beginning of June.  This assessment mirrored the September 2024 assessment.

The results are in graph form below:

All Cohort MASC Improvement Sept to June 

Here’s the breakdown of student performance in Math from September 2024 to June 2025:

• Total students analyzed: 115
• 📈 Improved: 95 students (82.6%)
• ➖ No change: 3 students (2.6%)
• 📉 Decreased: 17 students (14.8%)

Here is the analysis of Reading level changes from September 2024 to June 2025:

📊 Summary Statistics:

• Total students with valid Reading data: 212
• 📈 Improved: 85 students (40.1%)
• ➖ No change: 108 students (50.9%)
• 📉 Regressed: 19 students (9.0%)

Here is the analysis of Writing level changes from September 2024 to June 2025:

📊 Summary Statistics:

• Total students with valid Writing data: 205
• 📈 Improved: 73 students (35.6%)
• ➖ No change: 123 students (60.0%)
• 📉 Regressed: 9 students (4.4%)

Adapted Humanities 2024/25 

Highly experienced staff  took on the adapted Humanities program.  This program was created for those students that showed significant barriers to Literacy.  This program is significantly different to our previous adapted HUM/MASC cohort.  One of the major problems of the 2023-2024 adapted cohort was that there were too many students that struggled behaviorally within the class hampering progress.   We therefore decided to create an almost "alternate" like setting with a small student class (10 to 15 students) with at least two adults in the room.  To do this, we would only admit students that were struggling immensely with their literacy as well as having severe attendance issues in past years.  These were loosely defined as:

1.  Extreme attendance issue in elementary school 60% in attendance or less 

2.  Reading level at a grade 3 level or less (OR) full refusal to participate in regular HUM classes or assessment tools.

The amount of student taking part in the Humanities adapted class varied between 10 and 13 students throughout this school year.  The school created Adapted Humanities due to the high perceived need of a larger minority of grade 8's for the 2024-25 year coming to PM.  Parent meetings occurred and permission was given for grade 8 students chosen to move into this smaller, more supported classroom setting.  Decisions were made based on the following:

1. Articulation meetings with the elementary school

2. Meeting with the family

3. Two weeks of informal assessment by their Hum teacher in September

4. Formal reading and written assessment results given during the third week in September

Academic progress for these classes were not what we hoped for due to a number of reasons:

There was progress made in a number of areas with these students:

1. Familial relationships strengthened throughout the year. 

2. Attendance was more consistent.

3. Higher risk behaviour decreased significantly once students had spent some time in Adapted Humanities.

Some Challenges we had were:

1. Student attendance continued to be an issue .

2. Students willingness to try new things to improve literacy skills was limited

3. Literacy skills of students had limited improvement

3. Level of need within the classroom

Student attendance was the number one issue for limited or even sometimes regressive academic progress for some of these students.  

One of the major reasons as  to why we decided to create the adapted Humanities cohort was to try and build adult-student relationships as much as possible with these students who, for the most part, did not like school and were frustrated learners.  It was the goal to create a safe, non-judgmental environment for these students.  Here are some samples of what some students said about how they felt being part of this more supported class:

" I barely went to school in grade 7 but I feel I am doing better in grade 8"

"I know I am bad at reading but Ms Earl has made me better at it"

"I refused to go to my humanities class and then I got switched into here (Adapted Humanities) and I like it much better"

"I used to get scared going to class; now I don't"

"I like Ms Earl and Ms Myers and they make school less boring"

"The class (Adapted Humanities) feels safe and I like writing in my journal and sharing with the class"

Almost all the students within the adapted Humanities appreciated their teachers and the extra support they received.  Even though there was limited direct evidence of literacy improvement, students definitely felt safe and connected with at least one or more adult in the building.  We are hoping that this will create a good foundation for these students where they have a trusted adult within the building to help them stay connected to our school community and keep working on their literacy. 

Below is a picture of the Literacy Assessment (writing) Exemplars from Humanity classes

Exemplar of student moving from Emerging in September to Developing in June

Exemplar of student moving from Emerging in September to Proficient in June

Exemplar of student moving from Developing in September to Proficient in June

Exemplar of student moving  from Proficient in September to Extending in June

Our Next Steps:

Overall we continue to make good progress to help our junior students gain a good foundation in their literacy skills/competencies to help them be successful in their upper grade levels.  For those student who have struggled, we have also been successful in identifying needs and have created supportive plans for next school year to help them be successful.  

For 2025-26 school year we are going to be continuing with our literacy Competencies for Grade 8s.  To do this, we are going to continue meeting regularly as a group.  Also teachers will be using common assessment tools to gain a snap shot of student's ability and level over the course of September.  

Teachers will be given time to co-assess these assessments. This information will:

1.   Help teachers meet students where they are at academically.

2.  Help speed up the process to connect students who are struggling academically with supports and to see if some of these student's profiles warrant Adapted Humanities support.

3.  Help with learning profiles of students so the HUM/MASC team can co-create units that will better support their classroom make up.

We have decided to move forward with Adapted Humanities again for the 2025-2026 school year based on the need we are seeing through articulation, educational history, and September assessment tools.  Processes will be fluid as the Adapted Humanities program is already in the timetable and will be available at the start of the school year. Students will then be moved, as necessary.