WEST GROVE, PA — Avon Grove School District reported a 31.6-percentage-point increase in fourth-grade performance on a state reading and writing assessment following a multiyear instructional partnership with the Chester County Intermediate Unit, providing evidence of improved literacy outcomes at Avon Grove Intermediate School.
The percentage of fourth-grade students scoring in the Medium or High categories on the text-dependent analysis portion of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment rose from 57.1% to 88.7%, according to district results detailed in a recently published white paper.
Over the same period, the share of students in the Low-performance category declined from 42.9% to 11.2%.
The improvement exceeded the school’s target of having at least 80% of fourth-grade students demonstrate proficiency in using textual evidence. The school also met a separate goal for 80% of students to achieve their individual growth targets through Exact Path, an assessment and personalized learning program.
The results follow a sustained effort to strengthen literacy instruction through teacher training, classroom coaching and analysis of student performance data.
Avon Grove Intermediate School and the Chester County Intermediate Unit developed two professional learning programs addressing different stages of reading and writing development.
For second- and third-grade teachers, training concentrated on structured literacy, explicit phonics instruction, language comprehension and small-group teaching strategies.
Fourth- and fifth-grade educators focused on text-dependent analysis, including how students interpret written material, support conclusions with evidence and incorporate that evidence into their writing.
The instructional approach involved reviewing student achievement data and teacher feedback before training sessions, followed by classroom implementation, coaching and adjustments based on subsequent results.
Chester County Intermediate Unit literacy consultant Janine Presloid worked directly with 26 second- and third-grade teachers on language comprehension, interpreting assessment results and adapting small-group instruction.
The work supported a broader instructional program at Avon Grove Intermediate School, which serves approximately 1,400 students in second and third grades.
Patti Schmaltz, the district’s supervisor of teaching and learning, emphasized that sustained professional development remains necessary even as teacher preparation programs place greater emphasis on literacy instruction.
“Our focus has never been about chasing educational trends. It’s about using evidence-based practices that we know help students become strong readers and writers,” Schmaltz said.
Fourth-grade teacher Heather Waldman attributed part of the instructional improvement to training that required teachers to complete and evaluate the same writing assessments administered to students.
“Writing and scoring TDAs ourselves helped calibrate our understanding,” Waldman stated. “All the guidance Janine provided was exactly what our team needed to improve our instruction.”
The district also incorporated materials developed through the partnership into its curriculum documents, allowing teachers to continue using the instructional resources beyond individual training sessions.
Kimberly Hall, the current principal of Penn London Elementary School and former principal of Avon Grove Intermediate School, emphasized the importance of connecting professional development with classroom needs.
“Teachers need to feel heard, and the PD needs to be meaningful,” Hall added.
The intermediate school’s program is part of a broader districtwide literacy strategy that includes structured literacy training for newly hired teachers, regardless of certification area.
Avon Grove also uses a Multi-Tiered System of Supports framework to provide additional reading instruction and intervention based on individual student needs.
Its What I Need, or WIN, intervention periods provide dedicated time for targeted instruction. Teachers, reading specialists and interventionists use assessment data to adjust student groupings and instructional strategies.
The district has expanded its emphasis on writing instruction, including explicit teaching of handwriting, spelling and evidence-based writing practices.
The professional development partnership and assessment results are detailed in a Chester County Intermediate Unit white paper available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/districts-big-leap-literacy-how-cciu-3vw0e/.
The reported gains provide a measure of progress in fourth-grade literacy performance as Avon Grove continues integrating structured reading and writing instruction across grade levels.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.