Lesmál Reading & Spelling Assessment results are an opportunity to improve teaching methods.

Ritstjórn
Child reading a book.

"What matters most is using these results to help children and improve teaching methods," says Sigrún J. Baldursdóttir from the Center for Language and Literacy at Reykjavík's Department of Education & Youth, regarding results from the Lesmál Reading & Spelling Assessment given last spring.

Students take the assessment at the end of second grade, and it measures four reading aspects including decoding and reading comprehension, plus spelling ability and reading speed.

The assessment allows educators to identify children's reading strengths and weaknesses, and therefore how to support them and work systematically toward better results, Sigrún explains.

Key assessment results:

  • 68 percent of students scored at least 61 percent, which is considered age-appropriate reading ability. Of those, 16 percent of students scored between 91 and 100 percent and are considered to have developed very strong reading skills.
  • 25 percent of students scored between 31 and 60 percent and need temporary specialized reading support.
  • 7 percent of students scored between 0 and 30 percent and need an individual plan with structured instruction and support based on evidence-based methods.

Using results and providing support

The Center for Language and Literacy (MML), an expert team within the Department of Education & Youth, offers consultation and support to schools where fewer than 60 percent of students reach age-appropriate ability. Reading teams from those schools will be invited to meetings with the Center for Language and Literacy and center representatives to review results and develop action plans.

Schools that excel or where 80 percent or more reach age-appropriate ability will also be invited to meetings to share successful practices and teaching methods. These schools' projects and approaches will then be shared with other schools.

The centers, with help from the Center for Language and Literacy, will also review the status of preschools in their neighborhoods based on Lesmál Reading & Spelling Assessment results. They will examine the structure of literacy programs and the approach to linguistic development.

Special attention will be given to multilingual children in schools that performed poorly on the assessment, and those schools will be offered additional support.

All city-operated primary schools participated

In total, 35 of 37 schools in Reykjavík submitted results to the Department of Education & Youth — all 32 public primary schools with second grade and three of five independent primary schools. A total of 1,269 students participated in the Lesmál Reading & Spelling Assessment, representing 90 percent of second-grade students in all public and independent primary schools in Reykjavík in spring 2025.