Miller Middle School reports gains in reading and math; board hears SEL, attendance and credit-bearing updates

At a Kingston City School District Board of Education meeting, Miller Middle School Principal Mr. Schiever told trustees the school exceeded its winter targets on several I‑Ready diagnostic measures and described further steps to expand literacy, math and social‑emotional learning programming.

Mr. Schiever said the school had set a winter target of 52% of students meeting their typical I‑Ready growth goal in reading; in January the school recorded 73% meeting that typical goal and 27% meeting a more ambitious “stretch” goal. For math, he said the winter typical target of 52% was met at 61% and the stretch target of 17% was met at 29% in January. He told the board the numbers come from diagnostics the school runs multiple times a year and are used to set individualized student goals.

The principal described changes to reading groups that place students in small, skills‑based groups, periodic review of placements, and use of multiple data sources — oral fluency checks, Words Their Way, I‑Ready diagnostics and state exams — to guide instruction. He said the school piloted CKLA this year (instructional scope varies by grade) and expects to expand implementation to additional grades over time.

On social‑emotional learning (SEL), Mr. Schiever said the school formed a BLT subcommittee to research SEL…