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Mehlville reports midyear benchmark gains in reading and math across most grades
Summary
District curriculum directors reported March 13 that midyear benchmark data show year‑to‑date growth and performance above state and national averages in several grades, while identifying targeted areas for intervention in early grades and constructed‑response work in secondary courses.
District curriculum directors presented midyear benchmark results to the Mehlville R‑IX Board of Education on March 13, reporting multi‑year growth in reading and math and noting targeted areas for further work.
Amanda Zink, director of English language arts, said elementary reading growth placed most schools in the high‑growth, high‑proficiency quadrant for the fall‑to‑winter benchmarks and that the district’s median percent progress toward annual reading growth rose from 77% last year to 82% this year. Zink noted one area of opportunity in first grade where progress was flatter and said the district is emphasizing structured‑literacy instruction and phonics in k–2, and she cited second‑grade high‑frequency words as a focal point for instruction.
Michelle Nees, director of mathematics, said first through eighth grades show district‑level performance that outpaces national and state norms on I‑Ready and that most buildings sit in a high‑growth, high‑achievement quadrant. Nees described continuing work on spiraled pacing, item‑level analysis and use of DESE testlets to provide teachers actionable practice items.
Greg Ruzicka, k–12 science director, and Sarah Herman, social studies director, described more targeted PLC work using MAP, EOC and common formative assessments. Ruzicka said science teams used prior MAP and biology EOC data to focus on priority standards and to implement claim‑evidence‑reasoning (CER) tasks at grades five and eight. Herman said government teachers will administer a practice government EOC to inform intentional review lessons this spring.
Directors described several district actions in response to the data: increased collaborative PLC work, targeted after‑school tutoring and intervention blocks, adoption of testlets on the DRC platform so students practice on the state assessment environment, and continued emphasis on tier‑1 curriculum fidelity. Board members praised the level of detail and asked staff to continue delivering content‑level breakdowns and cohort tracking.
