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Middle‑of‑year data: Pickerington Local reports K–3 reading gains, math and EL goals highlighted
Summary
Executive director Leslie Kelly presented MOY (middle‑of‑year) benchmarks showing year‑to‑year growth in K–3 literacy (midyear percentages up across grades) and set targets for math (seventh grade and Algebra I), English‑learner growth, and sense of belonging measures; the board and public praised teacher and school efforts.
Leslie Kelly, the district’s executive director of teaching and learning, presented the Pickerington Local School District’s middle‑of‑year (MOY) academic review on Feb. 23, reporting measurable midyear gains in early literacy and outlining focused goals for math and English learners.
Kelly said Acadience and i‑Ready benchmarks show kindergarten through third‑grade gains compared with the prior year: "Kindergarten this year, our students at mid year scored 67% on or above grade level, which is 8 percentage points higher than the previous year," she said. The district’s K–3 literacy goal aims to increase average reading performance by 7 percentage points by June 30, 2028, as measured by the early literacy component of the state report card.
For math, the district narrowed its focus to seventh‑grade math and Algebra I, setting an average target increase of 12 percentage points across three years. Kelly described common‑assessment practices and building‑level interventions: teachers use common diagnostic assessments, data chats and 100‑day building plans to progress‑monitor students and address gaps such as factoring and polynomials in Algebra.
Kelly also outlined goals for English learners (EL): by 6/30/2028 the district aims for 75% of EL students to score proficient or to meet growth targets on the OELPA; she noted district diagnostic growth rates and described professional learning supports (more than 50 sheltered‑instruction sessions this year) intended to improve EL outcomes. On school climate, Kelly said sense‑of‑belonging metrics have shown mixed swings (higher in fall, lower in spring) and that a district target aims to increase belonging by 15 percentage points for grades 3–12.
Board members and audience commenters praised staff and principals for focused implementation. "These types of scores don't happen because we wrote the check and gave a kid a Chromebook... These things happen through carefully calibrated networks and systems and processes and hard work and people," a community member said in public comment.
Next steps: Kelly said buildings will continue data chats, vertical alignment work and targeted small‑group instruction tied to the district goals; administrators will report progress and continue professional learning efforts.
Quote attribution: All program details and data points derive from Leslie Kelly’s MOY presentation to the board.
