United Way of Central Ohio convened superintendents and representatives from the six Success by Third Grade participating districts on Wednesday, Oct. 29, for a morning of discussion and collaboration. In attendance were Dr. Angela Chapman (Columbus City Schools), Dr. Sharee Wells (Whitehall City Schools), Dr. Tracy Reed (Reynoldsburg City Schools), Angela S. Hamberg (Westerville City Schools), James Grube (Groveport Madison Schools). South-Western City Schools was represented by Dan Girard, executive director of elementary grades, and Ed Kennedy, coordinator of ESL services.
Participants engaged in a robust discussion about current challenges faced by each district, the barriers impacting third grade reading proficiency, and the strategies and opportunities for eliminating these barriers. Overall, the convening effectively strengthened the shared commitment of all districts and United Way’s staff to work together to build a stronger pre-K to grade three system—ensuring every child in Franklin County enters school ready to learn, attends consistently, receives necessary support and achieves at or above grade level by third grade.
Recent information from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce shows:
- Many students enter kindergarten not prepared to learn. Approximately two-thirds of students entering kindergarten in the six participating districts do not demonstrate readiness based on the KRA-R results.
- Chronic absenteeism is still nearly double compared to pre-pandemic levels and highest among kindergarten students. It then slowly improves in grades one through five.
- Third grade proficiency rates remain below the levels needed for on-time progression and long-term academic success. Less than half of third graders from the six participating school districts score proficient or above on the state third grade reading assessment, and school districts consistently score low on early literacy on the annual State of Ohio School Report Cards.
Many academic and nonacademic factors influence these patterns, and they underscore the need for coordinated cross-system collaboration. United Way and the six participating districts are collaborating to identify focus areas for each district and then work flexibly within these areas to meet specific student needs and reduce barriers to early success in school. Success by Third Grade groups this work into three focus areas: kindergarten readiness, third grade reading proficiency and chronic absenteeism.
As the backbone organization for Success by Third Grade, United Way is working closely with participating school districts, community and corporate partners, and government entities to:
- Align community partners and systems for greater impact
- Facilitate collaborative problem-solving to close achievement gaps; and
- Create conditions that enable all children to learn, grow and thrive.
“The opportunity to meet with our participating school district superintendents and engage in strategic discussion related to improving third grade proficiency is an example of the importance and impact of our collaboration across systems,” said Dr. Cheryl Wyatt, United Way’s vice president of Success by Third Grade. “We’re grateful that our participating school district superintendents took time out of their busy schedules to join us in this important, collaborative effort.”
