She taught middle school science in Minnesota before moving to Ohio to work with Discovery, Ohio's Statewide Systematic Initiative in Science and Mathematics in 1995. Prior to coming to Dayton, Dr. Kelly was a senior researcher at Ohio's Evaluation and Assessment Center at Miami University, where her work focused on evaluations of science and mathematics initiatives across the country. Since arriving at the University of Dayton in 2005, Dr. Kelly has focused on developing teachers of science for the early and middle-grade years.