East Panhandle Times

West Virginia students are showing gradual improvements in math and reading scores, although proficiency levels remain below pre-COVID-19 figures.

The West Virginia Department of Education presented the results of the Statewide Summative Assessment for the 2023-2024 school year to the state Board of Education at its monthly meeting on Wednesday.

The Statewide Summative Assessment evaluates proficiency in math, English Language Arts (ELA), and science. The results include the General Summative Assessment for Grades 3-8, the SAT School Day Test for high school juniors, and the Alternative Summative Assessment for Grades 3-8 and Grade 11. The participation rate among tested grades was 95%.

According to overall results from the prior school year, 36% of students were proficient in math, up from 35% in the 2022-23 school year and 33% in the 2021-22 school year. There was no testing in the 2019-20 academic year due to COVID-19, but during the disrupted 2020-21 school year, math proficiency dropped from 39% in pre-COVID 2018-19 to 28%.

ELA proficiency last school year stood at 45%, up from 44% in 2022-23 and 42% in 2021-22. Pre-COVID ELA proficiency was at 46% in the 2018-19 academic year but fell to 40% in the disrupted 2020-21 period. Science proficiency remained flat at 29% for both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 school years. It was at a low of 28% during both the disrupted years but had been at a higher rate of 33% before COVID.

Breaking down math proficiency further, data shows that for the current school year:

18.1% of students exceeded standards (up from last year's figure of 17.2%),

17.4% met standards (down from last year's figure of 17.9%),

29.5% partially met standards (down from last year's figure of 30.2%),

and

35% did not meet standards (slightly up from last year's figure of 34.7%).

In ELA:

17.2% exceeded standards this academic year (up from last year's figure of16.1%),

27.9% met standards (up slightly from last year's figure of27.5%),

28.1% partially met standards (down slightly from last year's figureof28.3%),

and

26.8 % did not meet standards(downfromlastyear'sfigureof28 .1%).

State education officials noted improvements particularly among third graders due to legislation passed nearly two years ago along with programs initiated by the Department of Education.

According to their data,

third-grade ELA proficiency increased by6%, whilethe percentageof third-graders who did not meetmathproficiency droppedby7%.

"This is attributed,in part,tothe passingoftheThirdGradeSuccessActduringthe2023statelegislativesessionandtheWVDE’sReadyReadWriteWestVirginialiteracyinitiative,"statedthedepartmentinapressreleaseWednesday."Thedatareflectsstudentproficiencyapproachingpre-Covid19levels,andtheWVDEremainsengagedwithcountiesschoolsstakeholdersandstateleaderstosupportstudentacademicsuccess."

House Bill3035knownastheThirdGradeSuccessActrequiredthestateBoardofEducationtodevelopscreenersandbenchmarkassessmentsinELAandmathforstudentsinkindergartenthroughthirdgradeaswellasamulti-tieredsystemofsupportforstudentswithsubstantialreadingormathdeficienciestoensureproficiencybeforemovingpastthirdgrade.Thebillalsoallowedforteacheraidesandinterventionistsinearlyelementaryclassroomsuptothirdgrade.

Attheendof2022,theDepartmentofEducationlaunchedReadyReadWriteWestVirginiaaprogramfocusedonthescienceofreadingandphonicseducationwithresourcesforfamilieschooladministratorsandteachers.AccordingtothedepartmentnewmathstandardswererolledouttoschoolsonJuly1.Theyarealsointroducinganew“UnitewithNumeracy”programtoimprovemathproficiency.