PRINCETON -- According to newly released WESTEST2 data, county initiatives to improve math skills are working. Rosemary Mitchell, Mercer County test coordinator, said math proficiency rates improved for 10 of the 16 schools tested – with rates for some schools increasing by as much as 26.7%. Gains were significant across county grade levels, as well, with impressive increases in grades 3 and 7 – 12. Seventh-grade students and eleventh-grade students improved their rate of mastery by 10 percent.
In the past two years, the county has adopted a new mathematics curriculum which integrates numbers and operations with concepts of geometry and algebra. In each successive grade, students spiral through the concepts with greater depth. The district also added the requirement that every student take a math class every year – no longer allowing high schools students to take their senior year off if they had the minimum math requirements needed.
In Reading/Language Arts, nine schools posted proficiency gains in the All Students group this year, with students in middle and high school showing the biggest improvement over the previous year's rates.
"Unfortunately," said Mitchell, "the improvement was not sufficient at every school to meet the required benchmark for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). "No Child Left Behind (NCLB) sets benchmarks based upon the ambitious goal that, by 2014, all students in the United States will have grade-level mastery of math and reading. To reach that goal, a greater number of schools must meet or exceed the set level of proficiency in math and reading/language arts every year in order to meet AYP," Mitchell said.
In West Virginia, all students in grades 3 – 8 and 11 take an annual standardized test -- either WESTEST2 or APTA. No Child Left Behind legislation dictates that each year schools must show improvement over the previous year's reading/language arts and math scores, and this improvement must extend to minority students, economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities or limited English proficiency.
WESTEST2 scores are combined with other factors including attendance and graduation rate to determine the areas of accountability for each school.
Satisfying AYP requirements is considerably more difficult for large schools with diverse populations. In a press release from the West Virginia Department of Education, State Superintendent Jorea Marple said, "Even the schools that are were not able to jump over the AYP bar still showed individual student improvement and should be commended for that."
West Virginia high schools must have an 80% graduation rate or show significant progress toward that goal. By new federal calculations, only those students who graduate within four years of entering ninth grade may be counted. Students requiring a fifth year to complete all credits are not be counted in the formula.
In June 2011 (the year upon which 2012 AYP is based), Mercer County's graduation rate was 73.4% -- slightly higher than the previous year but far from what local administrators are satisfied with. "Of the four high schools, Montcalm High is setting the standard with a graduation rate of 82.14 percent," said Superintendent Deborah Akers. "Rates improved significantly at PikeView High but not elsewhere."
"We are not satisfied with where we are," Akers said. "We know there is plenty of room for improvement. But I am encouraged by the state's changing emphasis – from comparing schools' proficiency against a set standard to focusing on individual student growth trajectories. Regardless of the proficiency level at which students begin, what is important is that they can demonstrate an appropriate level of academic growth from year to year. That is important and very usable information for parents and teachers."
The West Virginia Department of Education will be launching a new website which will go deeper into individual student achievement and growth. Additional Westest 2 data can be found at http://wveis.k12.wv.us/nclb/public12/nclbmenu.dfm.
