State's education accountability system shows 'work to do'
Sep. 15—FAIRMONT — West Virginia's public schools are on the rise following COVID-19.
Wednesday the West Virginia Department of Education released the results of its yearly Balanced Scorecard accountability system. The scorecards evaluate schools on performance in English language arts and math, academic progress, four- and five-year cohort graduation rates, English language learner progress in the four domains of speaking, reading, writing and listening and student success.
Each area is rated one of four proficiencies they are, does not meet standard, partially meets standard, meets standard and exceeds standard.
Across the state, the only areas where schools meet or exceeded expectations were elementary ELA, elementary and middle behavior and graduation rates in high school. The rest of the reviewed areas either did not meet or partially met standards.
However, the WVDE noted improvements over the last two years, which were heavily influenced by COVID.
"We will aggressively target academic progress and achievement as a top priority at the West Virginia Department of Education," State Superintendent David L. Roach said in a press release. "We are not only developing strategies, but we have also shared expectations of the desired results because we know what gets measured gets done.
"I have communicated with my team and met with county superintendents so we can work together more effectively to address student achievement. It's going to take a concerted effort across the board, and I know we can make significant progress in this area."
In Marion County, the district received high marks in comparison to the state. In every category aside from middle school attendance, Marion County met or exceeded the statewide levels.
Marion County School Superintendent Donna Hage said it's exciting to see growth over the last few years, but she knows the county can do better.
"I'm most proud of our teachers, aides and principals and the hard work they're doing," Hage said. "It shows the work they're doing to maintain growth and to recover instruction students missed during the pandemic. We're headed in the right direction, but we have work to do."
While the county may exceed some state averages, several problem areas are still apparent in the scorecards. Of the 19 schools in Marion County that were tested, 10 did not meet standards in math.
Hage believes the district has taken several steps to remedy the problem and curriculum teams at each school are already looking to address shortcomings, not just in math but in all areas that need improvement.
One such step was the addition of interventionists, who target struggling students and give them one-on-one help in trouble subjects.
The theme of this school year has been building relationships and Hage hopes to foster strong relationships between schools in the county so successful strategies can be easily shared and implemented across the county.
"Schools can't work in isolation. That takes building relationships with families and community partners to enhance the point where we can address our weaknesses," Hage said. "It's important to remember that we cannot just focus on one test to gauge the achievement of our students.
"This is one day in their school performance and there are a lot of outside factors, but when you take all of that into consideration, you see the profound impact our teachers and classroom aides have on the students."
Reach David Kirk at 304-367-2522 or by email at dkirk@timeswv.com.
