Trends in Local School Performance

 

Based on the sources and our conversation history, here's an overview of how student academic proficiencies have trended in West Virginia overall and in Pocahontas county in recent years:

 

West Virginia Statewide Proficiency Trends

 

West Virginia uses statewide summative assessments for grades 3-8, the SAT School Day in grade 11, and the West Virginia Alternate Summative Assessment (WVASA) for grades 3-8 and 11 to measure student performance and progress towards college and career readiness. Science is tested in grades 4, 6, and 10. These assessment results are used by the West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) to support counties in addressing student learning and are reported through systems like the WV Accountability System and the WV Balanced Scorecard.

 

Recent data shows some slight improvements in overall proficiency across key subjects, though significant work remains.

 

2022 Results: State summative assessment results approved in August 2022 showed slight increases in proficiencies, but indicated that significant work was still needed to increase overall student proficiency. The results were seen as an important tool to help counties address student learning and ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

2023 Results: Results reviewed in August 2023 showed slight improvement in the overall percent proficient in math, English language arts (ELA), and science compared to 2022.

 

◦Overall ELA proficiency was 44%, a 2% increase over 2022. ELA proficiency increased in grades 3, 5, 6, and 8, with the greatest increase (4%) in grades 3 and 8. Performance remained the same in grades 4 and 11.

 

Overall Math proficiency was 35%, a 2% increase over 2022

Overall Science proficiency increased by 1% from 28% in 2022 to 29% in 2023.

 

Science proficiency was 31% in grade 5 and 28% in grade 11 in 2023, a 1% increase over 2022 for both. Grade 8 science proficiency remained the same at 27%

  ◦Overall percent proficient improved or stayed the same in all grades except Grade 7 ELA, which saw a 2% decrease.

Despite the positive trends, the WVBE President stated that the proficiency rates were "not acceptable" and that they "must get children back to higher levels of proficiency," noting that challenges existed even before the pandemic.

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More Recent Results (Implied 2024): Statewide assessment data shows slight gains in overall proficiency with increases since "last year" (presumably 2023) in ELA (44% to 45%) and math (35% to 36%). Science proficiency remained flat at 29%.

 

Early learners made the most significant gains in reading, attributed partly to initiatives like the Third Grade Success Act and the Ready, Read, Write, West Virginia literacy campaign. The data reflects student proficiency approaching pre-Covid-19 levels.

 However, the state showed a stronger recovery effort from 2022 onwards, ranking 6th in growth for math and 11th in growth for reading from 2022-2024. Despite these gains, average student achievement in West Virginia remains below 2019 levels in both math and reading. Factors like a sharp rise in chronic absenteeism are noted as slowing recovery in many districts.

Pocahontas County Proficiency Trends

 

The provided data for Pocahontas county shows the following proficiency percentages over several recent years:

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2022-2023: 42.56% proficient

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2023-2024: 45.31% proficient

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Trend: Pocahontas county has shown a general upward trend in Reading proficiency from 2020-2021 to 2023-2024, with a notable increase in the last two reported years.

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Science:

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2020-2021: 31.31% proficient

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2021-2022: 32.77% proficient

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2022-2023: 30.85% proficient

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2023-2024: 27.49% proficient

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Trend: Pocahontas county Science proficiency showed a slight increase from 2020-2021 to 2021-2022, followed by a decline in the subsequent two years.

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Mathematics:

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2021-2022: 35.54% proficient

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2022-2023: 37.30% proficient

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2023-2024: 35.94% proficient

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Trend: Pocahontas county Mathematics proficiency showed a slight increase from 2021-2022 to 2022-2023, followed by a slight decrease in 2023-2024.

 

Comparison and Context

 

Pocahontas county's trend in Reading (generally increasing) seems to align with the statewide trend of slight increases in ELA proficiency over recent years.

For Science, Pocahontas county's trend (increase then decrease) differs from the statewide trend which showed a slight increase from 2022 to 2023 and then remained flat.

For Mathematics, Pocahontas county's trend (increase then slight decrease) shows some fluctuation, while the statewide trend has shown slight increases over the recent years.

It's worth noting that statewide assessment data also shows that students identified as economically disadvantaged tend to have significantly lower scores in subjects like math and reading compared to students not identified as economically disadvantaged, and child poverty is strongly associated with lower educational outcomes nationally, including low math and science scores. West Virginia has a high rate of child poverty. Proficiency standards themselves are set at the state level, and states vary in their definition of "proficient".